1992 - Deep in post-college wandering mode; somewhere between Guatemala and
the coast of California; in a Subaru that needed a new CV joint, I took up an
invitation to visit my friends, Peter and Tracey, in Lawrence, Kansas.
With small bits of my fingers and half the engine sitting in Peter's
driveway, I had only a Chilton manual to guide me back. So with good friends, and good music, I stayed most
of the summer and got a job to pay rent. At some point, between
nightshifts at the junkmail factory sorting crap by zip-code, I picked up
this swell red tape of horny pop-punk. I had ventured far into
Embarrassment territory. 
Once I got the CV joint in and most of the Subaru back together I Traveled West playing that tape the rest of the way to San Francisco.
The car got towed by the city that fall, and I ended up staying there for 11 years, 3 occupations, 1 wife, and 1 daughter. And the tape made it back to Philly with us.
The other songs were rereleased on Heyday.
There are some fantastic videos out there of The Embos that put you RIGHT THERE in Kansas 1981-82.
ReplyDeleteTo wit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N9E3mv_D6c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycKvGHia5Ms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePJb9kmJk1A
As I was putting the tape away, I noticed the liner notes:
ReplyDelete"...it was never without the gangly awkwardness that made their sound so endearing. It was the voice of an All-American adolescent in a state of socio-sexual confusion. The kid who was ready to destroy the world if he ever got his car started...." -Dave Wheeler
"Drive Me To the (Golden Gate) Park!"
ReplyDeleteIf anyone knows where to get a digital download of this, I'll be forever in your debt.
ReplyDelete