Songs (And Ultimately Albums) That Changed My Life [Part 2]

Keep in mind everyone, these songs and albums don't necessarily constitute a list of my favorite albums, or a must-have list. That is completely different (and will probably pop up in a later posting). I could potentially put every Soul Coughing album on that list.  Some, however, might make both lists, but you’ll have to wait and see. 

So to continue…

3. Evil Empire by Rage Against the Machine

Thru most of high school, no music grabbed my attention.  That’s not to say I didn’t buy anything, but it was very rare.  I think by the time college rolled around, I only owned about 30 albums. Anyway, there was one album, which ripped open my chest, grabbed my heart, and cut an authority-defying scar on it.

Evil Empire was my first introduction to rebellion and politically charged music, and began my journey down the road to the extreme left.  And in 1996, when the album was released, it wasn’t me who bought the album.  I actually didn’t buy it until about 5 years later. 

Well, technically, that isn’t true.  After Coconuts Records closed, or rather, after it was run out of town by Media Play (an early version of Best Buy), Alex and I had no choice but to begin record shopping there.  I remember clearly how it all went down.  Alex asked me to buy Evil Empire for him b/c he thought I looked older than him, and Media Play was hella anal about selling albums with Parental Advisory stickers to kids under the age of 16.  They used to ask for ID and everything.  I guess he thought at 15 I looked 16, like there’s much of a difference.  Anyway, apparently, I looked old enough, the cashier didn’t card me, and I made the purchase for my good friend.

We pedaled as fast as we could back to Alex’s house and blasted Rage.  Of course, this was yet another new flavor added to my musical palette.  I had never heard such amazing, and original guitar work; Tom Morello played notes and made sounds come out of his guitar to this day I can’t figure out where they come from.  Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk were the strongest rhythm section I had ever heard.  And Zach de la Rocha’s words are timeless and are as important today as they were when he wrote them 12 years ago. 

Evil Empire was the album that made me realize how important politically motivated music was to society.  How powerful it can be in encouraging young minds to get up and learn about real problems in government and authority.  And lighting the fire to get us up off our asses and actually do something. 

And it began my hatred of our government and our political figureheads. 

4. Rock Against Bush Vol. 1 & 2 released by Fat Wreck Chords

I never realized just how fuct our country was under GW Jr. until 2004 when I heard these albums.  Fifty-eight bands came together and acted as one voice to unite the younger generations of voters against the Bush administration. I knew the guy was an idiot, and I was never a fan, but I never realized how horrible a president he was until I heard these albums, and decided to do a little research on just what had been going on under his tyrannical presidency.

Here is a little snippet of what I discovered back in 2004 about G-Dub’s first term in office.

• Under Bush Jr. there are 43 million Americans without health insurance.
• Bush Jr. cut healthcare for war veterans.
•  Wasted federal resources on a public relations trip to Baghdad where he staged a Thanksgiving meal at 6:00 AM with troops that were screened based on their political affiliation.  The turkey he brought was fake, so they never actually ate.
•  He cut funding for 375,000 low-income college students and reduced Pell Grant amounts to such a severe degree that it effectively caused 84,000 students to no longer be eligible for Pell Grants.  Pell amounts have been overall reduced for 1.5 million students.
•  Bush Jr. has never attended a funeral for a soldier who has died in Iraq.
•  He greatly reduced funding to the Violence Against Women Act.
•  He’s responsible for a 521 billion dollar deficit.  Four years earlier he inherited a 200 billion dollar surplus (It is now over 8 trillion dollars!)
• He appointed Charles Pinkering, a huge segregation supporter from Mississippi, to the position of Federal Judge.  He appointed this racist asshole on Martin Luther King Day.
•  On numerous occasions, Bush Jr. has stopped the public’s investigation into 9/11.
•  Bush Jr. has set the all-time record for most people WORLDWIDE to simultaneously protest a political leader (approx. 10 million people) shattering the record for protests against any single person in the history of mankind

Need I continue?..

