minus the volleyball

it started back in the 1940’s on bbc…

…a show called “desert island discs”, whereby the guest would have to, among other things, list out eight discs (at the time LP’s, then CD’s, and i suppose now back to LP’s) that they would want with them if they were stranded on a deserted island, that i suppose still had a sustainable power source to enable you to play them? anywho, the same idea has been re-hashed here and there, but most recently by shane as a challenge to me, but i get ten, and they’re SONGS, not discs, with the concept being i can only listen to these ten songs forever. he thought this would “hurt my soul” because of the concept alone, but as it IS just a concept i can do this, simply because i know the other 14,990 tracks in my current digital library are still accessible, but a bit more on that on the other end of the list.

the cureinbetween days – it was august of 1985 and i was school shopping before starting high school and wanted something new to blare in my walkman. i was upstairs at barton creek mall on my way to benjamin’s when i saw this poster in the window of camelot music:

since it was the week it came out the full tape was cheaper than the 12″ single (plus those don’t play in walkmans without an extra step) so i bought it. from the opening drum fill i knew i was gonna be a cure fan.

tears for fearseverybody wants to rule the world – the first tff song i ever heard, and still one of my favorites, although it should be noted that if this WAS the full disc challenge i probably would have had a hard time choosing between songs from the big chair (the album this was on) or their debut, the hurting.

depeche modebehind the wheel (beatmasters mix) – three bands anybody who knows me knows would make the list: the cure, new order, and depeche mode. the last being my all time favorite, and it was hard narrowing it down to a single track. i picked this because the first time i ever saw them in 1988 this was the set opener, and this is my favorite mix of it.

nine inch nailsdown in it – i was at robert sepeda’s house watching 120 minutes late one one sunday night in september of 1989 (i had graduated a few months prior, he had dropped out a few days prior) when dave kendall said two words that always perked up our ears: “new” and “industrial”. the network thought so little of their debut they ran the closing credits over the last HALF of the damn video. but i was into it. the next day my buddy rob at sound exchange hooked me up with their promo twelve inch cause they all thought it was crap. not surprisingly i still have it.

ministry – stigmata (live) – before the land of rape and honey came out i got a hold of a sire records sampler that had the studio version of this on it and it melted my brain. i chose the live version because it perfectly captured the intensity and angst in the track, with lots of extra fucks at the end.

(a side note – the ep the above track came from finally got remastered and re-released with the full live set under the album live necronomycon.)

ozzy osbournecrazy train – if you’re ever in lockhart and drive past the football stadium on highway 20, you’ll see a stately red brick home across the street from the stadium that is one of very few in town to have an actual BASEMENT…and in that basement miki visage, who was friends with my buddy todd krause (both their older brothers were in the same grade in high school) stole some records from her older brothers room and i recorded them onto shitty centron blank tapes (three for a dollar) and the first record was blizzard of ozz. why? because all the right wing bullshit i’d heard about the satanic motherfucker that recorded it and the scary looking shirts i’d seen james hilsher wearing in sixth grade. this was the summer of 1983 and i was about to start junior high – time to see what all the fuss was about! turned out to just be awesomeness and it kick started my heavy metal years. that, in case you’re curious, is one of the main reasons i have my ozzy tattoo – to remind me that my perception usually differs from that of the “normals”.

public enemybring the noise – my first public enemy tape was it takes a nation of millions… and the first real track on it is “bring the noise”. five years later i was swapping lines of the song with chuck d himself at the back room while the crowd egged me on. no bullshit.

beastie boysshake your rump – again, another album opening track from one of my favorite albums of all time (and the only time i ever filled a sundance records stamp card and got some shit for free), paul’s boutique. no question the album would have made the cut if this had been an album list, and the live version i heard the first time i saw them in 1992 was slamming. shit, my first snake was named “clarence” after a line in this track.

new ordersub-culture – so, right as i started high school erik fortman came by my house with three twelve inches i was gonna record to check out: depeche mode’s “it’s called a heart“, o.m.d.’s “so in love“, and new order’s “perfect kiss“. the first and last i liked enough to get the full tapes of (catching up with depeche mode and low-life, respectively) and my favorite track of that last one was this.

and finally…

the policeevery little thing she does is magic – i’ve loved most of the police’s catalog, and this track always makes me think of the ufc, so i figured it was a nice way to close things out.

(it should be noted if you wanna listen to my “4ever 10” and have apple music you can do so here)

shane – your turn.

3 comments… add one
  • Shane Sep 9, 2018 @ 23:54

    The best, and worst part about this game is your list changes as you hear it and realize whats missing.

    My first was …

    Under Pressure (still on it, Mercury and Bowie make that song)
    Dirty Deeds
    Benny and the Jets
    Whiskey River
    The Wall
    Die Motherfucker Die (for the sheer anger of the song)
    Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (great unplugged)
    Sanitarium
    Moonlight Sonnata
    What A Wonderful World

    But those 10 changed after thinking of everything that I missed.

    Fun game, but totally futile.

  • Shane Sep 10, 2018 @ 0:03

    So much I would miss…

    Beastie Boys
    NiN
    Ministry
    Hank
    Toomany more to list.

    But not a bad playlist,huh?

  • sean M Sep 10, 2018 @ 18:16

    I get that – I also missed INXS, Lenny Kravitz, Metallica, and the entire EDM genre. Good list though!

    I took some liberties here but I put Shane’s list out on Apple Music as well. I assumed “The Wall” was in reference Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick…” and the only version of “Die Motherfucker…” was live, but that segued nicely into the Nirvana track. Oh, and just to show I collaborated “Moonlight Sonata” is played by Alan Wilder from Depeche Mode.

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