The 500 - #469 - The Fugees - The Score

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

My plan (amended). 

• 1 or 2 records per week & at least 2 complete listens.
• A quick blog post for each, highlighting the important details and a quick background story.
• No rating scale - just an effort to expand my appreciation.

Album # 469

Album Title: The Score
Artist: The Fugees
Released: February 1996
My age at release: 31
How familiar am I with it: Somewhat
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Killing Me Softly (Suggested by friends Pam & Kim)
Great Lyric:
"Abstract raps simple with a street format 
Gaze into the sky and measure planets by parallax 
Check out the retrograde motion, kill the notion 
Of biting and recycling and calling it your own creation," (Zealots)

This post will be brief for a couple reasons. 

• I don't have a lot to share about this record. 
• This wasn't a great time in my life.

I do remember this record. It was released in February, but I remember it best from the spring and summer of 1996. The song Killing Me Softly was ubiquitous and it always made me think of the 70's  because I remembered the Roberta Flack version. 

Covers, Remakes and Reboots have always held a fascination for me. When I was a kid, I was always surprised to discover that something I loved had been done before. I distinctly remember learning that Ain't that a Shame wasn't a Cheaptrick song - but a remake of a Fats Domino classic from 25 years earlier.  

However, as you get older, the remakes are from your own history - and you're sometimes surprised when someone younger doesn't realize it. I'm now getting to an age when cover songs are reboots of remakes. I'm also old enough to have watched the 1975 Queen song Bohemian Rhapsody resonate for a third time. In 2018 it was on the ITunes charts 26 years after it was a top 10 hit for the second time after being resurrected in a scene from Wayne's World.

The spring and summer of 1996 was a challenging time for me. I had returned to London after spending 8 months at Teacher's College in Thunder Bay. Sure, I had a new degree and was qualified to teach - but that came with a boatload of debt and job prospects in Ontario were slim. My girlfriend of 7 years and I were separated (She is now my wife ... so that worked out ... but it sure didn't feel like it would at the time).

I actually debated taking a teaching job in Las Vegas. The offer was appealing...

• Full time employment at a good salary.
• A temporary Green Card & assistance to become a permanent resident.
• A cash advance to offset the cost of the move.
• A sizable bonus if you completed 2 years.

However, that summer, the London District School Board (now Thames Valley) hired me for the occasional teachers list. By January of 1997, I was back with my girlfriend and getting a few paid days in the classroom - 11 to be exact - enough to get my foot in the door and, 22 years later, I am glad I stayed.

Some thoughts on this record

I almost put the song Fu-Gee-La on the Spotify mix (as suggested by my colleague Brent)  but, I realized I would never get tired of hearing Lauryn Hill's haunting voice on the more popular track.

I don't understand the interstitial stuff they choose to put between the songs. In an interview, Hill commented that it's supposed to be like an audio film...

"...like how radio was back in the 1940s. It tells a story, and there are cuts and breaks in the music. It's almost like a hip-hop version of Tommy, like what The Who did for rock music." 

Regardless, it doesn't really work for me, it just takes me out of the groove. Maybe that's just me.