1. The FeeliesCrazy Rhythms
People always say that a record changed their life and this one actually did change mine in a big way. I can still remember the day I bought it in 1980. Actually, a lot of the records I picked are from that time because that’s an age – 17 – when you starting making decisions about records that are important to you. You identify with certain people who in turn help you to try and define who you are. From an anthropological perspective, it’s interesting; when I was at high school people were listening to Cheap Trick and Kiss and I didn’t connect. I think at that age you start to connect with a particular singer or lyricist and I remember this Feelies record was on Stiff Records. It’s really percussion-led and the title track is my favourite. I remember going home and putting it on and it takes like 45 seconds to get into it. The best records are the ones you can listen to 100 times and still hear things that are new, like this one. It’s also hard to imagine Yo La Tengo or R.E.M. without that record. Simon Reynolds kind of dismisses The Feelies as college rock but I think that’s missing the point; maybe they became that later on, but this record is definitely strange and experimental.
