| |
|
Author: Delvin
Date: 04-05-12 13:05
I got an email thread from a friend asking, "If you could send a letter back to your teenage self, what advice would you send?"
Now I'm certainly not asking anyone here to reveal the deep personal insights they wish they'd had in their youth. (If you feel like sharing those, that's your lookout.) What musical advice, if any, would you send back to your younger self? Or would you be worried about steering your younger self down a side path on which he might end up missing something cool?
Mine would be pretty simple.
"Three concerts you'll get the chance to see: The Who in 1980, the Stones in 1981 and Queen in 1982. Don't miss any of those!"
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: breno
Date: 04-05-12 13:34
Dear Bradley
Make sure your brothers tell you how to get to Graham Chapel at Washington University so you can see this band U2 there on the tour for Boy, which will be their debut album, if for no reason other than to make sure your friend Karen doesn't lord it over you for decades to come.
No, that $70 that Don is charging for that butcher cover of Yesterday and Today he has hanging behind the counter of his record store is not highway robbery. And tell that dope to buy insurance, or at least have someone hang out at his store on Thanksgiving night of '82. They might like to have a baseball bat on them, as there will be thieves dropping by that night who will put him out of business for good otherwise.
Oh - and kid, buy all those animation cels from the Star Trek cartoon that Starlog is peddling or $10 apiece.
And for God's sake, get that Giant Sized X-Men #1 out of the basement before it mildews into the floor, you stupid, stupid fucker. But don't sweat keeping those Howard the Duck comics in mint condition. They never did end up being worth all that much.
Also, FYI, the mousiest, quietest girl in your class is going to be a brain-meltingly radiant bombshell at the ten year reunion. Go say hello to her. You'll be the only guy in your class who ever did and she'll probably appreciate that.
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: Delvin
Date: 04-05-12 13:45
Ha ha! I think every graduating class has someone like that. In my class, the quiet mousy girl not only blossomed into a breathtaking beauty who turned every head at the reunion, but she had become a programmer and started her own highly successful software company. (Now that I think of it, perhaps she took advantage of that success and simply bought her good looks.)
And since Reno has decided to break the ice about such things, here are a few other things I'd tell my (probably 13-year-old) self:
Never imagine that you're not good-looking enough or cool enough to ask any girl for a date. The worst that can happen is that she'll say no. If she does, that's her choice; just move on.
Someday you'll meet a redhead named Susie. Don't date her.
Someday you'll meet a brunette named April. (In fact, you'll meet her in that month.) Make an excuse; call her a cab if you can afford it ... but don't take her home.
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: zoo
Date: 04-05-12 16:37
Dear zoo (during your senior year of high school),
Buy that vinyl copy of All Mod Cons, even if it is a little more expensive than you'd like. It's last time you'll see one for the next 20+ years.
Go see The Replacements, even if it is a Monday night and you have baseball practice and you're not too crazy about Don't Tell A Soul. You won't get the chance ever again.
Don't buy into the hype of early '90s grunge and alternative. You'll end up thinking 90% of it is crap just a few years later.
Don't leave the George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars concert early just because it's already gone on for three hours and George, Garry Shider, and Michael Hampton have left the stage. Stay man, stay!
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: Jermoe
Date: 04-05-12 21:52
Jeremy, dear (this is how my grandmother used to address me and how my mother began addressing me once she became a grandmother),
Shame is for Catholics. Go ahead and stop being a Catholic.
More Big Audio Dynamite.
Grow your hair out.
Now's the time to start listening to Emmylou Harris. She's not Linda Rondstadt's sidekick. Linda Rondstadt aspires to be Emmylou Harris's sidekick.
1989: Go see the B-52's. Don't sweat the fact the girl you're going to be making out with doesn't have a ticket. She's trouble. Either way, you're still going to want to check out I'm Gonna Get You Sucka as soon as possible...just not in the company of the crazy, dyslexic, drop-dead gorgeous girl with whom you'll share a plate of chicken fingers sitting across the restaurant from Kenny Rogers...the night you could've seen the B-52's @ Legion Field.
Industrial music? No.
More Fishbone.
Your high school girlfriend is a lesbian. When she suggests a threesome, however, don't be hurt/embarrassed/angry, be prepared...you won't be getting that opportunity again.
Try not to be mad at Pearl Jam for that song. Good luck.
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: nosepail
Date: 04-06-12 09:39
Jesus, Jermoe, you were being offered threesomes in high school? and refused? Can I write my letter to your past instead?
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: hoip chiggs
Date: 04-06-12 14:49
Hoip, you're a workaholic, so busy bangin chicks left and right. Broaden your mind and study harder for that algebra final.
When hotshot football player Chip Littlewood calls you a loser in class, instead of shrugging your shoulders and ignoring him, say, "Think about your last name and look between your legs."
Hoip, I believe classic rock radio has narrowed your mind, as it has ignored the great punk music back in 76 - 79. You're sitting there listening to ELO, Queen, Boston, the Star Wars soundtrack, and the Close Encounters soundtrack while there's a fuckin revolution happening. Hit the little record stores and the underground clubs. Pay attention!
On the pop quiz for history class, when you read the question, "What language do we speak," the answer is American, not White-Non Hispanic.
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: Jermoe
Date: 04-06-12 16:34
Actually, my HS girlfriend brought up the idea when I was a junior in college. We broke up the summer after graduating high school, but had hooked up several times when home from our respective schools at the same time. I think her proposition was an attempt to prove to her girlfriend that I wasn't like most guys...that I'd be cool with enjoying a no strings attached weekend. Which I would've been if I'd known she had a girlfriend. Eh. We're still friends, though.
