The Crate: Getting to know us ~ the Rookie set!

Welcome to a new monthly topic here on WebTMG. (well, hopefully monthly anyway!!)

Called “The Crate”, we’re expanding the Basketball style “Questions Goorjian” posts over into the Music column to grab some insights into the wonderful world of Music. We have some varied tastes among us, different tracks for different states of mind. If our questions and chatter in this section prompt just one person to go back and give an album a second chance, or introduce someone to an artist or album previously unheard, then we’ve achieved our goal. If not, it will be a heck of a lot of fun each time we catch up for those Roosters v Blues games and reminisce anyway!!

At today’s jam session, we’re featuring David Ashman (guitar), Jesse Cotton (keys), Jarrod Cotton (drums), Luke Thomas (vocals), and Troy Goostrey (mixing).

So to get started, some fact finding questions to get a quick 101 on some of our musical background tastes…:

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1. Thinking back to High School – when most of us concur we developed our own music taste away from the guidance of parents for the first time – what album would you say defined your time at high school and why??

David:

Man that’s a hard one because I’ve got early years (8 and 9) where there were songs and albums that got my attention, and then there was Year 12 which was sadly my techno era. OK so here goes. Start of high school was a roller coaster ride as it was full of trepidation. Most of my mates had gone to Thorndon High and not Modbury High. Being a nervous lad because of this, there are moments in time where you remember exactly what you were doing and in this case hearing. I remember seeing the film clip for Learning to Fly from Pink Floyd and I loved it. That was probably my intro into music in high school but not the last. The first album that caught my attention was probably ‘Rattle and Hum‘ by U2 as it was being played on a tape deck later that same year in Year 8 at the school water park excursion at the Gully Gusher (or whatever it is called now). I just remember hearing the album that had some rocking tunes with gold ol Bono singing and I was, dare I say, intrigued. Then four years later I was listening to No No No No No No…..go figure?

Jesse:

High school for me was 1990-1994, the Golden era of songwriting with legends like MC Hammer, Sir Mix-a-Lot and 2Unlimited, among many others. Apart from stuff I’d listened to my whole life which remained a constant throughout high school, like The Beatles, I was also listening to radio during the 1990-92 era – specifically American Top 40 with Shadoe Stevens. This consisted mainly of ballads like Vanessa Williams and Whitney Houston, and soft cock hip hop like Heavy D and the Boyz and Bell Biv Devoe. However, I did hear Lenny Kravitz though there, and also heard of him from other places, so got the album ‘Mama Said‘, with Fields Of Joy and Always On The Run. This was on high rotation for me from then on. I also got the sheet music for it, so learnt how to play all of the songs. So I would have to say this was the album that defined high school for me.

Jarrod:

‘Appetite for Destruction‘ by Guns N’ Roses was the album that defined high school for me. My god, I hated that Album! The year was 1988, a new lot of friends with a new set of music influences. I gravitated towards the kids that had strong opinions on the subject.
My head was really into guitar driven pop but really open to anything that sounded catchy. Hair Metal wasn’t it. That was by far the most popular genre at my school. Everyone of my friends had either Poison, Skid Row or Van Halen graffitied on their canvas bags. So when Gunners released there debut all my mates loved it and thrashed it. Hence I got sick of it real quick.
I wasn’t on board from the start I am proud to say.
Some songs from this era are good but I never liked anything too self indulgent which would happen a lot with these hairspray prancing ponces and G N’R came along at the tail end of this, and by that stage I was over it, sorry Axel.

Luke:

R.E.M.’s ‘Automatic for the People‘. I’ve always liked acoustic music, and this album is beautifully written. The lyrics are very ambiguous so you can kind of make up your own mind about what the songs are about. Still a great album today for mine, has stood the test of time.

Troy:

My pick may surprise, so to lock it in I just need to step through some background details. Similar to Jesse, my early influences in High School were driven by Shadoe Stevens, along with the circle of mates at basketball keeping R&B and Rap at the fore. Naturally, a personal pick only would come from here – likely ‘Cooleyhighharmony’ from Boyz II Men, or ‘Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience’ by P.M. Dawn, or ‘De La Soul Is Dead‘ by De La Soul. But that didn’t define high school overall for me as I was in a minority liking this genre overall.
From 1990-94 was right during the height of Seattle grunge and equally the explosion of techno – and those dominated the airplay at any party or function attended right through high school. Like my rap and R&B genres’ most of the techno had enough nay-sayers to omit any albums for overall honours. Although hugely popular, the Use Your Illusion albums by the Gunners were still a bit heavy for some, and Nirvana really didn’t have peak popularity right until the end of high school when Kurt Cobain tragically took his own life.
But the one standout album which was almost unanimously enjoyed and accepted by me and all groups I hung out with was ‘Ten‘ by Pearl Jam. Just heavy enough for the rockers, cool enough for the pop and techno crew, and dope enough for the rappers, it was a staple play at any respectable function from 1991 onwards (including permanent repeat with the follow up ‘Vs.‘ on a basketball tournament trip from Adelaide to Melbourne and back in 1994!!), and it lives on strong nearly 30 years post release today.

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2.  What was the first album you can remember getting for Christmas, birthday or purchasing and what format was it on (ie. CD, Cassette, Vinyl)??  Do you still have it today?

David:

OK first ever album I ever got was for Christmas when I was 6 or 7 and it was Glen Campbell ‘Twenty Golden Greats‘ on Vinyl. Rhinestone Cowboy was awesome. As well as Galvaston, Wichita Lineman, Only Make Believe etc… They just go on and on (the hits that is). But that album cover, I mean boom! (see left!!) I just had to listen to it day in, day out. Sadly I believe Mum and Dad may have given it away or it may still possibly exist in the Ashman Archives somewhere…..

