By the time the late nineteen-eighties had rolled around, college radio largely had its own identity, one that almost entirely eschewed artists that got ample attention from stations in the commercial portions of the dial. That was a significant shift from a decade earlier, when an album by the Who, arguably at the peak of their broader popularity, could top the college charts, albeit charts that in their earliest stages. While some stations still afford these legacy artists at least a modicum of respect around 1989, the general rule was to strongly favor the acts that were starting to be … Continue reading One for Friday: Jackson Browne, “Chasing You Into the Light”

When the annual Academy Awards ceremony is finally upon us, the tendency toward retrospective really kicks in. Sure, it’s about thinking back across the prior year in film, but these awards are so storied, so heavy with the weight of history, that thinking back on past winners and past shows comes automatically. No one gives a damn what happened at the Golden Globes twenty years ago, but Vanity Fair will happily devote a lot of digital ink to the Oscarcast of the same year. Reading through that essay of wistful snark brought a lot to mind, including the that way … Continue reading One for Friday: Paul Westerberg and Joan Jett, “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love”