I last posted on this blog on December 22nd, 2016. That is almost 8 years ago. Initially, I started Meat & Potatoes Rock as a creative writing outlet, with most of the topics about music. The first post on this blog was September 14th, 2014, which was an announcement that I was starting the blog. Incidentally, I also joined Instagram in September 2014, unleashing my first post on September 25th. It was of The Gaslight Anthem, who I had recently saw at Rebel. On IG, I initially posted sporadically, without any consistent theme, but around 2015, I started focusing on posting music, specifically vinyl records. Maybe you follow my Instagram account @teddybvinyl (likely because the link to this blog is in my profile now & how else would you find this place?!).
Anyway, this return blog is about the blog but as you may gather, the blog and IG are interconnected. But back to the blog: the first 4 months of the blog yielded 6 posts, most of which were fairly in-depth as I had topics swirling around in my head for YEARS, so they were pretty much written already. 2015 yielded only 5 posts and 2016 saw the return of 6 posts, with the promise of more. However, I was also posting a lot on Instagram, gaining new followers and making real life friends. It was much easier to post on Instagram - you take a picture of a record/cd/cassette, write a couple of lines, hit post and viola, done. The blog requires you to sign-in, write more in-depth stuff, maybe have a theme, maybe try to hyperlink something, maybe include a few images; it's just more effort. I never said I was stopping the blog, but I also never logged into Blogger again, until today, that is.
For years, posting on Instagram was part of my daily routine. I participated in monthly vinyl challenges, I commented on posts, replied to comments on mine, and discovered (and purchased) a whole lot of music. About a year ago, as Pulp sang, something changed. There was the dreaded algorithm, yes, and maybe because of this, a lot of my OG IG #vinylcommunty friends left the platform or at least stopped interacting on it. I still have a lot of great friends on IG, but I miss seeing posts from people that initially welcomed me into the community. I also felt, why does anyone care what I think about the new Olivia Rodrigo album? Did anyone really care, ever? This was an existential crisis. I took more breaks from posting; I even announced that I was stepping away at the end of February. Which lasted 3 weeks, until like Tom Petty, I came crawling back.
Then I took another month off (no announcement this time, sometimes I like to be mysterious), before quietly returning in August of this year, around the time my favourite band of all time, Oasis (see blog post #2, October 15th, 2014, for the details), announced their return. Also, holy shit, Oasis actually reunited! A subject for another blog post (yay, there will at least be one more post). And I was on a good roll, posting daily and joining a September vinyl challenge, curated by my friend Trudy. And then I stopped again. This time, it wasn't the dwindling engagement or losing followers who were likely bots anyway, it was life. I don't really get into personal stuff on IG or online but I've been making a lot of trips from Pickering, where I currently live, back to my hometown in Burlington (Ontario, Canada, for you non-Canadians reading) and spending some good quality time at Joseph Brant Hospital. So regular posting on IG has stopped - with the exception of highlighting when there is a new blog post. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?
Back to the blog again, sorry for all the cross-cutting, I tend to do this a lot! During one of my hospital visits, I typed in meatandpotatoesrock.blogspot.com and started reading the old blog posts. Three things stood out: one, I seem to be able to retain a lot of random information about where, when and who I was with when I bought literally every album in my collection. Two, when I wrote a post, it was full commitment to the subject, with no stone left unturned. Three, the writing was not bad. And I remember it being fun to write a blog post (ok, that is 4 things now).
One of the last blog posts I wrote was called "Music For Commuting Vol. 1", where I attempted to chronicle which CDs I listened to that week on my daily commute from Pickering to Toronto (where I work). Oh the days where you had to go to the office everyday...while I miss seeing people, I don't miss the drives. My car then had a CD player, as it does now, given it is the same car. This was going to be a regular column on the blog.
On a good day, the drive from Pickering to Burlington is one hour. I drove down initially on Saturday September 7th. I was in a rush, and only had 2 CDs in the car. They were both by The Wallflowers, a band I have not listened to in forever. The albums in question were "Breach" (my hands down favourite Wallflowers album, seriously needs a vinyl reissue) and "Rebel, Sweetheart" (also solid). My parents live about 5 minutes from the Beat Goes On, so after a hospital visit, I decided to buy a few used CDs to act as the soundtrack on the return drive to Pickering. I picked up 4 used CDs for $25 CAD all-in, pretty good value.
