Old Enough to Forget

One of the record stores I like to frequent has a pretty solid online store. Every so often I'll just go on a splurge in the comfort of my home, where I am able to wear my Crocs and not feel like I'm being judged. So there I am, mindlessly searching for stuff, and I key to the fact I can search for still-sealed items... Well, this could be fun. I went on a bit of a tear and ended up with about a hundred bucks of stuff that seemed like a good idea. I got the kids to pay for it as it was close to my birthday. One of the treasures that popped up was Underworld by The Front. The name of the band felt familiar, but I couldn't peg it at the time. So I added this to the cart. I honestly had no idea what to expect, but from the back cover photo and the fact it was on Duke Street Records, it was likely going to be okay. After all, Jane Siberry and Rik Emmett were on Duke Street at one point, so I assumed this would be a guilty-by-association thing. The album was indeed a lot of fun....

Look at that, six months in, and I'm keeping up with my once a month schedule of dropping five snapshots of albums I've found. This time around it's another mixed bag of goodies, and these are all new to my collection, which is generally a lot of fun. I finally picked up Stan Meissner's debut, and it was a nice score. I also found more Edgar Winter albums, and continue to go down the Rick Derringer rabbit hole - the man was a monster player and while not underrated, he was certainly underappreciated by the masses. Probably my favourite album this time out was finally connecting with Ian Thomas' debut album from 1973. What an incredible album. Yeah, full props to "Painted Ladies" and the alleged drama about the hit that never was, but there is so much more to this Canadian icon. I worry that he will be nothing more than a footnote as time passes, as the majority of his work remains out of print and can only be found by looking for old vinyl. Criminal, I say...

The first time I heard "One Chance," I was blown away. There was something about the song that caught me right in the feels. It's strange: despite all of the music I've been exposed to over the years, the number of songs that have truly gotten under my skin is relatively small. Top of mind at the moment, I'll list a few, because we all like lists. "Shooz" by Styx, yeah I played it to the point where I can't really hear it anymore. "Special Girl" by Eddie Schwartz "Why Should the Devil Have all the Good Music" by Larry Norman "Might as Well be on Mars" by The Pukka Orchestra "Roller" by April Wine Of course, as I start writing things down, my brain starts adding more and more: "What about this one?" So maybe the list is a little longer than I thought. Let's just say "One Chance" was in the right place at the right time. Objectively, I can tell you that this is not the best song ever recor...