LIVING IN OBLIVION, VOL. 1 RUNDOWN
We did it! We made it through our first album in the Living in Oblivion compilation. So now it’s time to relax and reflect on everything we’ve seen and done — all things New Wave — in the meantime.
Maybe I mentioned this a couple weeks back, but I did not own Volume 1, back in the ‘90s, when I was really getting into Living in Oblivion. Because, don’t forget, there was no Amazon back then. So I was pretty much confined to only buying the albums that my local Sam Goody store, or Gramophone Shop, had in stock. Fast-forward to listening to this volume today, and believe it or not, some of the more obscure tracks on this volume were totally brand-new to me.
Gasp! What kind of New Waver am I???
You’d think that discovering new/old music would be a good thing, an exciting prospect for someone who almost exclusively listens to ‘80s music (which is a necessarily fixed and therefore limited quantity). But in truth, my dear New Wave friends, I am somewhat afraid of new music, no matter how old it is.
I am afraid for the ridiculously petty reason that it is new and unknown, and, God forbid, I might not like it. Especially on the first listen!
And yet! The daily discipline of looking up each track on each volume, watching the music video, and, of course, listening to the playlist allllll day long when I’m in the car or on a walk or gardening, has made what was once new and unfamiliar “just part of the family,” now. Which makes me feel better about the prospect of change, generally.
I might like it!
So without further ado, I will nominate what turned out to be my Top Five from Volume 1. Amazingly, some of them were complete strangers to me, just a few weeks back, noted with an asterisk here.
In no particular order….
Re-Flex, “The Politics of Dancing”
Toto Coelo: “I Eat Cannibals” *
The Vapors, “Turning Japanese”
Thomas Dolby, “She Blinded Me With Science”
Stray Cats, “(She’s) Sexy and 17”
Did you notice there are actually six tracks in my Top Five? Yeah yeah, just had to throw in a little New Wave rebelliousness in there, a little “extra.”
💘