the topic has proven to be fertile conversation fodder since.
place and time (age) as pointed out by the guests on the show are everything.
pet shop boys’ actually and introspectiveintrospective were the first albums i can remember getting excited about (i think they were sold as one cassette album by pirates thompson tapes- no doubt familiar to you dubai kids). the double (in dubai) lp marked the moment that music crossed over from background to foreground. my relationship went from passive to proactive to obsessive where it has generally remained since. so even though i haven’t listened to either album in over a decade or maybe even two it retains a strong claim to life-changing status.
but there’s no doubting what my choice would be if necessarily narrowed down to one: achtung baby was manifoldly life-changing. it was instrumental to the deepening of perhaps the most influential relationship of my life – a friendship with my high-school geography teacher. it also served as the beginning of years of sonically exploring eno, lanois and flood soundscapes. the lp marked the shift from a surfacey, literal, lyric-based reading of music to one steeped in the vibrations and science of sound. the zooropa tour was also one of the best live shows i have been to (in a way that is only possible when you’re sixteen) – i was at the one at wembley where salman rushdie was the guest of honor coming onstage with mcphisto and all like i ain’t scared of you mother fuckers. the experience was heightened by the south american couple next to me who were actually having sex standing up while being squashed by the 90,000 fans behind us.
Surprised Nick Hornby isn't on the list. I recall he wrote an article or series in the New Yorker - or the mag that Tina Brown edits, can't remember - about the same topic, about 3-4 years ago.
Something about the music of the pet shop geezers is catchy. I don't miss them now, I don't listen to them. But a friend recently put on Rent and before it had ended, I told him "I like this song." Being an old friend, he reminded me that I used to love it back in the late eighties too.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_c.png?x-id=ec7061d6-be1f-4ba7-a529-6ba7010c8673)