Post #93457 by donhonyc on Sat, May 29, 2004 2:00 AM

Got a little story for you all about The Buggles, et al. If you're interested pull up a Mai Tai and lend me yer ears:

1979. A record store opens up in my neighborhood at a nearby, very suburban shopping plaza. It was a very interesting time. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 'Damn the Torpedoes' and Neil Young and Crazy Horse 'Rust Never Sleeps' had just come out. Simultaneously New Wave was just begining to break. So at this record store (run by a young guy who I can only describe as a guy that looked like Sting, but with long stringy hair instead of spiked hair) there was an new/ old-fashioned looking Wurlitzer jukebox that you could play tunes on for free when you came into the store. This thing was packed high with brand new New Wave songs that I had NEVER heard before. Not only had I never heard the songs, I hadn't heard anything like them. "Message In A Bottle" by The Police, "Money" by the Flying Lizards, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles, and "Bionic Man" by The Fabulous Poodles were a few of the tunes on there. Some other bands I remember were Bram Tchaikovsky, Flash and the Pan, and Sniff and the Tears. When I heard these songs on the jukebox, it just about blew my little just turned 13 f'in mind! This was a good 2 years or so before MTV was even an idea! Here I was a budding Aerosmith fan (they were still raunchy then) and along comes these crazy-ass songs. I mean just to remember how foreign "Message In A Bottle" sounded to my ears then cracks me up! That is such a radio standard now, but back then it was a really WEIRD song, and so were The Police. 'Regatta De Blanc'?....huh?? What's that you say crazy blonde english bass player? I could go on about this, and should probably get off my arse and write a book or something. But that particular time in music was VERY interesting. They just don't cultivate pop culture like that anymore.

By the way I used to drive the Sting-guy owner of the store crazy, because I would come in there everyday and not buy anything and just want to talk about music. I did buy some things on rare ocassion, but whadaya want...I was 13, the only cash I had was lunch money. I did however win an autographed copy of Cheap Trick's 'Dream Police' at this store because I stole a stack of the entry forms filled them out at home, and discreetly deposited them in the entry box when I went back to the store. I still have that signed copy today...25 f'in years later!

THE END :drink:

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2004-05-29 02:02 ]