For the month of October, I’m selecting a song each day from the decade that has the most meaning to me: the 80s. It was the decade that I grew up in. The period of time where I discovered my love for music — and explored many different genres. For the next 31 days, I’ll highlight a handful of songs that I truly loved and that were representative of the decade. #31DaysOf80sSongs
Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars was a breath of fresh air when it arrived on the scene. The sound was this unusual, quirky mix of folk, jangle pop and Jerry Garcia-like guitar playing. The album artwork was also a statement, looking like no other album cover before it. I realize the album was a bit polarizing, but it just made it so easy for me to love at the time. Songs like “Little Miss S.”, “Air of December”, and “Circle” would lure me into a daydream state. And none of it would’ve been possible without the breakthrough single “What I Am”.
“What I Am” was this weird bohemian anomaly. I thought it was catchy, but, more than anything, its oddball eccentricity is what attracted me to it. There was nothing else like it on the radio. It didn’t sound current. But it also didn’t sound like something out of the past either. In many ways, I’m surprised that it was so successful and so well-known beyond the alt rock music fans that first discovered it on stations like Long Island’s WDRE, Boston’s WFNX and L.A.’s KROQ. I could sense that it was a gift in a brief moment in time — and that moment was gone just like that.
“Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box. Religion is the smile on a dog.”