Old Enough to Forget

The first Police album I ever heard was Outlandos d’Amour , at my buddy Mike’s place. I heard it once. I’m pretty sure it belonged to one of his three sisters - most likely Leslie, because she was scary and cool and smoked cigarettes. Of course I liked “Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle." Who didn’t? But the punk‑ish reggae thing never really landed with me. Sting’s habit of tossing in those yo‑yo‑yo yodels irritated me then and honestly are still irksome. Oddly enough, though, I loved “Be My Girl - Sally” from the debut, and staying true to my contrarian streak, I also really liked “Mother” from Synchronicity , which ended up being the first Police album I actually bought. I suppose this is my way of saying I was not, am not, and likely never will be a dyed‑in‑the‑wool fan of The Police - so take everything that follows as confirmation of my suspect credentials. The first time I remember hearing anything from Zenyatta Mondatta , I was on a basketball road trip and one...

Eurogliders This Island was a nifty little trip down memory lane. I found the record a while back when flipping through a discount bin and something about it seemed familiar but I couldn't put my finger on anything tangible. The track list didn't offer up much in the way of hints (they were there) but I put it under my arm along with a few others I'd found and figured it would be fun finding out. It was.  Turns out the lead off track "Heaven" was why this was familiar. It may not have been a big hit, but I heard it enough for it to get lodged into my brain. As soon as it started I was like, "Ah, I remember this ..." It was pretty bloody catchy, but seemed to fade away as fast as it popped up. These are the kinds of albums I tend to get a kick out of revisiting. There's something really fun about this era of pop. 1984 was still pretty early into the new decade but the elements that would later be the defining sounds of the '80s were on full displa...