A Different Sunday Morning Round-Up

Andrew, my favorite punk rock Christian, hit 100,000 visits on his blog this week. To commemorate this occassion, he is compiling a list of the 100 Albums that changed his life, in 10 album increments. He has asked fellow blogger friends to contribute their 10 albums, and I was honored to be asked to add to that list. So, for this morning's Sunday round-up, I bring you the 10 that changed my life, complete with audio from each one.

1. The Replacements, Tim. My full length introduction to one of my favorite bands to the 80s, I was TOLD to buy this album by my boyfriend at the time, who was rarely wrong about all things musical. He came to the conclusion I needed this band in my life after I showed him a poem I wrote about drunks (did I mention I wrote maudlin poetry throughout high school? Yup, chalk that one up on the cliche meter). Tim’s cut “Here Comes a Regular” was an almost identical sentiment to my lousy poem, except the song wasn’t lousy. The song was poignant, and a bit maudlin, but brilliantly written, much like all of the ‘Mat’s great tunes--brilliantly written.
Here Comes a Regular - The Replacements


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2. Cat Stevens, Tea for the Tillerman. Salve to a broken heart. It also turned me on to the concept of finding the roots of the music you loved, or possibly the roots of WHY you loved the music you loved.
Miles from Nowhere - Cat Stevens


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3. Def Leppard, Pyromania. This was the album that first made me realize what obsession was. Sad, but true. I loved this band. Posters, t-shirts, buttons, their logo all over my book covers in junior high school. I bought this with money from a paper route I took over for friends in the summer time. I still have a soft spot for this band.
Photograph - Def Leppard


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4. Queen’s Greatest Hits. I brought this album into my 6th grade school Christmas party, and I realized very quickly that my musical tastes were NOTHING like my peers. “What do you mean, you don’t like Fat Bottomed Girls?” Oh, well. I suppose that was the first sign.
Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen


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5. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Born in the USA. Another album that was a gateway to one of my musical tendencies--collecting. From here, I immediately went out and grabbed Born to Run. Then Darkness. Then the first two, catching the pattern yet?
No Surrender - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band


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6. ABBA’s Greatest Hits, Volume One. This was a Christmas present, the year I received my first turntable. I played it over and over and over again, until I knew every word, and was mapping out videos in my head. And this was before MTV had taken hold--ahead of my time, so to speak. What I learned from my closet obsession with the Swedes is that there’s nothing wrong with a little pop music now and then. And that I am a SUCKER for a catchy, drippy love song.
Knowing Me, Knowing You - ABBA


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7. Husker Du’s entire collection. Wait, I have to pick one. Ok, I’ll pick Warehouse: Songs and Stories, because, like Tim, this was the first full length purchase I made of their music. Again, the boyfriend who could do no wrong musically had made me a mix tape, and that TAPE was really the music that changed my life. However, after hearing that tape, I began searching out the different artists on it, and Husker Du played heavy. True to my contrarian high school self, I wanted to start with a Husker Du album that contained NONE of the songs on the mix, and this was my choice, followed closely by well, everything else.
It's Not Peculiar - Husker Du


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8. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I loved this album as a kid; I would play my mother’s vinyl copy endlessly. This was the very first cd I ever purchased, and the first album I realized I could not live my life without. Although my current top Beatles album is Abbey Road, this was the first one that made me love.
A Day in the Life - The Beatles


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9. Ani DiFranco, Not a Pretty Girl. Not my favorite Ani album, and not even the first one I purchased (that honor goes to Dilate). But, this album figured prominently into my mental state immediately preceding my divorce, and helping me realize that I was trapped, and had to go. I still cite 32 Flavors as the most uncanny musical representation of myself, and the title track is a fantastic fuck you to all the dumb guys who think they needed to save or change me. I ain’t no damsel in distress, and I don’t need to be rescued.
Not a Pretty Girl - Ani DiFranco


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And the tenth. I have to be honest, the “album” that really changed my life was not an album at all; it was a mix tape. The boy who could do no musical wrong and I broke up in the summer of 1987, and, like most tragic love stories, a dramatic attempt to woo me back came to pass. A mix tape, with liner notes explaining why I needed to hear each and every song on that tape. THAT, ladies and gentlemen, changed my musical life. It opened the doors to almost every single band I love today, including my beloved Husker Du. And the songs on that tape remained sacred songs to me; even at the height of my mix making, none of those songs appeared on a mix for anyone else, save one person, EVER. You just don’t screw with that kind of mojo. So the song, I’ll share with you is the one song I’ve shared from that mix. My favorite Husker Du song. Thank you, Matt, for that mix.
Keep Hangin' On - Husker Du


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