Tuesday, August 03, 2010

This morning I forgot to make a new cd of this week's Economist audio edition and so I started rifling through cds in my car from years back when I used to actually listen to music in the car. My parents had my car detailed while I was in Greece on my honeymoon, and one of the consequences of that awesome thing happening is that my cd case is in the trunk in a bag with all the other things that were in my car except for things in the dash compartment. This left me with Margerine Eclipse by Stereolab, and a Cd of many albums by NOFX, Randy, and Rancid. I ended up listening mostly to songs from Rancid's Life Won't Wait which I had forgotten is one of my favorite of all time. Rancid completely backtracked from that awesome still developing new awesome sound they had on that album and all their albums after that are... just fine. Or bad. Mostly they decided that new fun sounds were not cool and they would make songs like people have made in the past though. That album is so good! It reminded me of the best job interview I ever had for a job I didn't end up taking(because at the time I was holding out for $6.00/hr and they were only paying $4.75). I was interviewing at a blockbuster music and right off the bat, BOOM, they asked "Ok, so let's start with your top five. Go." I was dumbfounded. Completely unprepared for such a great question. I remember I said 30 Something, and probably the Pink album, and then I think I started talking about what I was listening to right then so as to have some modern relevance at all in my answers. I know I said Reel Big Fish and probably also mentioned I was listening to alot of Less Than Jake at the time. Great question for a job interview, but, from High Fidelity...:

'What are your five favorite records of all time?' she says.
'Pardon?'
'What are your all-time top five records? Your desert island discs, minus - how many? Three?'
'Minus three what?'
'It's eight on Desert Island Discs, isn't it? So eight minus five is three, right?'
'Yeah. Plus three, though. Not minus three.'
'No, I just said . . . anyway. Your all-time top five records.'
'What, in the club, or at home?'
'Is there a difference?'
'OF COURSE . . . ' Too shrill. I pretend I've got something in my throat, clear it, and start again. 'Well, yeah, a bit. There's my top five dance records of all time, and then there's my top five records of all time. See, one of my favorite-ever records is 'Sin City' by the Flying Burrito Brothers, but I wouldn't play that at the club. It's a country-rock ballad. Everyone would go home.'
'Never mind. Any five. So four more.'
'What d'you mean, four more?'
'Well, if one of them is this 'Sin City' thing, that leaves four more.'
'NO!' This time I make no attempt to disguise the panic. 'I didn't say it was in my top five! I just said it was one of my favorites! It might turn out to be number six or seven!'
I'm making a bit of a fool of myself, but I can't help it: this is too important, and I've waited for it too long. But where have they gone, all these records I've had in my head for years, just in case Roy Plomley or Michael Parkinson or Sue Lawley or whoever used to do My Top Twelve on Radio One contacted me and asked me in as a late and admittedly unknown replacement for someone famous? For some reason I can think of hardly any record at all apart from 'Respect,' and that's definitely not my favorite Aretha song.
'Can I go home and work it out and let you know? In a week or so?'

Seriously, Nick Hornby has this exactly right. I can't just spit out five records all the sudden like that! COME ON! Anyway. Fun memory. This has been my me channeling Wil Wheaton post.

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