A few months ago, a longtime friend tagged me in the Facebook post about your favorite music. As the post went, you were to post the covers from the 10 albums that had impacted your life the most. The stipulation was that you were not allowed to post anything but the cover, along with tagging somebody else to do the same for 10 days.
You had me at hello, except for the part about not providing an explanation. I thought that was stupid. Nonetheless, I followed the rules when I finally got around to the series of posts, knowing I’d eventually write the explanations on this blog. So here you go:
Day 1, “Cracked Rear View,” by Hootie and the Blowfish, 1994: I suspect I was tagged on this thread largely so the person who tagged me could continue to troll my love for this band. And, as I’ve written, I really don’t care.
Sometimes, there’s this group, the band, that fits right in there. For me, that has always been Hootie, from the time I listened to “Let Her Cry” as a heart-broken 21-year-old in college to the reunion concert last summer that provided a weekend of joy in the midst of a summer of sadness as my father faded away.
Day 2, “The Chronic,” by Dr. Dre, 1992: I’d been listening to rap for a few years when this dropped my sophomore year of high school. To this day, I have not heard a better rap album. It came out during an era when “Boyz N’ the Hood” had a significant impact on me as a 15-year-old from rural Kansas, and it introduced the world to Snoop Dogg.
Day 3, “The Best of 1980-90,” by U2, 1998: The album came out in the late 1990s, but the decade it covered was the band’s best, namely the bevy of hits from “The Joshua Tree” to the tune that paid homage to MLK, “Pride (In the Name of Love).” When I wasn’t listening to rap in the early 1990s, I was listening to U2.
Day 4, “Live Era ’87-’93,” by Guns N’ Roses, 1999: I did not completely embrace GNR in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Again, rap and U2. A few years later, during college and after the band’s breakup, I started paying a little more attention. I was hooked and have been since. The live version of “Patience” is one of the best live rock songs of all time.
Day 5, “Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits,” by Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1976: As many of you know, I’ve written about my dad often in the year since he died. We grew up on CCR. It was always on the radio. This was the old man’s favorite band, and one of my final memories of Dad will always be sitting next to him as he bobbed his head and tried to sing several of their songs while listening to this album a few days before he died.
Day 6, “Under the Table and Dreaming,” by Dave Matthews Band, 1994: My first memory of DMB is listening to “What Would You Say” with a co-worker over and over during the summer of 1995 as we worked jobs that sucked at Builders Square. Years later, my wife and I walked out to “Where Are You Going” after saying “I do” and our first dance was to “Oh.”
Day 7, “Greatest Hits,” by The Notorious B.I.G., 2007: Taken far too young, Biggie Smalls seemed to make being big cool, and for a guy who wasn’t skinny, that was awesome. Aside from that, “Big Poppa” is a top-five rap song.
Day 8, “Vault,” by Def Leppard, 1995: One of my earliest memories of 1980s rock was driving around with my brother and our older and incredibly cool cousin. He cranked “Pour Some Sugar on Me” while driving us to an arcade in 1988. Years later, I still listen to “Armageddon It,” among other Def Leppard songs, while working out.
Day 9, “Doggy Style,” by Snoop Dogg, 1993: Snoop wrote many of the jams on “The Chronic,” and his solo debut was a masterpiece. One of the great things about music it that you’ll always tie it to a time or moment in your life. “Gin and Juice” will always take me back to cruising around Burlingame with my best friend Steve as a teen.
Day 10: I cheated on Day 10, posting photos of several covers. Call it a 12-way tie for 10th:
- “Hank Williams Jr.’s Greatest Hits,” 1982: Another nod to my father, who loved listening to Bocephus.
- “Thompson Twins Greatest Hits,” 1996: Every time I hear “If You Were Here,” it takes me back to 1986 and watching “Sixteen Candles” for the first time. Who didn’t have a crush on Molly Ringwald?
- “Fairweather Johnson,” by Hootie and the Blowfish, 1996: Imagine being so successful that selling 2.3 million copies of your second album is considered a disappointment. “Honeyscrew” might be my favorite Hootie tune.
- “Vitalogy,” by Pearl Jam, 1994: I’m not a huge Pearl Jam fan. But one song earns this band a spot on the list: “Just Breathe.” It’s the song I walked out to at my wedding, and it’s one of the songs we played at my father’s funeral. And it was perfect for both.
- “Waylon & Willie,” 1978: My parents listened to a plethora of country while we were growing up, including Waylon and Willie. Some of my best memories of our days in Lebanon, Missouri, were songs from these two blaring at fish fries.
- “Alison Krauss and Union Station Live,” 2002: How can you not love bluegrass? And how can you not love Alison Krauss’ voice?
- “Girl You Know It’s True,” by Milli Vanilli, 1989: Yes, they’re a punchline now, but back in the day, especially for the folks in my seventh- and eighth-grade classes, Milli Vanilli was constantly on Walkmans. I still have cassette my mother bought me for my birthday in 1989.
- “Pump,” by Aerosmith, 1989: We didn’t have cable until I was a senior in high school, but I do remember that “Janie’s Got a Gun” was one of the first music videos I watched. The song endures to this day.
- “Promises and Lies,” by UB40, 1993: I didn’t really start listening to music until I hit the sixth grade. A year later, I always had the radio on, and “Red Red Wine” was on all the time. By my senior year, I was listening to “Higher Ground,” among other UB40 hits.
- “Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?” By The Cranberries, 1993: Man, did I hate The Cranberries at first. And it had nothing to do with them. In the one year I went to Kansas State, the idiot across the hall in our dorm had “Zombie” on repeat basically all year. As such, I hated the band. Years later, I appreciated their music more and even had a crush on the late Dolores O’Riordan.
- “The Hits Collection, Volume I,” by Jay-Z, 2010: My wife and I flirted for months before we went on our first date. About a week before our first date, she was having a bad day and I sent her “Can I Get A.” She asked me out that day. That song isn’t on this album, but many of my favorites from Hova are.
- Self-titled by House of Pain, 1992: If you saw one minute of MTV in 1992, you saw the video for “Jump Around.” Nearly 30 years later, people spring out of their seats at games to dance to this song.