"Holiday" by The Get Up Kids

In the final days of August, 1999, I moved to Boston. It was the first time I had lived somewhere other than Connecticut. It was exciting and terribly frightening at the same time. My first few months in Boston were tough. I had a few friends from college here, but I worked for little money, shared a shitty studio apartment, had no car. I spent a lot of my time walking around, getting to know the city. Being so close to Newbury Street, I spent a lot of time at Newbury Comics. It was 1999 and emo was just about to reach it's pinnacle. I saw some amazing bands and bought some timeless albums at that time.

That September, the Get Up Kids released "Something to Write Home About". It was the first album I ever bought by the band and it seemed to sum up all of my emotions of that that time and place. It is a fall album. It is a fall in Boston album to me. And it brings me so much joy to put on headphones, walk in the brisk air, and listen to that pick slide that kicks off the album...the beginning of "Holiday".

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"Lips N' Hips" by Electric Boys

1990 was a musical transition year. Nirvana hadn't yet descended, but things were definitely in flux. Pop Metal was getting away from it's formula of ballads and anthems and it seemed everything got a lot bluesier. Or funkier.

1990-1992 was the glorious, but short, era that "funk metal" shined. We had great albums by Faith No More, Love/Hate, Extreme, Scatterbrain, Ugly Kid Joe, White Trash, Red Hot Chili Peppers that really let the party of the late 80's continue for just a little longer.

The song from that era that sticks with me the most is "Lips N' Hips" by Electric Boys. It's funky, sexy, european, psychedelic, and metallic all in one. I remember it always being a staple of Lonn Friend's Pirate Radio Saturday Night show and anytime I hear it, all I think about is good times and summer times.

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