As "Monster" and "Under The Table and Dreaming" turn 30 this week, I reflect on how R.E.M. and Dave Matthews Band triggered what would become my personal Musical Awakening™️
So in June 1983 I finished 8th grade, and about 1/3 of our tiny class was going to public high school and 2/3 to the catholic high school (I was in the minority). I went to my first kids-only, boys AND girls party that night. Nearly everyone at the party was going to the catholic high school so it felt like it'd be my last night being with this group. (It was. I haven't seen most of them literally since that night, 41 years ago.)
What stuck with me that night was the music. I had been indifferent to music to that point, occasionally using a battery operated cassette player to record a song or two off the radio with a wired microphone held against a clock radio speaker. But I saw how much these guys liked most of the music that was playing, singing and occasionally dancing to music I should have known but didn't. The songs and bands reads like the Billboard charts from that month:
Def Leppard-Photograph
Naked Eyes-Always Something There to Remind Me
Human League-Fascination
Duran Duran-Is There Something I Should Know? and Rio
Greg Kihn Band-Jeopardy
The Kinks-Come Dancing
Madness-Our House
Dexy's Midnight Runners-Come On Eileen
There were more. Some of those songs occasionally turn up on my playlists even now. If you're my age or older you know all those songs (even if you don't like them) so there's no hidden gems there. But it was my first real intro to pop music.
Within a few weeks, I used a little graduation money to buy a boom box with built in cassette (remember those?) so I could record music off the radio, and started making mix tapes like Star Lord's mom. I started getting records, cassettes and 45's. At that time, it was mostly top 40 pop, but over time I gravitated away from 80s pop and more toward classic and hair-band rock and older 70s pop.
But those particular songs always bring me back to that night, just like most of the music I enjoy today brings me back to whichever moment in time I first enjoyed it in. One Headlight by the Wallflowers takes me back to my first job at Gannon and living in Erie. Last Dance by Donna Summer takes me back to middle school roller skating parties. Real Fine Place by Sara Evans takes me back to the first house my wife and I bought. Any Phil Collins song takes me to D&D sessions at my friend's dining room table. That 8th grade grad party triggered all of that by burning a soundtrack into a long-term memory in my brain.
This is such a great post. I'm not exactly sure when my musical awakening was, but in the summer of 1986 I started paying attention to the charts and started (for lack of a better word) "charting" my own course when it came to my musical tastes. Granted, most of it was determined by what was playing on the radio at the time, but I came into my own and got out from under my parents' musical tastes (although the influence my mom had on my taste is very evident.)
In any event, my college roommate loved REM and that was my introduction to them beyond what was played on the radio in the late 80s. I vividly remember going to Musicland with him to buy Monster and I'm pretty sure I was buying the 2CD release "Barbra: The Concert" lol - I was still pretending to be straight at that time although the signs were definitely there.
REM were the first band I listened to (around the release of Out Of Time) that made me want to go back and explore their back catalogue. My favourite period is definitely the IRS years but What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? has always been one of my favourite songs of theirs and I first got to see them live on the Monster tour so that album will also be special.
Thinking about it, I probably had a second musical awakening in my thirties. During the years when I started work and had my children I became much more of a passive listener again. I listened to contemporary music and bought albums but I was less invested. I bought The Libertines greatest hits album in around 2013 and that sent me off on another voyage of discovery into their albums and subsequent projects. I got to see them live in December 2019, right before the world locked down and 2020 changed my relationship with music again when I finally moved from cds to streaming and discovered how much music is actually out there. The Libertines led me to Black Honey, who indirectly led me to We Are Scientists, who brought me here.
"Out of Time" was the albums that did it for me. I still think it's their best album. Although, based on what you wrote, I need to explore "Monster" again.
I love Monster. Like Bill Berry, I was really happy to get a proper rock album from the band.
My MA was when I was 11 or 12. My best friend’s brother was on the high school basketball team, and they would charge out of the locker room and do their layup drills to the opening riffs of “Walk This Way.” I immediately became the hugest Aerosmith fan I know.
Long time REM fan here - I was introduced to them with Murmur and Reckoning. So. Central Rain is one of my favorites. I saw them on the Document tour. I love Monster through and through. It’s definitely in my top 5 REM albums. Strange Currencies is probably in my top 10 songs.
Sadly, I think my musical awakening happened with the worst songs released in the 70s! Hahaha!! I don’t think I can pinpoint an album in particular. I had free rein of my parents’ collection, and they got me a record player and my own requests when I was 5. I think my mom understood my passion and interest- any time we went to a store that had records, she would get me one (I’m sure I begged her mercilessly).
I think Monster has aged incredibly well. A lot of the stuff that wasn’t expected or conventional within their pop culture persona is among the most daring choices they ever made—and I love a big swing.
