Late night listening to Alanis Morrisette- The Collection on my girlfriend's iPod. Reminds me of a friend back home who, in early high school, was a card carrying member of the Alanis Morrisette Fan Club. No Year 7 or 8 music class could be considered whole without Jules giving us a small explanation of the meaning behind Ms Morrisette's lyrics or more generally, why he loved her particular style of neo-feminist independent female pop/rock. These reminisces, coupled with a conversation with JR-E Pty Ltd today in which he stated he was re-entering his gangsta-rap phase (hoefully not a Challenger or Discovery type re-entry) after spending a few years orbiting Planet Tight Jeans Guitar Rock, set me on a path through time back into my various band/genre/artist phases/fads/obsessions.
Phase One: Beatles. Era: Late Primary School. Who could resist my a cappella renditions of my favourite Beatles tracks during classes at Lake Albert Primary School? No one. That's who. I fell in love with the clean cut Beatles, and descended into deep denial when I discovered they evolved into long haired liberals.
Phase Two: Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Era: Early High School, shortly after the release of Blood/Sugar/Sex/Magik.
Mrs Harbon: "So Steve, what are those tapes you have there?"
Myself: "Red Hot Chilli Peppers. They are the greatest band in the world."
Mrs Harbon: "Oh yes, Laurie (her eldest, three years older than I) used to really love those guys. It's funny how you kids all go through these little phases."
Myself: (angrily) "This isn't a phase. I'll never get sick of hearing them."
6-8 months later, we reached the third phase, which was....
Phase Three: Heavy Metal. Era: Middle School. Metallica, Sepultura, Biohazard were all there, but one band reigned supreme: Pantera. Most afternoons you could find me sitting in a room with fellow afficionados nodding our heads in time to Phil Anselmo's (in hindsight) ultra-try-hard-insecure-male lyrics, which are more appealing than chocolate-covered pornographic magazines when you're a hormonal adolescent convinced you're misunderstood. When Mum and Dad took us up to Sydney in 1999 to buy my new school uniform I made a beeline for Utopia and splashed out on my first ever band shirt- a black (of course) Pantera t-shirt with the faces of all four members next to a rusty band logo. How often did I wear it? Almost every day. Dress it up, or dress it down, a Pantera t-shirt will take you anywhere.
Phase Four: Soft Adult Contemporary Rock. Era: Senior High School to 2005. It started with Eric Clapton and exponentially increased in inoffensiveness to incorporate Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Eric Bibb, Split Enz, Crowded House etc. When all your favourite CDs are ones you borrowed from your dad and your mates refuse to let you play them in your own car, that says something about you. I'm just not quite sure yet... I'm thinking of something funny... maybe haircut or conservative voting related, I'm not sure.
Phase Five: Mountain Goats. Era: Present.
Dear John Darnielle,
I like the wallpaper in your kitchen. How were your pancakes this morning?
Love,
your BIGGEST FAN IN THE WHOLE WORLD,
Stephen
PS We should be friends
Stone cold Circumstances
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