This is an update from a post from June 20, 2018
The Influential Album Challenge is circulating on Social Media platforms again. I have been asked to participate and am revisiting my picks from 2018.
My first post, found here, was the Soundtrack to Oliver. I am moving chronologically and this post lands us in 1977 when I was 11 and 12.
I was in grade eight in the farming and fishing town of Kingsville, Ontario. At the time, Acceleration (skipping grades) and Retention (failing grades) were the norm. Consequently, one might be in a classroom with students who differed in age by four years.
A student named Jari arrived from Finland that autumn. He did not speak English, so they put him in grade four. I was fortunate to have my early education in England and was moved a grade forward. Consequently, Jari (13) was in grade four and Marc (12) was in grade eight. The figurative playing field was, however, levelled on the literal playing field. At recess, we struck up a friendship competing in sports -- mainly road hockey.
Part way through the year, with graduation on the horizon, Jari was moved to my class because his English language skills had rapidly developed and he was also starting to look like a young adult.
That summer, I was invited to Jari's 14th birthday party. I'd heard he'd made high school friends in his neighbourhood. When I arrived, I was the youngest person there. I can't remember what I bought him (or, rather, what my parents had bought me to give him), but every other gift was an album.
The Influential Album Challenge is circulating on Social Media platforms again. I have been asked to participate and am revisiting my picks from 2018.
My first post, found here, was the Soundtrack to Oliver. I am moving chronologically and this post lands us in 1977 when I was 11 and 12.
I was in grade eight in the farming and fishing town of Kingsville, Ontario. At the time, Acceleration (skipping grades) and Retention (failing grades) were the norm. Consequently, one might be in a classroom with students who differed in age by four years.
A student named Jari arrived from Finland that autumn. He did not speak English, so they put him in grade four. I was fortunate to have my early education in England and was moved a grade forward. Consequently, Jari (13) was in grade four and Marc (12) was in grade eight. The figurative playing field was, however, levelled on the literal playing field. At recess, we struck up a friendship competing in sports -- mainly road hockey.
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| Jack Miner Public School in Kingsville, Ontario |
That summer, I was invited to Jari's 14th birthday party. I'd heard he'd made high school friends in his neighbourhood. When I arrived, I was the youngest person there. I can't remember what I bought him (or, rather, what my parents had bought me to give him), but every other gift was an album.
Someone bought him Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell. The cover seemed maniacal and sinister. Little did I realize it was essentially ballads and Broadway-style show-tunes.
Another gift was the debut album from The Cars. I had never heard anything remotely "electronic". It seemed avant-garde and ultra modern. I purchased my copy a few months later from the Devonshire Mall in Windsor -- spending money I'd earned through babysitting and newspaper delivery.
Another gift was the debut album from The Cars. I had never heard anything remotely "electronic". It seemed avant-garde and ultra modern. I purchased my copy a few months later from the Devonshire Mall in Windsor -- spending money I'd earned through babysitting and newspaper delivery.
In 1982, the song Moving in Stereo was be stamped on my impressionable teenage brain during a scene featuring the stunning Phoebe Cates in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. If you are familiar with the film, you know the scene.
I still enjoy The Cars record immensely. It introduced me to new-wave and synth-pop. The lyrics are quirky and, although it would take me years to appreciate it, ironic. Jari and I drifted apart after I moved to London. I'm glad to have known him for many reasons and this album is certainly one of them.
I still enjoy The Cars record immensely. It introduced me to new-wave and synth-pop. The lyrics are quirky and, although it would take me years to appreciate it, ironic. Jari and I drifted apart after I moved to London. I'm glad to have known him for many reasons and this album is certainly one of them.
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