The Friday Morning Listen

Ah, it's getting to be that time of year again. The time when the kids start headin' off to college. For me, that means stepson #2 will be packing up and moving to Portland to attend the University of Southern Maine. Also, stepson #1 will go back to Northeastern (for what year I couldn't rightly tell you, since that co-op stuff confuses the bejeebers outa me.)

So this morning I got to thinking about my freshman year. One particular sorta music-related night came to mind.

Now, since I'm not running for anything, I'll be right up front and state that this little incident involved the demon weed. Yes, that's right. Our former president said he "didn't inhale" (for god's sake, he shoulda just said it made him choke.) Our current president was young and foolish when he was young and foolish. I've got no need for such camouflage: I would every so often partake of the herb. (Not often though, because I would become afflicted with a condition having the unintentionally Freudian title of "Oral/Aural Fixiation". This means that I got the munchies and, while alleviating said munchies, became insanely enamored with the sound of the food. Seriously. I once consumed an entire family-sized econo-box of Cap'n Crunch, poured into a giant stainless steel salad bowl and doused with a couple quarts of milk. Oh sure, it tasted good & all....but it sounded amazing. It's a wonder the roof of my mouth wasn't scarred for life.)

Uh, ahem...

One particular weekend, my roommate had gone for a home visit and I found myself with an entire Saturday night to glory in. So, spark it up I did. In a move that eerily foreshadows my love of the music of Philip Glass, I put Tom Petty's Damn The Torpedoes and proceeded to listen to it over and over again...all night long. The guy next door, a forestry major, was none too happy with me after hearing "Don't Do Me Like That" for the fifth time (or so he said the next day.) I couldn't help it, it just sounded so good. The crack of the snare, Petty's sneering vocals, the woman yelling "It's just the normal noises in here" before the start of "Even The Losers", the as-close-to-Pink-Floyd-as-they-ever-got weirdness between "What Are You Doin' In My Life" and the closing "Lousiana Rain".

Ah yes, to be young and foolish again.

(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)

Article Author: Mark Saleski

Mark Saleski is a writer and music obsessive based out of the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. He has contributed to Jazz.com and also writes reviews for Blogcritics.org. He produces the weekly feature The Friday Morning Listen. …

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