July 1988: Halfway through the summer.  Working at the radio station on the weekends and (I think?) at the Victory supermarket on the weekdays.  Meeting up with Chris and Nathan for Flying Bohemians jams, and the occasional road trip to the Pioneer Valley.  Teaching myself how to play decent bass guitar by playing along with various songs and albums, and learning how to write my own songs.  Taking a break from writing the Infamous War Book sequel and focusing on a roman à clef instead that I’d been playing around with, along with the first dribbles of poetry.  Pretty much turning myself into an introvert at this point.

The Psychedelic Furs, “All That Money Wants” single, released ?? July. A teaser single for their new greatest hits album that would pop up in a month or so. 120 Minutes jumped on this one, and so did WMDK. I heard it quite a bit throughout the summer.  I was well aware of the band, but this was when I finally got around to picking their stuff up.

Beat Happening, Jamboree, re-released ?? July. I missed this one when it first came out mid-1987, but by 1988 when Rough Trade reissued it, it was a critic favorite in some weird so-bad-it’s-good sort of way. Not the best singers or musicians, they could certainly write one hell of a catchy tune.  WAMH was all over this album when they came back on the air in the autumn.  I’d like to think they’re to blame for the twee movement of the late 80s-early 90s.

Compilation, Lying On the Floor: The Singles, made ?? July. Chris catches the mixtape-making bug from me, and makes his first one that, in turn, changes the game for me. I note how his mix is essentially really cool songs he likes with a well-balanced flow. By the following month I’d take that into consideration and follow suit.  I certainly liked how he borrowed the Standing on a Beach theme for the title, this time borrowing from the Cure’s “Kyoto Song”.

Crowded House, Temple of Low Men, released ?? July. The second album by Neil Finn and Co. isn’t as big a seller and doesn’t have a stand-out single, but WMDK seemed to love it nonetheless. “Mansion in the Slums” was on their heavy rotation that summer.

Siouxsie & the Banshees, “Peek-a-Boo” single, released 11 July. I’d been a recent fan of theirs probably since 1986 when I heard “Cities in Dust” (and also their excellent 1987 cover of Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger”), but when I’d heard this one — as another useless promo single popping up at the radio station, I should add — it completely blew me away. I HAD to buy this album when it came out.

Joy Division, Substance, released 11 July. Definitely a game changer for me. Thanks to 1987’s New Order album of the same name, I was looking forward to seeing what the band was all about and why all the critics loved them. I instantly fell in love with “She’s Lost Control”, “Transmission” and “Love Will Tear Us Apart” — three songs that deeply influenced my bass playing from then on — but it was the magical desperate beauty of “Atmosphere” that won me over. I couldn’t get enough of that song; it even influenced a scene in the story I was working on at the time. I spent many a summer evening playing bass to Side 2 of the tape (“She’s Lost Control” to “Love Will…”), and by the time I was back in high school, my chops had expanded considerably.

Geinoh Yamashirogumi, AKIRA soundtrack, released 16 July. I wouldn’t see this movie for another couple of years when I was in college, but I distinctly remember watching a Siskel & Ebert episode where they reviewed this movie. I remember it because that was when I first discovered that animation didn’t have to be Warner Bros cartoony or Filmation low-budget crappy. The clip they showed completely blew me away and set the course for my 90s anime obsessions.

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Next Up:  August 1988, in which my writing takes an interesting turn, I make one of my best early mixtapes, and a local band gets me (and a ton of others) excited!