January of 1988 is ground zero of my Throwing Muses fandom. It was my first semester away at college. It was my first month back in the U.S. after a few years' exile in Argentina. My beloved favorite band at that time, The Smiths, had just broken up. Morrissey's lyrics spoke so fittingly to my high school years. Who would speak to me in my young adulthood?
Enter Muses track "A Feeling", which appeared on the Sire Records sampler cassette Just Say Yes. I was so instantly hooked on the swirling guitar and vocals, I played that track over and over again. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. I sought out The Fat Skier EP on cassette and devoured it. Around the same time, a new friend pointed me to the Lonely Is An Eyesore compilation on 4AD records. Each song was magnificent, but nonesomuch as "Fish".
1988 was The Year Of Throwing Muses for me, and very likely laid the musical foundation for me for the rest of my listening life.
Join me this Saturday 11/3 at midnight (technically it is Sunday morning) for a retrospective of Throwing Muses and Kristin Hersh and 50 Foot Wave.
It'll be chronological, one song per release, including live tracks and a few surprises.
Thank you to KBOO for the archived audio, you can listen below.
- KBOO