Ah, summer is right around the corner and sports fans in the New England area are cracking open a fresh bottle of nostalgia: the Boston Celtics are playing the Los Angles Lakers in the NBA finals. I don't really share in any of this because I was never a Celtics fan. Even though I did watch a lot of hoops back then, I never latched on to any particular team. So my memories of the last few seasons of Celtics glory have a lot more to do with starting out on my first post-college job and settling in to my 'adult' life. Yes, the mid-80's were a weird time.
'Adult,' because some of the elements — a daily commute, dinner preparation, wedding plans — certainly played a big part. But these were the college/real world overlap years. There was also a fair amount of partying: boozy afternoons at the pool (I seem to remember wine coolers being involved...icky!), steaks grilled on the hibachi, bad orders of Chinese food, beer, beer, beer, and more beer.
'Adult,' because much of the music played (at sound levels that undoubtedly annoyed our neighbors) consisted of many of my favorites of the time: Ozzy Osborne, Quiet Riot, the Scorpions, Wham! (just seein' if you're paying attention...heh), Van Halen, The Pretenders, and on it goes. Oh sure, there was some more mature music in there too. Heck, even though it's not a fan favorite, Springsteen's Born In The USA was pretty much unavoidable back then and I played the begeezuz out of it.
It's funny the stuff that pops up in your head when you wade back into old waters. In the middle of all of that noisy rock, I can remember listening to both Lionel Richie's "Hello" and the Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now"...but only during my ride home in our red, 1976 Plymouth Volare — it only had an AM radio, which got me exactly one station that would stay in tune for the 20-mile drive. Of course, I would have never admitted to liking the Richie ballad, for what reason I'm not sure. This was when I also protested my fiance's Culture Club record a little too much. Mark Saleski, musical hypocrite!
Article comments
1 - Mary K. Williams
Good job Mark. : )
I did have some brown cords myself. I was wearing them when I met my husband, and that was the one thing he hated about me.
hehe.
2 - Josh Hathaway
Kind of makes you want to listen to "One Man Wrecking Machine," doesn't it?
3 - SFC SKI
I agree, Waiting For Columbus is one of the best live recordings. I remember being about 8 years old when the album first came out, it was played on AM radio no less, WABC, before I left for school one morning. The opening riff of "All That You Dream" and "Oh Atlanta" stuck in my brain until about 10 years later when I finally found out who the band was.
Great album, great band.