When school was still taking hold in those later days of September, the air dried up and things seemed more vital. It can’t be that different these days for kids in school. Granted, I was a weird kid, but once that initial dread and monotony of the school day took hold, it wasn’t all that bad. Okay yeah it was that bad, but once the callouses that had softened over the summer break started to re-form, you could deal with it for the most part.
There was always some new album or movie that would come out around the end of summer or early fall. Plus, there were always some kids willing to swap whatever albums they obtained over the summer months so that we could tape our own copies. Then you’d have two new (even if it was old stuff it was still new to you) albums on one cassette. I also remember bringing blank cassettes over to friends' houses just so I could use their stereo system to record whatever albums their parents and/or siblings had. So much gold.
I remember some of those tapes. Some I still have, I think. The awesome 120 minute Maxell that had Tonight’s the Night, On The Beach and Zuma on it. That one inevitably broke, as did a lot of the 120 min cassettes. I also had a few cassettes I’d primarily record 45s onto. Weird stuff. One off hardcore 7-inches, promotional crap, Dickey Goodman’s Mr. Jaws, and more. I’d be fascinated by certain B sides. There was so much out there. There still is, I know, but it mostly hits different now. Maybe that’s the mortality talking.
Tom Petty always had cool B sides. It’s ‘Raining Again’ or ‘Trailer’. Or ‘Make That Connection’. Stuff like The Replacements “I’ll Be You” single, with the B side being ‘Date to Church’ (with Tom Waits!) or Petty’s ‘You Don’t Know How It Feels’ with the immortal ‘Girl On LSD’ on the flip. I still have a ton of these old 45s. I still have some 45s from an old busted jukebox some friends and I found in the woods way back when. The '80s. Who the hell dumps a jukebox out in the middle of the woods? Those cassettes and albums got me through lots.
I know I could go on and on like some penny ante Michener, trying to gather as much imagery as I can to convey that autumnal feeling, where everything around you is dying yet the color of life becomes more vivid. It’s a reminder. Live. Get out there and live. Try and fit 3 albums onto that Maxell 120.
For the record, I also remember bagging high school on a fall Thursday in 1990 or so to go watch Goodfellas at a local theater in PA. Twice. Snuck in the second time for free. Sorry, Marty.
Songs that weren’t harmed during the typing of this blahg:
John Prine - The Late John Garfield Blues
The Go Betweens - Cattle and Cane
Aaron Neville - Let’s Live
Bud Powell - Dusk in Sandi
The Shirelles - Please Go Away