Nostalgia: My Trip Down Late 90's Memory Lane

There was a time in my life when I spent a fair portion of my days and evenings at a place that looked very much like the scene above. My first steady job was at the Fitzy's One Stop, a local Shell gas station and convenience store that was all of 5 minutes away from my house. I worked there for about a year, and it was one of the best jobs I've ever had. The money was pretty good (for a high school job), it was easy, the people I worked with were fun, the management was great, and I got to listen to music all day. I was a stockboy/cashier/deli clerk/handyman and it was a blast. I still remember the names of two of my managers, Lori (the aging Parrothead who wore too much mascara) and Bill (one time winner of the Buckeye 5 $100,000 prize from the Ohio Lottery and part-time Meals on Wheels delivery man), they were two of the coolest managers I've had.

I stocked the shelves and the walk-ins, which, if you've never been in one, smell distinctly of spoiling milk, rotting eggs, sticky soda and cold metal. It's a weird combination of scents that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. When I was on the schedule as a stockboy, I'd make sure everything was full, and then I'd sit on the old white deep-freezer in the back with a book and my CD Player. I think I went through two or three CD Players at that job, all of which had to fulfill two very specific criteria: it had to have 3 to 7 second skip protection (back when that stuff mattered) and it had to fit in the back left pocket of my blue jeans. I had Sony Street-Style Headphones (from which my lifelong OCD need for one-sided headphone cords arose) that were the perfect length to go behind my left arm and stay out of the way.

This was before I started at Ohio State and began my long trip into the depths of music obsession. It was before I had ever experienced the wonder of high-speed internet and the joys of Napster and eMusic, and eons before bit-torrents and promo CDs and ThaBombShelter. Back in those stone ages I had my CD Player, a few choice CDs, and the shuffle button. I was reminded of my old spartan listening habits the other day when I was cruising north on SR-51 from Heyworth, IL. Silverchair's, "Miss You Love" came up on my iPod and I was transported back in time, ten years, 400 miles, and tens of thousands of songs ago, to a simpler time with 12 CDs in an off-brand Case-Logic box in the back seat of my car. I'd keep the same 12 discs in rotation for months, swapping between two or three in a given shift. I still love most of that music I listened to day in and day out back then, and all of it has become linked to who I am musically.

I bought this album after I had heard, "Ana's Song" on the radio. Or maybe it was after I saw them in my first concert ever. Memories are fuzzy sometimes, you know? I won tickets to that concert from CD101 and on May 24th, 1999, Scot Leistikow and I took the 30 minute drive into Columbus. It might very well have been my first unsupervised drive into the city. And that drive is where the story begins, interestingly enough.

Just as we were curving toward the city on I-70E, we spotted a car full of girls being chauffeured by a dad. They were punk-ish type girls, all pink hair streaks and thumb-holes ripped in the cuffs of their sleeves, nose rings and studs all the way up their ears. One of the girls in the back seat started waving her arms at Scot as we sped down the highway. I slowed to match their speed, and they continued to flail and flirt across the lanes. The girl pushed what looked to be concert tickets against the window and gesticulated wildly, pointing and smiling. Scot nodded politely as we both realized that this girl was probably crazy. We parted ways as Scot and I exited the highway and began the epic task of finding a parking spot somewhere near the Newport.

We took our spots near the front of the line, I think we were somewhere in front of Insomnia (before it was shut down and replaced by Bento Go-Go). We were just standing around, killing time and being excited to see Silverchair when who should come shrieking up to us but the same three girls that had been flirting with us on the highway. What a small world. I'm still - to this day - blown away at the unlikeliness of that whole encounter. We ended up giving those girls a ride home after the concert, even keeping in touch through the next year. I actually left Fitzy's One Stop on New Years Eve to go to one of the girls' house as we entered the new millenium (I remember being incredibly disappointed that nothing happened at Y2K). That was the last I remember talking to them. I know the girl who had been gesturing wildly in the backseat of the car had a crush on Scot, but I haven't been in contact with any of them in the nine years since.

"Emotion Sickness" Silverchair

Another of those discs that were in pretty heavy rotation that summer of '99 was Len's, "You Can't Stop the Bum Rush." To me, this album epitomized that summer. I was listening to this album when I was in the parking lot changing the gas prices when they went over $2.00 for the first time (I think it was $2.08 for premium). Folks honked at me as if I had any control over the price, but I just waved and nodded, the sunny sounds of Len pumping through my Street Styles.

It was such a strange and different sound for me. I mean, I heard, "Steal My Sunshine" and bought the album, expecting a pop album. What I got was an interesting blend of Hip-Hop and party beats, it was a refreshing, unexpected surprise. Before last week, I hadn't even listened to it since probably that summer, seeing as how it had somehow missed the ripping process years ago. As I began planning this post, I had to dig my CD Binders out of the basement and rummage through the nearly obsolete media to finally rip this almost forgotten disc.

Some might be embarrassed to have a disc like this in their collection, but it's such a piece of that formative summer (first summer with a driver's license and a job) I will never be ashamed of this album, even as I share this great track with you all.

"Cryptik Souls Crew" Len (if you wanna hear more, just let me know)

They Might Be Giants are a band that has been with me for many many years. I think they've been my favorite band as long as I've been friends with my best friend Pat, which is a weird thing to think about. I've grown up listening to TMBG, following their career, their forays into digital distribution (I signed up for eMusic when I was in college so that I could get Long Tall Weekend and a TMBG Fleece Pullover), their forays into children's music, even their fall from grace (in my opinion). I've seen them probably five or six times (and would gladly see them again).. Recently, I've come to realize that I may have outgrown this band that has been such a part of my history and who I am.

I thought about that when I was ripping "John Henry" last week. I thought about "Mink Car" and "The Else", and my disappointment and betrayl. But once the first notes of "Subliminal" started coming through my speakers I remembered why this band was so important to me for so long, they're just so fucking good. As the tracks progressed, I was transported to that smelly walk-in refrigerator, to that hot parking lot and sitting on that old white freezer. As the second half of the disc hit me, I was left questioning my growing distaste of John and John and their Band of Dans. I was struck dumb by the awesomeness of "No One Knows My Plan" and "Destination Moon". I think I'm just going to have to come to terms with the fact that TMBG in 2009 are not the same TMBG that I loved in 1999 and that they never will be. Much like Pulp will forever been preserved in the perfection of "Different Class" and "His n Hers", TMBG will be crystallized in history on discs like "John Henry", "Apollo 18" and "Flood."

"Destination Moon" They Might Be Giants