10. Bob Marley & The WailersExodus
When I was living in London when I first joined Split Enz we were living in Forest Hill, and this record, as well as David Bowie’s Low and Kraftwerk’s Trans-Europe Express, was on high rotation. But in particular, Exodus has endured for me, and I could pick a number of Bob Marley albums, as for me, of all the artists there have ever been, his music is the most positive. If I’m feeling a bit fragile or vulnerable and put Bob on, I feel better, it’s as simple as that. Exodus was the first album I connected with and I guess living in London in 1977 it was current, and I actually saw Bob driving down the King’s Road in his black BMW. I never, unfortunately, got to see him play but he’s up there in my top three of all time.
I was in Amsterdam once, having a fairly intense mushroom experience and not having a particularly good time. It wasn’t too bad, but where I was staying was right on the corner of the red light district and it seemed like hell personified. I got into the bath in my hotel room and put on Bob and thought it would make me feel a bit better. The actual song ‘Exodus’ came on, and I thought it was a really spooky feel. It was amazing but it didn’t necessarily make me feel better. That particular song aside, that album has such amazingly positive music, and the song ‘Waiting In Vain’ is one of my all-time favourite songs.
