Hey kids, how goes it?
For me, it goes pretty well. Long day at the office, but then after a three day weekend they're all long. The upside is that the week is shorter. Yesterday's post was a little intense, right? A little to much of a look into my personal side and not just an advocacy for awesome things we've forgotten. How's about we fix that with the opposite, something poppy, bubble-gummy and easy to sing along to, with none of the guilt that comes with socio-political factors and grand-scale machinations? Let's cut to the heart of the issue.
Sometimes when describing why I do this, why I expend hundreds of words each day on something we've all moved past, I try of think of an example, something to codify what drives me. The subject of today's post is absolutely on the nose in regard to mt raison d'etre. You see, back in the mid 90s I had only a burgeoning internet set up - nothing even remotely close to how we're all spoiled today, where we can stream Netflix at 10,000 feet (but don't do that please, you ruin the in-flight wi-fi for everyone else). When I saw a video on MTV I had three options - never hear it again, pray it got airplay or just buy the song myself, which usually involved more cash than I could spare. Wanting the most bang for my buck, if I liked a band I would take a risk on the whole album and not just the single. A great band would reward me with an amazing album, like when hearing one Smashing Pumpkins song convinced me to buy the sprawling Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness. Other times, not so much.
Sometimes, as I've certainly shared, there have been songs that earned a week or two of buzz on MTV, only to disappear into the ether, to be summoned only when I hear them at a bar or a random spin through the iTunes store. I'm done pirating music - too many of my friends and family are musicians and artists for me to lie to myself about how it's okay and justifiable. It's simply not, no matter the reasoning. So every now and then a song pops into my head, summoned by some random stimuli, to bring me whooshing back to older days when I first hear them. This past weekend I was having lunch with at my in-laws abode, strumming on an acoustic guitar when I suddenly recalled a snippet of alt-rock I once loved. It was the flash-in-the-pan, gloriously conceived 'Sucked Out' by (sorry guys) one hit wonders Superdrag.
Being deigned 'Buzz Bin' worthy by MTV in the mid 90s earned them a bit of praise and attention for their major-label decrying single 'Sucked Out', which was a fantastically written little pop song about losing the feeling in purpose. It's a great song with a simple, accessible and hooky style that immediately grabs the listener and won't let go until you're singing along with the hook. The song (and accompanying video) have this great Kinks vibe to them, accentuating the clean guitar parts and retro feel to the track, which showed the promise that Superdrag had. Sadly, the band never hit the same heights, despite constant touring and subsequent albums. The took a hiatus in 2003, only to reconvene in 2009, to high praise.
I had totally forgotten this great song and how I wanted more of the video back when it would play sporadically on MTV. I hated the elusive nature of never being able to pin down songs and hear them more than once without shelling out more than a few dollars. Now I'm okay with 99 cents going towards having it forever. This band had a phenomenal hit that a ton of people loved and enjoyed, only now we forget that it was ever there. Hopefully you can remember why it was great. It really, really was.
For me, it goes pretty well. Long day at the office, but then after a three day weekend they're all long. The upside is that the week is shorter. Yesterday's post was a little intense, right? A little to much of a look into my personal side and not just an advocacy for awesome things we've forgotten. How's about we fix that with the opposite, something poppy, bubble-gummy and easy to sing along to, with none of the guilt that comes with socio-political factors and grand-scale machinations? Let's cut to the heart of the issue.
Sometimes when describing why I do this, why I expend hundreds of words each day on something we've all moved past, I try of think of an example, something to codify what drives me. The subject of today's post is absolutely on the nose in regard to mt raison d'etre. You see, back in the mid 90s I had only a burgeoning internet set up - nothing even remotely close to how we're all spoiled today, where we can stream Netflix at 10,000 feet (but don't do that please, you ruin the in-flight wi-fi for everyone else). When I saw a video on MTV I had three options - never hear it again, pray it got airplay or just buy the song myself, which usually involved more cash than I could spare. Wanting the most bang for my buck, if I liked a band I would take a risk on the whole album and not just the single. A great band would reward me with an amazing album, like when hearing one Smashing Pumpkins song convinced me to buy the sprawling Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness. Other times, not so much.