There were a couple of sophomore girls who made a similar proposition when I was a senior in high school, however. In that case, I turned them down because: a) I knew I didn't have the game needed, and; b) one of the two scared the bejesus out of me. She was a cutter. And I'm not talking about in the Breaking Away sense. She called me on her 16th birthday (age of consent) to convince me to undertake the deflowering of her and her (slightly) older best friend.
In retrospect, I had an inordinate amount of self confidence as a teenager, which really drove the girls wild.
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: erikalbany
Date: 04-06-12 17:23
"She was a cutter. And I'm not talking about in the Breaking Away sense."
heeheehoohah! There's a limited demographic for that one, and I'm right in it.
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: HollowbodyKay
Date: 04-06-12 20:10
Dear Teenaged HBK,
I'm writing to you from the future, to let you know in advance that you're going to grow up to be unhappy and unsatisfied on nearly every level if you continue on your present course. Depending on when you get this, you'll be in high school or nearly finished with high school or even possibly in college. So I'm only going to try to cover the major items.
- If you ever find yourself clutching a bottle of hot sauce in a blind rage, count to ten before you hurl it at a wall. In fact, count to ten twice. And then drop it regardless of how you feel. Trust me on this one.
- Work harder in college. Just do it. Whenever you think you're working hard enough, work even harder.
- The homecoming queen that you're utterly in love with won't even remember the dates you're going to share after high school. She'll wind up in Florida a homeless drug addict and you'll not be able to bring yourself to invite her into your life. Get over her. I know she's a sweetheart and all that. Just get over it.
- You'll have a chance to buy "Weird Love" by The Scientists on something called compact disc. I know you don't have a CD player yet. Buy it. Just do it. The same goes for all those Plasticland titles.
- I know you think Nirvana is kind of lame, but Cobain will blow his brains out after the band's third album. So go see them in concert with the rest of your friends and stop trying to be so cool.
- As fun as it might seem to you now, that whole British goth-rock thing is an artistic dead end. The Mission UK? The Sister of Mercy? Red Lory Yellow Lorry? Bauhaus? Gene Loves Jezebel? Let me put it to you plainly: I know that you're basically listening to EVERYTHING these days, but you might as well forget that bullshit and get into Sonic Youth. You're going to dig them by 1986 or so anyway. Why not get started sooner?
- You'll feel obliged to never attend a Grateful Dead concert. In this one area, rest assured that you did make a good decision. You're not going to miss anything. The future is amazingly free of hippies.
- I'd tell you about something called 9-11, but no one would believe you about it anyway. Just don't move to New York City and get a job in the World Trade Center. Like EVER. I'm not kidding about this one.
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: dj45rpm
Date: 04-16-12 02:03
Words to my past self:
No, those $2 Offs and Icons of Filth 7"s won't be in the Epicenter bins next week, so pick them up while you still can. And the $30 being asked for the Necros 7" and the other records on their wall isn't nearly as much as others will be asking for them later on.
I know you're into Sociology, but it might be a good idea to give in to your dark/geek side while in college and rekindle your interest in programming, at least for a few years.
When a casual friend in high school offers you his bass for free, don't procrastinate in accepting it.
Don't go apesh1t at Tower's going-out-of-business sales (or at least go only moderately apesh1t).
Go to more shows even if you're not always in the mood (since bands like Brainiac and Exploding Hearts won't be coming around again for now-obvious reasons, and most bands in general have finite lifespans anyway). But perhaps it'd be good to take a pass on that DRI show at the Mab, where the band threw some of their new brand of skateboards into the audience for promotion, oblivious that the skinheads in the audience could use them as weapons.
Take advantage of city life more while you're still in the city.
You'll underestimate certain people and overestimate certain others. This will be a mistake (and in certain cases a not-insignificant one)
And for God's sake, don't get rid of that Pink Section 7"! Trust me, you'll regret it later.
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: STEVE
Date: 04-16-12 02:18
exactly what i been sayin 45rpeeM,
bathroom scrawl 101
Post Edited (04-16-12 02:18)
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: Heff
Date: 04-16-12 12:53
Go see:
- Devo on The New Traditionalists tour
- Trotsky Icepick
Pay the money to see Madness
Pay the money to see Bauhaus
Good call on knowing when to have children but don't use that as an excuse to pass up the Jazz Butcher and Super Furry Animals. You're still waiting for them to come back.
Even though you live in their hometown, Fugazi won't keep playing forever. See them once!
And lastly, figure out where the 14th street bridge exit before you leave so you can get to the club to see the Circle Jerks. The date still may be a disaster but at least it won't be your fault.
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: Aitch
Date: 04-16-12 21:18
Hey kid!
Go see The Clash at the Capitol Theatre (there are seven shows after all, different local support every night, sheesh, go to a couple!). Even if you thought Sandanista! was a bit dodgy, you’ll like later.
When you vacate that shitty house at speed, don’t leave behind THAT box of singles and the Revo amp http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass/vibratone/RolandRevo.gif
no matter how messed up you are at the time.
When you’re at the Livid Festival, go see Alex Chilton instead of 6 ft Thick, nothing wrong with 6 ft Thick but you could see them anytime.
And don’t turn down that invitation to the Anarchist Bookstore fundraiser at that tiny pub over the way. The fucking Dead Kennedys are going to play!
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: mats84
Date: 04-17-12 17:50
Dear mats84 -
Don't be so quick to dismiss the Stone Roses and La's as "British sh*t".
Stop trying to find a band to fill the void left by the post-Pleased To Meet Me Replacements decline. That level of fandom isn't going to happen again for you with any other band, so enjoy what music you can.
Stop lumping Thin Lizzy in with other bands who play hard rock and are inferior.
Most of the really good looking girls are always going to prefer Def Leppard and Motley Crue to Husker Du and The Jacobites. It's ok. It really is.
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
