Pages

Tuesday, September 17, 2002

We live as we dream, alone

Having a Gang of Four mini-concert in my boxer shorts. Oh wait, I mean, listening to Gang of Four while sitting in my Encorswish-donated boxers. That Chicks on Speed song sounded like it sampled We Live As We Dream, Alone, one of their many fantastic songs, from the album Songs of the Free, their third, and probably my favorite (despite the mini-hit I Love A Man In Uniform). I remember very clearly buying their first album after a rave review in Rolling Stone, coming home, unwrapping the 12-incher, putting it on my J.C. Penny stereo, cranking it, and getting blown away. Probably the best live band ever, I've seen them maybe only 4 or 5 times, and that Andy Gill with his amazing guitar playing, his hips moving and mesmerizing me, causing this non-dancer to always move when their music plays. I remember getting a fake I.D. so I could see them in this small club in Chicago back in 1981, when I was only 20. Muscle For Brains is another amazing song from that album, Jon King (the other Jon King) screaming out those first few words, "Don't help me, I can save myself!", and of course the album's first tune, Call Me Up, with Gill and King alternating the vocals.... "It's not so bad in the promised land (It's not so bad in the promised land), It's not so bad in the promised land (How do I fill my days? A force called 'Hard Cash' moves my feet)".

Shit, no turntable, grrrrrrrr. Must go hunting for Songs of the Free on CD. Later!