What’s in my NEC bag May 26, 2018?

What’s in my NEC bag May 26, 2018?

by rick olivares

Slippery When Wet – Bon Jovi

I remember when I first heard “Living On A Prayer” on the radio. It sure was an attention grabber. That Christmas, we went to Hong Kong and I bought the record, Slippery When Wet, at some record store. The same day I bought that Bon Jovi record (my first and only one to date) I also bought my first ever Reebok shoes (the BB 4600) so you know it’s quite memorable. Why did I buy those Reeboks? The film, Aliens. Yes, I noticed that the crew of the USS Sulaco were wearing Reeboks; Sigourney Weaver included. So, going to Hong Kong that Christmas, I had my shopping list:

Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi

Bouncing Off the Satellites – The B-52s

Meat Is Murder – The Smiths (I also ended up buying The Queen Is Dead)

Reebok BB 4600

Since I wasn’t a major Bon Jovi fan, I eventually traded away this album. I can’t remember what I traded it for.

Something Anything – Todd Rundgren

I got into Todd Rundgren because of my love for the Patti Smith Group. Before I got any Rundgren album, I got his Adventures in Utopia album (by his band, Utopia). Adventures in Utopia was released locally. And that made me a fan (more so of the next album, Deface the Music, which is a tribute to the Beatles). One of my cousins, Michael, had a Todd Rundgren album which was Something Anything that featured the songs “I Saw the Light” and “Hello, It’s Me”. And he’d play it during family parties. I was able to get this in the US much later and was able to get a CD signed by Rundgren himself who visited Virgin Records Times Square one time. I lost that CD to Ondoy so getting the LP was a very easy decision.

Signals – Rush

Back in the 1980s, I picked up a smattering of Rush records the first being Permanent Waves that was released locally followed by Moving Pictures. To my knowledge, these were the only two Rush albums released locally. Later, I managed to get the US pressings of All the World’s A Stage, Exit Stage Left, and Hemispheres.

Signals which featured the Rush favorite, “Subdivisions” I never picked up until much later and that was during the CD era. So I only had five Rush records all pre-Signals. I got every Rush album including their last recording, Clockwork Angels, since but all are in CD. So when the opportunity to get a copy of Signals came, it was an easy decision.

This is one band I have never seen live and am kicking myself for not doing so.

Anyways, it was nice to get Signals which I didn’t discover until years after Moving Pictures as I moved on to ska, reggae, Northern Soul, and shoegazer music when I was in high school and college.

Woodstock OST

When I first listened to this three-record album, I only cared for Santana and Sha Na Na. Now I am much older, I listened to everyone. And I am still a fan of Santana and Sha Na Na

And listening to this alongside my Santana Woodstock RSD release, I am having a lot of fun.