Old Enough to Forget

Don't judge me. It showed up in the dollar bin, and it was in pretty good shape, and over the years my appreciation for their stuff has actually surprised me. Unless you were a hardcore fan who thought they'd jumped the shark on an ironing board after their initial run in the '60s, this collection was all you'd ever need. When I was living through disco hell first hand in real time, a lot of what was passing for music just seemed so basic and lifeless. Oh sure, it had a beat, it had to have a beat so you could zombie dance as you jerked from one foot to another and occasionally moved your arms. Of course, there were always a few who knew more than the basic moves and expected you and everyone else to form a circle and clap for them. I think this is where the phrase "Circle Jerk" comes from ... I could be wrong, don't quote me. Then there was the stuff by the Bee Gees. There was nothing basic or simple about their arrangements. Even back then I secretly lik...

It was going to happen sooner or later. Nostalgia is a cruel mistress ... she can dull the sharpest edges and over time can even soften the hardest of opinions. I found this in the dollar bin, and frankly at a dollar I was worried about what this would cost me. Not only from a monetary perspective, but my time, and more important, my credibility. Fourteen-year-old me was screaming, "Don't you dare. DON'T DO IT! Put it down. Walk away!" Then there was grey-bearded me holding it and looking at it, thinking, "How bad could it be? I actually kind of like 'Stayin' Alive,' and me buying this record won't bring disco back, and no one will have to know I bought this." I pulled the album out of the bin, and carefully took out the records. They'd seen better days, and there were a couple of decent scratches that would no doubt make their presence known later. The jacket was in decent condition, and both of the albums had the original sleeves. I dus...