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| Telephone Free Landslide Victory (1985) |
Back when there use to be a thing called College Rock my small town's Liberal Arts college, Linfield, was a haven for us suburbanites who had a thirst for music that did not revolve around Nelson or Debbie Gibson. Listening to bands like XTC, The Violent Femmes, R.E.M, The Dead Milkmen, The Young Fresh Fellows etc. was a musical wake-up call and within the small community of avid late night listeners, it wasn't unheard of for grudges to be created when one of us deviated from the pack musically.
And I was one of those people.
For most of my like-minded friends, Camper Van Beethoven's 1985 album
Telephone Free Landslide Victory was beloved for the song
Take the Skinheads Bowling, a nonsensical song that was devoid of any meaning but still seemed somewhat revolutionary, but I was partial to
Where The Hell Is Bill? a musical ode to figuring out where a friend could be. To me, the song felt fresh, silly and familiar. Seeing that this was way before beepers and cell phones, not being able to get a hold of someone meant speculating on what they were doing (sometimes to the point of paranoia) and listening to this song was like hearing that musing in a punky/garage rock way.
Even now, almost 30 years later, whenever I slap on the album the first song I put on is
Where The Hell Is Bill (followed by
The Day That Lassie Went to the Moon, Wasted and
Mao Reminisces About His Days in Southern China) and I'm not sorry.
So take that people who thought I was stupid for liking a song they didn't like.
When you're 40, it's the little things that feel rebellious.
Video after the break.
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