Jesse:

Can I go back to a Sesame Street cassette from 1981? Chipmunks record that I (not Jarrod) won in a colouring in competition? I’m assuming not. Throughout the 80s most of my “albums” were compilations – Smash Hits 86, Summer 87, that sort of thing – so I’m ruling those out also.
The first album I can remember would have to be INXS – ‘Kick‘. The classic 1987 release featuring singles Need You Tonight, Devil Inside, New Sensation and Never Tear Us Apart. Interestingly, Never Tear Us Apart, arguably INXS’s most well known song, was only the fourth single from the album.
This was on cassette, and although I don’t have the original cassette, I do still have the CD. I can remember the joy of getting my first CD in 1991, which was Boyz II Men’s debut Cooleyhighharmony (see above American Top 40 ballads). CDs just looked so shiny and expensive when they first came out. I don’t have this one anymore, it’s End of the Road came a while back. It was so hard to say goodbye to yesterday, but you never know, Motownphilly could come back again.

Jarrod:

‘Bette Davis Eyes / Heartbreaker‘ by the Chipmunks (Vinyl, 7” 45 rpm) 1982.
I entered a colouring in competition in the old Possum pages section of the paper. The picture was from memory Alvin, Simon and Theodore playing some instruments on a stage. The problem was when the prize was posted out, it was addressed to J.Cotton, which was also my brother’s name – Jesse. He had also entered the competition, so there has always been doubts who actually won.
This was probably the first Vinyl I/we owned. I swing between this and the originals on favoured versions, (and mum I’m guessing still has it in there record collection).

Luke:

I bought a double cassette of Dire Straits: ‘Alchemy Live‘. Still one of my favourites, one of the best guitarists ever at his absolute peak. If you haven’y heard Telegraph Road off of this album, do yourself a favour. They also made a video of it. I found out years later that they were planning to film over a series of concerts at the Odeon in London, but they only ended up filming one night because the performance was flawless.

Troy:

My first album was a Christmas present in late 1984, Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA‘. I loved Dancing in the Dark so Santa got me a copy of the album on cassette that year for Christmas. I did have other vinyl albums before this one from Patsy Biscoe (didn’t everyone!!??) and the Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi read-a-long story books. But I’m not counting those as I was too young and who knows if I actually asked for them! Whereas I know I asked for The Boss in 1984!

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3.  Looking at your collection of albums, pick one you look at today and wish you never had in your collection anymore!  Why have you fallen out of favour with it today?

David:

Probably ‘No Limits‘ by 2 Unlimited. Too much drinking of cheap Wipeout and Coke at parties and listening to that crap. What was I thinking….. Again this was around the time at the start of my fateful Year 12 (1992) and later that same year I finally heard some REM albums and grunge popped up. I realised that I was a silk shirt wearing soft cock. Now I’m just a soft cock. Thank goodness for Stripe, Cobain an Co. The Cotton Brothers certainly assisted me in that transition phase also. Thank you lads. Music ey, crazy stuff. But great memories

Jesse:

Haha good question! I’ve moved house 4 times in the last 7-8 years, and each time my collection has gone through a bit of a cull, so there’s probably nothing there that shouldn’t be anymore. So let me approach this from another angle. One of the albums that didn’t survive a recent cut is U2 – ‘Pop‘. This is the album after Zooropa, where U2 decided they were going to get into the dance/techno music scene.
I acquired this album in an unintended trade for The Bends by Radiohead, which makes the James Harden trade look pretty even. I kept it a lot longer than I should have, because it technically was still on loan and I didn’t want the library cop after me. I’m not the biggest U2 fan in the world at the best of times (don’t dislike them, more indifference), and this would pretty comfortably win a poll of U2’s worst album I would say.

Jarrod:

‘The College Dropout‘ by Kanye West would be that album.
I liked Gold digger when it came out and he was the unlikely opening act to U2 when they played at Footy park. I saw this in a cheap CD bin somewhere and thought I’d give it a go. I think I’ve played it through twice and that was it, also the only song at the concert I enjoyed of his was still Gold digger. I have already culled the CD collection down to one plastic bin but that was the first one to go on its way to the Salvation Army.

Luke:

I got rid of all my CDs years ago, so can’t really answer this one. I just stream everything these days. Instead I’ll give you one of my guilty pleasures – I don’t mind a bit of the Dixie Chicks.

Troy:

Unlike Luke I’ve still got all 400-500 CD’s floating about the place, so a very substantial list to choose from here!! There were a few nominated but in the end one which stood out head and shoulders above the rest.
As discussed earlier, finding my music tastes first really attracted me to R&B and Rap – after a brief stint enjoying Springsteen and 80’s Big Hair (hello, Poison ‘Open Up and Say Ahhhhhhh….‘). In the early 90’s, it wasn’t very popular in Australia and I still think there were some pretty good albums released during that time. However by the late 1990’s the market was saturated as R&B had become mainstream and nearly 100% lollipop. For some reason I was still adding the odd CD to my collection from this genre which had kind of lost its way a bit, and from here I give you ‘Unleash the Dragon‘ by Sisqo. I think I listened to it once after purchase and that’s it. What a load of junk that album is!

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And there it is, volume one of “The Crate” locked into the WebTMG vault.

Thanks for reading and remember to stop by next month for volume two, plus check out the other sections and categories for more…