PS: This is kinda just something I want to get off my chest:  I hate when people from the United States refer to their heritage by saying they are American.  You do realize that people who live in Canada and Mexico are also Americans right? B/c they LIVE IN NORTH AMERICA!  We are all American, but if you live in the US, you are a US citizen.  There is no formal name for a resident of this country.  Thank you… you hosers.

Songs (And Ultimately Albums) That Changed My Life [Part 1]

I have always had, in my head, certain albums, songs, or musical moments, which have had a significant effect on my life one way or another. Finally, just to get it out of my system, I am going to talk about them here. Now most of you might not agree with what I’m laying down, but for me, these will always have a special place in my iPod (and heart).

1. “Jeremy” by Pearl Jam

When I first heard this song, I was in sixth grade. I was going thru the typical grade school slump: I had like three friends in my school; most of my best friends went to the public school (I was stuck in the very narrow-minded catholic school), I got made fun of by all the “cool” kids b/c I was short and a total geek; swimming wasn’t a cool sport yet.

I wasn’t really into music yet either at this point in my life other than the occasional listen to my Dad’s old Who and Jethro Tull albums. It was the first part of my sixth grade year, fall of 1992; Ten was released in 1991. I had been ratted out by a supposed friend of mine for stealing communion hosts or some stupid shit and got detention. I remember being really pissed at him and hated school in general and really despised going. After I had gotten home from detention, I put on MTV (back when they 1.) played music videos and 2). played good music videos.

As I was saying, I never listened to popular music at the time, so the first time I actually heard Pearl Jam was when I saw the music video for “Jeremy.” I remember watching it, and then just sitting there, on the floor of our living room, shocked. Going to this sheltered grade school, and not having a ton of friends, along with a lack of good radio, all really hindered my musical growth at this time, so when I saw the gruesomeness of a kid who kills himself in front of his whole class, I was stunned. Needless to say, I spent the next couple of weeks saving my allowance until I had enough cash to go to The Wall with Alex and buy Ten on cassette.

Ten was my first venture into modern music. I don’t remember much from my life before 1995, but the emotion and feeling that album gave me was surreal. Eddie Veddar is the reason in 7^th grade I started to grow my hair long, which led to a number of detentions and warnings; I had hair touching my shoulders, which was forbidden at a catholic school.

PS: This of course led me to purchasing Pearl Jam’s Vs. the following year, which for me, is the quintessential Pearl Jam release. As great as Ten is, Vs. blew my mind even more. Every song on that album is brilliant. From “Go” to “Animal” to “W.M.A.” to my favorite all-time PJ song “Rearviewmirror.”

2. “Basket Case” by Green Day

Now, fall of 1994, 8^th grade, same stupid school. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg released their debut albums at this time (which I had both). For me, nothing in music really stuck out in my head. Personally, I was now one of the “cool” kids. For some reason, once we all got into junior high, no one really seemed to care about popularity as much, everyone kinda hung out with everyone. Football players were now playing hacky-sack with the geeks. Girls hung out with every dude, not just the ones who they thought were attractive. I was playing football with the jocks. It was a crazy time.

A little older now, my parents gave me a little more freedom. I was allowed to ride my bike all over town. My best friend Alex and I used to ride to the music store, Coconuts, at least once every two weeks (if not more) to see what was new on the shelves. Now of course at this time, there was no internet to go check out if you liked a band or not before you bought their album. If you didn’t hear a single on the radio, you didn’t know the band existed.

So, when “Basket Case” first entered my ear drums, I was again, blown away. I had never heard punk music before. How could I have never heard punk music before? Where was my Dad on this one? He totally dropped the ball. How did I spent 13 years on this planet and never heard punk. That next weekend, there we were, Alex and I, allowances in hand, purchasing Dookie like every other kid in our class.

Now, many people may argue Green Day sold out, and isn’t really punk, but this is my column, so we’re not going to have that argument. This was punk, and it was being played for the masses. Dookie began my life-long love affair with everything punk, and everything which followed.

PS: As great as Dookie is, I feel to truly appreciate Green Day, all Green Day, you have to go back and listen to their Lookout! Records releases: 1000 Hours EP, 39 Smooth EP (or now you can only get the album 1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours) and Kerplunk. Then go back and listen to Dookie and the rest, and then you will hear the greatness which is Green Day.

