crying hey man this is babylon

I came to Soul Coughing at almost the same time I came to Burroughs, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Underworld, and jazz that went beyond Kind of Blue.

See, this is why the loss of Tower Records is going to seriously hurt a generation of young artists, because it was in a Tower Records that I found all of these things. Sure, it's great to have the convenience of buying and instantly downloading records and stuff, but the damn kids today who will grow up without ever setting foot in a record store or talking to a hardcore music geek who works there just don't know what they're missing.

And they're missing a lot.

It was one of the most inspiring and eye-opening times of my life, and whenever I listen to Ruby Vroom (which I'm doing right now) I'm reminded of that time. I can feel it in my brain and in my bones. I remember staying out all night with my friend Dave just because we could, not really doing anything more than listening to music and being "artists" -- whatever that meant.

We had no real responsibility other than getting home alive, and it was when I really started writing. I filled up tons of thick spiral-bound notebooks with my efforts to figure out who and why I was. When I read them now, they just make me sad.

It was a great time. I miss it sometimes. Okay, I miss it often.

I miss it right now.

Comments

[Court]

When I was 24, my husband and I moved to Germany. And in that move, we lost the box with all of my journals in it...ages 14-20. When I had exhausted myself looking for that box and realized that it was probably languishing in a warehouse somewhere in London or Hamburg, unidentified, unclaimed, and unfindable, I cried. Those were my memories, and they were gone, and there was nothing I could do to get them back.

Fast forward 6 years. We're packing to move back to the USA. My husband comes down from the attic with a box and says, "Guess what I found?"

And there was much rejoicing. And then there was a lot of reading and a lot of nostalgia. And then there was some crying. And then some more rejoicing. And I discovered a girl in those pages who I had forgotten existed.

Journals are priceless treasures. Even when they make you sad.

Sometimes, especially when they make you sad. :o)

[sarahalyse]

Tower Shmower. There are still lots of independent record stores out there, still full of music geeks more than happy to give you recommendations.

I should know, I am one!

[Patty]

"I get sad because I see how unhappy I was. I wanted to be a writer and an artist SO BAD but everyone was telling me I was supposed to be a big celebrity actor guy. I was only 21 or so, and really flailing around while I tried to figure out who I was."

On a positive note, that's what you've always been, and determination brought you to live it. I have yet to find a person who knew who they were at 21, or did not suffer from the pressure and expectations others had of them, though you probably had a magnified version of it. See it as an encouragement. You were down in a hole once, but now you are where you want to be. Should give you lots of encouragement for any future struggle. :)

[MandyU]

Sometimes I was drifting on a coffee buzz....

...and in college simultaneously obtaining a biology degree, interning at Merck, and being an artsy dancer and choreographer for the college dance company. It makes my heart hurt to think about how completely draining and awesome it was when I was in my Soul Coughing period. It also makes me super proud of myself to realize I've managed to stay true to almost every aspect of who I am. Thank you for sharing your memory so I could remember mine. What a great way to head into the weekend.

[Cinexploits]

Wil -

Get thee to Amoeba.

Now.

Browse. Discover. Relive.

[Wraithken]

I've always been partial to Sugar Free Jazz and Janine. I actually have pretty much everything by Soul Coughing and Mike Doughty.

Music stores were cool, but I got most of my best music from hanging with my musician friends.

[Monkus]

Wil,
Next time your in Portland, OR, Head on over to Everyday Music. There are 2 of them. I prefer the one on Burnside, downtown. I spent hours perusing the bins there filling my bag with Jazz and oddities. I paid for them of course, well most of the time. I would then go down the street 2 blocks to Powell's City of Books (I'm sure you know it) and spend more hours with Hemmingway, Kerouac, and the rest of the Holy Barbarians. Wow, I miss it too. I'm gonna go make some coffee.....

[moonsammy]

I was / am more of a Soul Coughing fanatic than a fan. If you dig the band, make an effort to find some of their non-album tracks, as they are just as good as anything that was officially released. My favorites are:
- Lemon Lime
- The Brooklynites (this did show up on some sort of soundtrack / compilation, but I'm not sure what)
- Freelancer (some of this made it into Doughty's song with BT 'Never Gonna Come Back Down')
- Needle to the Bar
- The Coffee Song (Frank Sinatra cover, Yuval Gabay does most of the vocals!)

There are many more, but those are, IMHO, the most awesomest. Anyone curious, feel free to drop me a line and we can try to figure out how to provide you with some portion / all of my archives :) (mikepaquette at gmail)

[JenEnz]

How coincidental that all things related to vinyl have been popping up on the Internet. Spent many hours of my teenage and young adult life at Tower Records on Columbus & Bay in San Francisco. Remembered how exiting it was to find the "Let it Be" import, complete with a thick color book of the movie included. Or early Split Enz vinyl, Sparks vinly imported from the UK (because they just weren't that big in the States then). And was the place to buy copies of Melody Maker, NME, any fanzine.

I took a road trip to LA last November to see "Wicked" at the Pantages Theatre and had to walk up Hollywood and Vine to stand in front of the Capitol Records Building. What was once majestic was now run down. I guess it's the sign of the times for the recording industry. Still, am glad it's still there.

[mr.f]

Back in '96, my wife tried to get me to listen to Soul Coughing. I wasn't ready. Then in early '97 a coworker dragged me to a live show here in Seattle and I was hooked. My wife still ribs me for that (though luckily not on her blog :)

This weekend I was in Texas for a cousin's wedding. My trip back connected through Houston and of course I had to listen to El Oso on the flight in...

[Glenn Rubenstein]

Super bon bon, super bon bon.

[Meili D]

I agree, it creates a disconnect as shops are closing. It's supposed to be cheaper, but then sometimes you don't even HEAR about some of these artists, even with the Wonderful Wacked Web...