Music Monday - New & Fresh

The relic pictured above represents one of the pivotal moments on my path of musical discovery.

It's a K-Tel compilation album called "The Beat: Sound Wave of the '80s" and yes, I had it on 8-Track! I got it for either my birthday or Christmas 1982 - it was near the top of my wish-list that year because it had a few cutting edge songs that I'd been exposed to by MTV. MTV in 1982 was like a radio station on TV. They played music videos all the time, with music news once or twice an hour. No "shows", just music. Hosted by VJs, which were just DJs that you could see. And since many artists hadn't embraced the "Video Revolution" yet, MTV seemed to play pretty much anything that had a video. Thankfully, a lot of the New Wave bands were quick to pick up on this, and there were always many Wave videos in heavy rotation on MTV. At the time I asked for The Beat, it was primarily because it had "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls and "Hot in the City" by Billy Idol. When I peeled the shrink wrap off and plugged the cartridge into the slot, I was treated to 40-ish minutes of excellent early '80s New Wave from several bands I'd never heard of yet, but would soon be hitting it big. The complete tracklisting was:

1. A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran
2. Kim Wilde - Kids in America
3. Haircut 100 - Love Plus One
4. Sparks - I Predict
5. Thompson Twins - In The Name Of Love
6. Graham Parker - You Hit The Spot
7. The Waitresses - I Know What Boys Like
8. The Go-Go's - We Got The Beat
9. Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy
10. Duran Duran - Girls on Film
11. Split Enz - I Got You
12. Depeche Mode - Dreaming of Me
13. Orchestral Manoeuvers In The Dark - Joan of Arc
14. Billy Idol - Hot in the City

See what I mean?? Looking back on that from 2008, only the Graham Parker song stands out as filler. Everything else was at least 90% Gold!

As a result of that one tape, I sought out more music from Depeche Mode, who went on to be a firm favorite of mine right up through their undeniable peak with 1990's Violator album. I also further pursued Duran Duran and OMD (though I wouldn't submit to abreviating their name for years), Haircut 100 and their leader, Nick Heyward's solo career, and earned the right to be smug when Billy Idol became a pop-rock superstar, because I knew him back when he was REALLY cool...

But more than any one artist, it was that feeling of discovery, of knowing and loving music long before the "unwashed masses" that I quickly became addicted to. It led to years of trolling through import record stores looking for the next big thing. It led to great success with my radio show, the Friday Night PartyZone when I would ravenously devour new music from around the globe and serve it up to eager listeners who shared the passion for all things new - and GOOD. I've discovered more new fresh garbage than I ever imagined existed over the years, but stubbornly refused to succumb to it.

Now, in the age of digital downloading, I still keep looking for new, fresh, good music. I've discovered several gems, lots of garbage, and my search shows no signs of ending. There will always be a new "next big thing" and I intend to be in on it before the rest of the world!