So in June 1983 I finished 8th grade, and about 1/3 of our tiny class was going to public high school and 2/3 to the catholic high school (I was in the minority). I went to my first kids-only, boys AND girls party that night. Nearly everyone at the party was going to the catholic high school so it felt like it'd be my last night being with this group. (It was. I haven't seen most of them literally since that night, 41 years ago.)
What stuck with me that night was the music. I had been indifferent to music to that point, occasionally using a battery operated cassette player to record a song or two off the radio with a wired microphone held against a clock radio speaker. But I saw how much these guys liked most of the music that was playing, singing and occasionally dancing to music I should have known but didn't. The songs and bands reads like the Billboard charts from that month:
Def Leppard-Photograph
Naked Eyes-Always Something There to Remind Me
Human League-Fascination
Duran Duran-Is There Something I Should Know? and Rio
Greg Kihn Band-Jeopardy
The Kinks-Come Dancing
Madness-Our House
Dexy's Midnight Runners-Come On Eileen
There were more. Some of those songs occasionally turn up on my playlists even now. If you're my age or older you know all those songs (even if you don't like them) so there's no hidden gems there. But it was my first real intro to pop music.
Within a few weeks, I used a little graduation money to buy a boom box with built in cassette (remember those?) so I could record music off the radio, and started making mix tapes like Star Lord's mom. I started getting records, cassettes and 45's. At that time, it was mostly top 40 pop, but over time I gravitated away from 80s pop and more toward classic and hair-band rock and older 70s pop.
But those particular songs always bring me back to that night, just like most of the music I enjoy today brings me back to whichever moment in time I first enjoyed it in. One Headlight by the Wallflowers takes me back to my first job at Gannon and living in Erie. Last Dance by Donna Summer takes me back to middle school roller skating parties. Real Fine Place by Sara Evans takes me back to the first house my wife and I bought. Any Phil Collins song takes me to D&D sessions at my friend's dining room table. That 8th grade grad party triggered all of that by burning a soundtrack into a long-term memory in my brain.
This is such a great post. I'm not exactly sure when my musical awakening was, but in the summer of 1986 I started paying attention to the charts and started (for lack of a better word) "charting" my own course when it came to my musical tastes. Granted, most of it was determined by what was playing on the radio at the time, but I came into my own and got out from under my parents' musical tastes (although the influence my mom had on my taste is very evident.)
In any event, my college roommate loved REM and that was my introduction to them beyond what was played on the radio in the late 80s. I vividly remember going to Musicland with him to buy Monster and I'm pretty sure I was buying the 2CD release "Barbra: The Concert" lol - I was still pretending to be straight at that time although the signs were definitely there.
REM were the first band I listened to (around the release of Out Of Time) that made me want to go back and explore their back catalogue. My favourite period is definitely the IRS years but What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? has always been one of my favourite songs of theirs and I first got to see them live on the Monster tour so that album will also be special.
Thinking about it, I probably had a second musical awakening in my thirties. During the years when I started work and had my children I became much more of a passive listener again. I listened to contemporary music and bought albums but I was less invested. I bought The Libertines greatest hits album in around 2013 and that sent me off on another voyage of discovery into their albums and subsequent projects. I got to see them live in December 2019, right before the world locked down and 2020 changed my relationship with music again when I finally moved from cds to streaming and discovered how much music is actually out there. The Libertines led me to Black Honey, who indirectly led me to We Are Scientists, who brought me here.
Sorry! That turned into a bit of an essay.
"Out of Time" was the albums that did it for me. I still think it's their best album. Although, based on what you wrote, I need to explore "Monster" again.
I love Monster. Like Bill Berry, I was really happy to get a proper rock album from the band.
My MA was when I was 11 or 12. My best friend’s brother was on the high school basketball team, and they would charge out of the locker room and do their layup drills to the opening riffs of “Walk This Way.” I immediately became the hugest Aerosmith fan I know.
Long time REM fan here - I was introduced to them with Murmur and Reckoning. So. Central Rain is one of my favorites. I saw them on the Document tour. I love Monster through and through. It’s definitely in my top 5 REM albums. Strange Currencies is probably in my top 10 songs.
Sadly, I think my musical awakening happened with the worst songs released in the 70s! Hahaha!! I don’t think I can pinpoint an album in particular. I had free rein of my parents’ collection, and they got me a record player and my own requests when I was 5. I think my mom understood my passion and interest- any time we went to a store that had records, she would get me one (I’m sure I begged her mercilessly).
I think Monster has aged incredibly well. A lot of the stuff that wasn’t expected or conventional within their pop culture persona is among the most daring choices they ever made—and I love a big swing.
Also, my MA moments:
1. Hearing the opening screech and riff on “Black Dog”
2. Feeling the bass on Biggie Smalls’ “Hypnotize” hit me in the chest at a party
3. Listening to Fela Kuti for the first time