So, after 7 long-winded paragraphs of writing, the subject of this blog is "Music For Commuting Vol. 2, Eight Years Later".
First I listened to The Watchmen's "Brand New Day", which I picked up for $3.99. This was a CD I bought on release day in 1996, but I must have sold it in the late 90's when I needed beer/KD money because it was the only Watchmen album missing from my collection. And that just won't do as The Watchmen are a kickass band (they have been featured in previous blog posts).
The big hits on this album were "Incarnate", "Shut Up" and "Zoom". And this trifecta is still awesome. But my favourite on the album is the piano ballad "Beach Music". Close to 30 years after release, it still hits in all the right ways. I hopefully have it hyperlinked below (hey, it's been 8 years).
I then listened to R.E.M.'s "Life's Rich Pageant", which was $4.99. R.E.M. are one of my all-time favourite bands, but I got into them during the Warner Bros. years in the 90's, thus I only have ever owned compilations of their IRS years on CD. I have all the IRS albums on vinyl and play them regularly. Guess I gotta complete the CD discography now. Anyway, I have many favourite R.E.M. songs, and "Fall On Me" is defnitely one. Ditto "Cuyahoga". Just a killer album through and through.
I also bought "Fables Of The Reconstruction" for $4.99. "Driver 8" is another all-time fave and, hey, The Watchmen have covered that tune in concert. Full circle moment.
My most expensive pick-up of the day was the Beastie Boys' "Hello Nasty" for $8.99. I used to think that "Ill Communication" was my fave Beasties album, but then I got "Hello Nasty" on vinyl and damn, it is incredible. I'm a late bloomer in my appreciation for the Beastie Boys, and I fully regret that my parents caught us as we were trying to sneak off to Lollapalooza in 1994 when they were the headliners or at least on the bill, as I never saw them live. My favourite tune on "HN" is "The Move", which samples the Los Angeles Negros' "El Rey y Yo" at the end. I think it took me 3 years to realize this was a sample...just incredible, especially when the beat kicks in. Hyperlink below!
I then headed back to Burlington on the Wednesday morning and after my hospital visit Thursday, decided to go to my high school record store, Looney Tunes. One quick point. I think everyone deals with stressful situations in their own way. A record store always calms me, even if it's just aimlessly browsing. For 30 years, this has been my go to stress reliever. Looney Tunes is an awesome shop, still run by the owner Paul, as it was in high school. Looney Tunes also sells used CDs so I grabbed a couple for $8 each.
First in the player was Dire Straits, "The Very Best of Dire Straits". I like Dire Straits, but only own a couple of their albums on vinyl. This hits package ticks a lot of boxes for the casual fan in me - "Romeo & Juliet", "The Sultans of Swing", all the "Brothers In Arms" hits, plus some killer live tracks. Perfect driving music.
I will def get flak for my second Looney Tunes pick-up (sorry Christopher Bean), "All The Way: A Decade Of Song" by Celine Dion. Look, Celine's voice is awesome. The video for "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" rules. As does the song "To Love You More". We likely do not need to speak about her duet with R. Kelly again, but the other hits on this comp slay.
I always look in the Oasis section at any record store I'm in - both vinyl and CD (and if there's cassettes, I look there also). The Beat Goes On was no different and imagine my surprise when they had the CD singles for the "Dig Out Your Soul" songs "I'm Outta Time" and "Falling Down", which are 2 of the 4 Oasis singles I'm missing. For some reason, the first time I visited the Beat Goes On, I left them, tempting fate. So when I went back and they were still there, I quickly grabbed them and paid.
I now realize I bought 8 CDs in the span of 3 days. They were all used, but I can't remember the last time I bought a CD. I think the last few weeks being in my hometown has definitely brought back some nostalgic feelings and CDs were a huge part of my 90's musical awakening. So maybe it does make sense. Plus, you can't play records in a car. At least not safely.
As for the blog, I don't know if people even write (or actually read) blogs anymore, like Hall & Oates sang, I could be outta touch. But I'm going to work to keep this up for a bit. It's encouraged me to start writing with some structure again, which is a win.
Thanks for reading. Until next time.
