It also immediately takes me back to that musty, timber-lined hall.
The rows of uncomfortable, folding vinyl seats.
The gold lettering on the plaques hanging up near the windows.
The dusty, aged blue curtains on the stage.
All tagged School
35. Lady-Hear Me Tonight - Modjo
I do think, though, that it created – through some weird group alchemy – a minor bond between all of us that were there.
It’s not a strong connection like you hear other people (footballers, often) talk about, but more like a soft shadow burnt into part of our histories.
A shadow that’s fading over time as our lives move on and change and become more complex and compressed.
31. Dammit - Blink 182
I think it’s a rite of passage for people now to say that “when we were kids, Triple J was way better.”
Which is weird, because in my case it was way better…!
Or, more accurately, the songs they were playing when my ears started opening up have stuck with me, embedding them with more meaning and weight than otherwise would have been the case.
30. Cigarettes Will Kill You - Ben Lee
Today, it’s still a helluva song.
But back then, in 1999, it was at the tip of the spear puncturing Australian music’s bogan habits.
Not for Mr Lee power chords and smashing pots. His voice is thin, nasal and reedy, but utterly confident and bracing as it dances along that melody.