10 albums – Ready Rogers

There are way more than 10 albums that are important to me or mark a period in my life, and because whittling lists down takes far more energy and effort that I currently feel like devoting to this project, here are the top eleventyish albums and a brief descriptor of why.

Not in any order whatsoever. Strike that. In a very general, estimated idea of chronology.

The English Beat – Special Beat Service. First concert, at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. Bow Wow Wow opened. I was 12.

The Cure – Three Imaginary Boys. Just, high school. Nights at the Noh Club in SF.

Japan – Ghosts. Cathleen, specifically, but Julie, Niki and Cathleen. And me. And our obsession with this beautiful music. And Ryuichi Sakamoto.

Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas. Elizabeth Fraser, 4AD, more beautiful music. And that concert at the Warfield with Chris, who drove the Saab and went to the SF Art Institute.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Punch The Clock (& others).) More high school, but bled into college. Steve Dwelley’s wall in Erdman painted with the words of Beyond Belief (or was it Howl?)

The Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead. This was the first Dead I listened to, on the beach in San Diego for freshman year Spring Break with Amy, Amy, Buffy & Susan. I was hooked.

Hüsker Dü – Warehouse: Songs and Stories. Kevin. So many memories. But for this, driving into the Laguna Seca Dead show parking while on blast.

Peter Tosh – Legalize It. This album was on repeat for so long we went down to Abraham’s in Baja and back several times and it was still playing…

Eric Clapton – Crossroads. Michael (bro) and I spent most of the summer of 1990 bumming around Europe. We’d stopped in Rothenburg for the night and holed up in a drinking establishment just outside the city. It was pouring with rain and we listened to all 4 discs of this box set in the bar, talking about lots of life things. And then we decided that it was a good idea to take a run. We ran around the entire city on the raised path of the (covered) medieval walls, but we still managed to get soaking wet. Good times.

Indigo Girls – Nomads, Indians and Saints. You can see where this is going, right? I have a very specific memory of walking into work at The Pacific Mountaineer one morning and asking my boss if she’d ever heard of The Indigo Girls. And I can still see that “Oh honey…” in her eyes.

k.d. lang – Absolute Torch and Twang. Part of my journey of discovery about who I am, was, will be. Difficult time in life, to be honest, but necessary.