Saturday, March 13, 2010
A funeral for top 40.
I bought a car in Oct and drove away only to realize that the CD player didn't work. I finally got it fixed in Dec, and then on one freezing morning, I pulled a CD out a little to eagerly, and broke the new stereo. So, since then I have had nothing but radio to listen to. Usually, I live in a hermetically sealed world consisting only of my own (mostly old) music. I should note that for me, my musical adventurousness stopped around 1994. I still keep Liz Phair on deck, and I could probably listen to nothing but Afghan Whigs and The Twilight Singers for the rest of my life. Until two weeks ago, I was convinced that Taylor Swift got famous on American Idol (I don't watch it, clearly). I abandoned staying "current" with musical a long time ago, and my ignorance shows it.
But for the last five months as I have been forced to turn to the radio for my "car"aoke sessions, I have built a deep and meaningful relationship with 93.3. I know the top 40 list by heart. I have bonded with Drake, Trey Songz, Birdman and Lil' Wayne. When "Say Something" comes on, this bitch turns that shit up. Early on during The Broken CD Player Crisis of 2009 - 2010, I heard this one song which was new to me, and thought, "Oh, this is kind of cute...." I actually went to buy it on iTunes later on, thinking it would be a nice addition to my guilty pleasures list. It was Justin Bieber. I felt like a pedophile just listening to this tweener. I felt even deeper shame when I learned that Justin Bieber has one person on his staff whose sole job is to show JB how to "act cool." (Save us, Jesus.)
But as of yesterday, my better half coordinated installation of an iPod connection in my car and I am back to my old self. If you heard someone barreling down the freeway this morning with the radio blasting "Underneath the Waves" or "Fuck and Run," then that was me.
1994 (and its cousins).... it's good to be back!
In celebration of this rebirth, I present to you choice cuts from the world's narrowest iPod playlist... mine:
(Candy Cane Crawl is especially good.... go grab a pack of cloves, start smoking 1988-style and listen for the amazing backing vocals of Ani DiFranco. I am not even an Ani fan, but holy shit. Be patient and keep going until at least 2:20 when Greg Dulli really leans into it. Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers are best played on blast, and better still at night.)
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