One Of My First Albums: "Rock of the 80's, Volume 15"

I thought this would be an interesting thing to do. This year marks the 10th year of me buying albums on my own, although 1998 was when (in a sense) I started. So this is sort of an unofficial way of me going through stuff I got when I started getting into music... and what actually stuck.

When I was younger, my mom and I would head south to Willamsburg, VA, or on one occasion for my graduation, Walt Disney World by car. Yes, you read that right; my mother drove from Philly to Walt Disney World. It was awesome! It took 3 days to get down there, and I wound up getting my own hotel room because the hotel screwed up everything. Hey, 13, your own hotel room at a resort? Just nothing short of amazing! But, really, that's another story for another. Well, one more thing: We came back during the massive wildfires they had back in 1998. It took 2 days to get out the state (I forget why), and after spending a second night in a roach-infested motel, my mom said, "THAT'S IT!"

She literally drove from Florida to Philly IN ONE DAY! Ha hah ha, you should have seen it! Rarely any rest stops, and my mom had a heart condition! In fact, when we got home, the credit card company called her because she used the same card to buy gas in South Carolina and Philly, and she went so fast, they thought her card was stolen! Ha ha ha ha!!

Ah...

Well, I did tell you all that to, some degree, a point. I got the cassette that year in 1998, the year I graduated 8th grade and, with it, grade school (My school was K - 8). Being 13, it was weird; too young to remember the 80's easily, too old to not. So we were at what was new to me then, something called "Wal-Mart". I had never seen one, and in a bin was all these cassettes. Well, I had just gotten all this cash for graduation and among other music I would later buy, I got a copy of something that just LOOKED cool: "Rock of the 80's, Volume 15."

I can't say if any song stuck out, or artist. Maybe Culture Club. Maybe it was the brigh colors. It didn't matter to me, though, it was only $2 and I was rich! So I bought a copy.

I remember bugging my mom to put it into the cassette deck of our new Buick Century Custom. She didn't like it, but I had my own personal cassette Walkman to enjoy it on. I can't tell you how awesome it is to look back at that trip, sitting in the back seat with my mom and grandma in the front, surrounded by comic books, junk food, Lego sets, my sketch book, and some awesome toy I got at Taco Bell for the then-new Jurassic Park movie. Looking at the highway while "In A Big Country" by Big County plays, going to new lands you've only heard of...

So I've had a hankering to listen to this cassette for a long time now and today I put it into my cassette player for the first time in what may be 7 years. It still plays perfectly! I can't tell you how obsessed I was with Dixie Midnight Runner's "Come On, Eileen", a perfect pop song since it got caught in my head so easily both then and now! T'Pau "Heart and Soul" is still as beautiful as ever. Although it is safe to say that I don't like Culture Club or The Knakk. The Fixx "Secret Separation" is awesome, and "When the Heart Rules the Mind" by GTR is just beautiful.

I'm glad to hear GTR, though; it really is awesome hearing some great guitar work. I did some research... never knew they were a supergroup formed by Yes and Genesis. Nice.

To this day, "Coming Up Close" (or as I call it, Welcome Home) by 'Til Tuesday still brings a tear to my eye. It's a really beautiful song. I don't know if you ever got the chance to hear it if you are a child of the 80's or not, but I recommend it. Its soft and delicate, and really interesting.

To me, this tape is exactly what is missing from most pop music these days. Namely, something interesting and fun. Then again, we do have that, don't we? I can see it now: In a few years, people will fawn about how awesome this group or another from MySpace was awesome, like "Cobra Starship" or "Lady Gaga", groups I've never heard of but might need to give a try. Needless to say, nostalgia can cloud judgment and reality...

But this album was always a nostalgia album for me, even when I first bought it at the age of 13. It may seem odd, but I was discovering the 80's for the first time in 1998. It was a wonderful time for me, and its showed one of two things: I'm either really late to trends or really early for the comeback.

The closing song on this album is "19" by Paul Hardcastle. The song is awesome, and it came out they year I as born, 1985. Looking back, its safe to say that this song made it possible to become a fan of KMFDM. Its a fairly straight-forward track, but the way its done is awesome, adding elements of what I would consider metal, or at least industrial, into a pop-laden song that talks about, of all things, the horror of Vietnam. Its an awesome song, I love it... find it!

If you want, check it out:

1. Come on Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners
2. Heart and Soul - T'Pau
3. I'll Tumble 4 Ya - Culture Club
4. Good Girls Don't - The Knack
5. Secret Separation - The Fixx
6. In a Big Country - Big Country
7. When the Heart Rules the Mind - GTR
8. Coming up Close - 'Til Tuesday
9. 19 - Paul Hardcastle

If you can, pick it up. If not... well, you have my review and the track listing. Enjoy!