You wonder who the tall gentleman in the picture is?? Well, let me tell you. Meet Kim Simpson, a resident of the Austin, Texas music scene. Kim and I grew up together, in the somewhat backwards town of West Valley City, Utah. Kim and I met during our band experience at Kennedy Junior High School. Kim was in 7th grade, I was in 9th. We hit it off, right from the get go. We were both music enthusiasts, and we got along very well. We immediately began hanging out with each other, and at each other's houses. Through our high school years, we were nearly inseparable, even though we were going to different schools.
My high school years were spent at Murray High School, which is in the central part of the Salt Lake valley. I was supposed to a
----------------
Now playing: The New Pornographers - Chump Change
via FoxyTunes ttend Cyprus High School, in Magna, Utah, but due to it's "sinking", they ended up doing double sessions with a junior high school. I did not feel like going to school at 6:00 in the morning, so I decided to follow my older brother Ray, and attend Murray High School, where our father, Peace Officer Calvin C. Dahl, was the resident policeman on campus. Kim ended up going to Cottonwood High School, in Holladay, Utah, as his older sister did. Some of my life's fondest memories were experienced during the summer of 1984, when my parents were out of town for over a month, and Ray and I were being supervised by a cousin and her husband. They essentially just watched the house, and we would let them know when we were going somewhere. Kim would either sleep over at my house, or I would sleep over at his house. Endless hours of listening to albums, watching MTV (back when they actually showed music videos, and music related programming), or other assorted movies. In my house, MTV was banned by my parents, so we would take advantage of that at Kim's house. Not to mention the times we would sneak it at my house. Plus, back in the good old 80's, we had TBS' "NIGHT TRAXX", and USA's "NIGHT FLIGHT". Those were great programs, as well. We just spent those years absorbing new music, although we were pretty closed minded at the time. We were all about NEW WAVE, and very little else.
Some of my fondest memories were when Kim and I would ride the bus into downtown Salt Lake, and literally walk for several miles in between several music stores. Our favorite was Smokey's Records, at 15th and 15th. Also a regular stop on our adventure would be Randy's Records. There were a few others that would undoubtedly fit in to our tour. Cosmic Aeroplane was another great store, specializing in everything alternative. The upstairs features books and music, and the downstairs section catering to the local Punk scene. Kim and I would make a game out of going to Cosmic Aeroplane and browsing through the bargain bin, and just buy an unknown album on a gamble. Two of the best scores for me were when I purchases FELA JOHNSON, who had one of the most low budget album covers that I have ever seen. It contained 6 tracks, all electronic, and if I remember correctly, performed entirely by Fela. He was featured on the cover with dark sunglasses and no shirt. Fela was all about making a bold statement. The low budget black and white artwork just added to the D.I.Y. attitude of his album. Another great album that I purchased, was by a British band called, THE CORTINAS. With some of the thickest Brit accents ever recorded to vinyl, this band had a great, quirky Pop sound. Now, another pastime that Kim and I had, was trading ownership of some of these albums. It was always fun having fresh ownership of an old favorite. Sometimes those albums would be traded back, sometimes we would end up being the permanent owner of the other's albums. To this day, Kim still has The Cortinas. To this day, I wish that I would have held on to it. But, I still have Fela. And I still listen to it, on occasion. Fela, if you are out there, drop me a line!
to be continued...
My high school years were spent at Murray High School, which is in the central part of the Salt Lake valley. I was supposed to a
----------------
Now playing: The New Pornographers - Chump Change
via FoxyTunes ttend Cyprus High School, in Magna, Utah, but due to it's "sinking", they ended up doing double sessions with a junior high school. I did not feel like going to school at 6:00 in the morning, so I decided to follow my older brother Ray, and attend Murray High School, where our father, Peace Officer Calvin C. Dahl, was the resident policeman on campus. Kim ended up going to Cottonwood High School, in Holladay, Utah, as his older sister did. Some of my life's fondest memories were experienced during the summer of 1984, when my parents were out of town for over a month, and Ray and I were being supervised by a cousin and her husband. They essentially just watched the house, and we would let them know when we were going somewhere. Kim would either sleep over at my house, or I would sleep over at his house. Endless hours of listening to albums, watching MTV (back when they actually showed music videos, and music related programming), or other assorted movies. In my house, MTV was banned by my parents, so we would take advantage of that at Kim's house. Not to mention the times we would sneak it at my house. Plus, back in the good old 80's, we had TBS' "NIGHT TRAXX", and USA's "NIGHT FLIGHT". Those were great programs, as well. We just spent those years absorbing new music, although we were pretty closed minded at the time. We were all about NEW WAVE, and very little else.
Some of my fondest memories were when Kim and I would ride the bus into downtown Salt Lake, and literally walk for several miles in between several music stores. Our favorite was Smokey's Records, at 15th and 15th. Also a regular stop on our adventure would be Randy's Records. There were a few others that would undoubtedly fit in to our tour. Cosmic Aeroplane was another great store, specializing in everything alternative. The upstairs features books and music, and the downstairs section catering to the local Punk scene. Kim and I would make a game out of going to Cosmic Aeroplane and browsing through the bargain bin, and just buy an unknown album on a gamble. Two of the best scores for me were when I purchases FELA JOHNSON, who had one of the most low budget album covers that I have ever seen. It contained 6 tracks, all electronic, and if I remember correctly, performed entirely by Fela. He was featured on the cover with dark sunglasses and no shirt. Fela was all about making a bold statement. The low budget black and white artwork just added to the D.I.Y. attitude of his album. Another great album that I purchased, was by a British band called, THE CORTINAS. With some of the thickest Brit accents ever recorded to vinyl, this band had a great, quirky Pop sound. Now, another pastime that Kim and I had, was trading ownership of some of these albums. It was always fun having fresh ownership of an old favorite. Sometimes those albums would be traded back, sometimes we would end up being the permanent owner of the other's albums. To this day, Kim still has The Cortinas. To this day, I wish that I would have held on to it. But, I still have Fela. And I still listen to it, on occasion. Fela, if you are out there, drop me a line!
to be continued...
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