Comfort food.

Maybe it’s my age, or maybe it’s my loquacity. But I’ve realized that habitually expressing my opinion is an easy way to pigeonhole myself. So when I’m frequently solicited for music recommendations, I feel pressure to offer mind-blowing suggestions. I feel like I have to live up to some imaginary perception as a tastemaker. Sometimes I just want to discuss songs I enjoy. Not necessarily the ultimate or epic ones. These songs* are my comfort food. When I first heard these songs in college, I knew I was home.

For that reason, I can’t really describe the songs or explain them. To me, they’re great as they are. Maybe they won’t be as revelatory to you as they were to me in college, but I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. (For your convenience, click on the links to open the songs in Spotify.)

“Black Velvet” by The Lilac Time

“Walls Come Tumbling Down!” by The Style Council

“Frost and Fire” by Everything But the Girl

“When Love Breaks Down” by Prefab Sprout

*I realized early on that I was probably born in the wrong decade. In most cases, I found myself more interested in influences of the nineties bands I liked than the nineties bands themselves. That love for historical context inevitably drew me to bands like The Smiths, New Order, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Echo and The Bunnymen, etc. Bands that immediately preceded the big nineties alternative/indie rock bands. For the sake of simplicity, I’m not going to discuss those bands right now. (Besides, hasn’t enough digital ink already been spilled on them? I don’t know that I can meaningfully add to that discussion.)

Advertisement

Episode #16: The Hit

In this episode, I feature a side from an EP that I won on eBay a few months ago.  I did some research and learned it was bundled with the first (and, as far as I can tell, only) issue of a British alternative rock magazine, The Hit, in 1985.  This particular side features a live recording by The Style Council of its soon-to-be-released hit, “Walls Come Tumbling Down,” and a just-record track that would later be issued on the first Jesus and Mary Chain album, Psychocandy.

1. King Crimson – Sleepless (Three of a Perfect Pair – 1984)
2. Colder – Tonight (Heat – 2005)
3. The Style Council – Walls Come Tumbling Down (live) (The Hit 45 – 1985)
4. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Taste of Cindy (The Hit 45– 1985)
5. King Tubby – Dub to the Rescue (Dub Gone Crazy: The Evolution of Dub at King Tubby’s 1975-1977 – 1995)
6. Junior Boys – In the Morning (So This is Goodbye – 2006)

Radio Free Raytown – Episode #16 (10/23/09)

P.S. – I have archived episodes 6-10 and placed them in a zip file.  Download it here if you wish to have them for posterity.