October 24

I can still remember the last re-recorded cassette I bought: the debut LP by the band The Smithereens entitled Especially For You:

They had a minor hit, Blood And Roses, which was in rotation on KZOK, the classic rock radio station in Seattle. I loved that tune and drove to the Tower Records at the South Tacoma Mall specifically for this release.

Vinyl LP in hand, I was seduced by the promotion of a chromium oxide high quality cassette tape of this album for a lower price than the vinyl. CDs were the new thing and vinyl would soon be a thing of the past… I mean, I had a cassette deck in my car as well as in my dorm. If I bought this vinyl LP, I was just going to take it home and recorded on a cassette tape anyway… why not cut out the middleman, right?

It’s been at least 25 years since I have listened to this album… my crappy Sony tape deck in my 69 Ford Bronco ate my fancy chromium oxide high quality overpriced factory made cassette and I was left wishing I had bought the vinyl in the first place! I have regretted that decision for almost 30 years!

So when I found a vinyl copy of Especially For You at a local antique mall I gladly laid down the $3 the vendor was asking.

Other than the badass Blood And Roses… The Smithereens appealed to me because they were Beatlesque while still remaining somewhat harder rock and roll.

That being said, my favorite songs on the record were the odd balls; the acoustic heartbreaker Cigarette was a particular favorite and the pseudo Latin ode to fifties film noir In A Lonely Place also struck a chord.

My first listen in over 25 years took me right back to the dorm rooms of 1986. I hadn’t thought of Especially For You for quite a long time but I am sure glad I ran across a used copy here in Spokane.