The Smiths: What Difference Does It Make
[purchase]
At some point in the winter of 1984 I was at a friend's house listening to KFSR, the Fresno, California independent radio station, when all of a sudden I heard something that I had never heard before. It was an alienated, angst-ridden, almost-moaning, complaint of a croon. I hadn't paid enough attention to catch who it was that I was listening to so I called the DJ and asked. "It's The Smiths", he said. "We just got it a few weeks ago".
The next day, a different friend and I ditched school (which is something I do not condone, for all of you young readers out there) to stop by Tower Records and pick up The Smiths' eponymous debut album.
This band, with only a handful of others, epitomizes the sound of 1984 for me.
For me, the sound of 1984 is The Smiths, The Replacements, and R.E.M.
ReplyDeleteTwo out of three are now covered. If somebody posts something off of Reckoning I will be completely off the hook thiw week!
(But I'm still thinking of doubling up on The Smiths.)
I know that Scott is a big REM fan, so I was waiting for him to lay down the Reckoning track. No pressure though - and if he doesn't do it, then I will. Reckoning is probably, all things considered, my favorite album of the year that I actually knew about during that year (I didn't discover the replacements, for example, until about 1988).
ReplyDeleteI actually listened to Reckoning just yesterday as a result of thinking about it here: It's really just excellent.