More to come...

The Secret Of Youth (I hope this makes sense)

I've never "blogged" before; I always thought it was kinda lame. However, as part of my New Year's resolution, I promised myself to write more, to keep my creative juices flowing. I'm gonna try to keep this as impersonal as possible (no touchy-feely crap). So here goes...

As long as I have been part of the TV industry, I've had many a conversation with my family and friends not in the business about my "party lifestyle." I know I've had the conversation with many of you, and maybe you have possibly had the same conversation with people you know who just don't understand our "work hard, play hard" attitude. I mean, other than a Xmas party and an occasional company BBQ, most professions don't have too many rages. Most of my friends don't understand wrap parties, going bar hopping every weekend, or Wii tournaments with middle aged camera men. I always assumed it was b/c of show business that we did these things.

However, I have a new hypothesis. The other day, I came across an article in Psychology News entitled "Adults Don't Grow Up Anymore." In the article, it states:

"If you believe the adults around you are acting like children, you're probably right. In technical terms, it is called 'psychological neoteny,' the persistence of childhood behavior into adulthood. And it's on the rise.

"According to Dr. Bruce Charlton, evolutionary psychiatrist at Newcastle upon Tyne, human beings now take longer to reach mental maturity - and many never do so at all.

"Charlton believes that is an accidental by-product of formal education that lasts well into the twenties. 'Formal education requires a child-like stance of receptivity,' which 'counteracts the attainment of psychological maturity' that would normal occur in the late teens or early twenties."

To summarize, since people are staying in school longer, getting "better" educations, they are actually diminishing their ability to mature, or in some cases completely halting it.

Anyway, back to my previous point. Like most people, my college buddies all got jobs in the real world. One is an investment banker, one works for a mortgage company, and one is an accountant. (I'll leave the teacher out of this. He's kind of the variable that screws my whole argument. He's still learning, and but he's engaged and owns dogs. All that grown-up stuff.) Now, other than the usual good times they have when I come to town or at the occasional dinner party, neither of these three guys gets out all that much. The accountant doesn't drink at all which was a decision he made back in college due to health reasons. The other two guys, as far as I know, don't go to the bar every weekend, they own their own homes, are married, and lead pretty normal lives. You could say they've matured.

Now, as for me (and I use "me" under the assumption all of my peers in show biz act the same way at least part of the time) although I am an adult, I tend to get drunk at least once a weekend (and maybe one night a week), I go to parties ranging from movie premieres to wrap parties, to parties my roommates and I throw, I play pranks involving wrapping a bedroom in aluminum foil, basically what I am trying to say is even though I am technically grown up, I may not be totally mature yet. 

Could it be the line of work I have chose be the cause of my lack of maturity? Is the constant learning process of my profession causing me to be the party animal I continue to be to this day? I would answer yes. 

For those who don't know, in the TV and film industry, you are always beginning and ending jobs. Jobs last an average 3-6 months. Each show you work on is different and always calls for different ways of handling a production, even in the same position (i.e. Production Assistant, Associate Producer, Director). While there are some similarities to each job, the way I coordinated Punk'd differs from how I coordinated Parental Control. And if you are promoted, you obviously have to learn a new job and whole new set of rules and techniques on how to perform your position on the crew. Even if hold a position for a while, such as a camera operator, each new show includes challenges on how to cover the action, or the best way to get the most beautiful shot. You are always learning new techniques and strategies to do your job and turn out the best program you can. 

People today are getting married later in life. And they are having children later in life. We all know this could be because people want to live their lives a little before settling down. But what do you call a man who's in his late 40's who gets drunk at a Venice apartment and sleeps in the back of his SUV so he doesn't have to drive home? 

All I am trying to say is maybe we (including myself) live this way b/c of our jobs. We a victims of a less-than-normal education process. 

Now, I don't want anyone to think I am shining a negative light on how I or any of my friends act (both in and out of the industry). I am proud of who I am, and proud of my cohorts and minions "living the dream" with me. 

And if I have to give up the profession I love to finally reach the American dream with the white fence and 2 kids, well, then I hope I never grow up.