There’s A First Time For Everything: David Bowie, Stryper, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Robyn Hitchcock

Robyn Hitchcock, Fegmania!

This one came from my brother, and was also not purchased until much later. It was passed to me on a homemade cassette (killing the music industry, people) in 1985, because Kevin thought that I would enjoy it, and as usual, he was right. At 17, I was ripe for surreal lyrics and progressive undertones, and that’s Hitchcock’s bread and butter. The album swims with songs about insects and light bulb heads and Egyptian cream, all sung in Hitchcock’s unassuming English voice and backed by talented and proficient musicians. It’s very poppy, despite the odd nature of the songs, and very upbeat.

My most vivid memory of this album is lying back in my dentist’s chair under nitrous oxide as I listened to the weirdness, totally oblivious to whatever was going on in my mouth. The crazy imagery came to life in my brain and cemented Fegmania! as a favorite for all time. The song “My Wife and My Dead Wife” is a standout for me, a love song to the singer’s two spouses. Although I also love Hitchcock’s rarities collection Invisible Hitchcock and his 1985 live album Gotta Let This Hen Out!, none of his later releases really captured my attention after that. I prefer to stay in the unique world where I came in.

And that’s the lot—four albums that represented my first taste of four artists. Each one is perhaps quite different from the rest of its catalog, but somehow still representative of what I found unique in each of the artists. The actual first album may not necessarily mean anything in the long run, but it’s interesting to see where that run began.

Click to read about. . .

David Bowie, Soundtrack from Christiane F.
Stryper, The Yellow and Black Attack
Siouxsie & The Banshees, Hyæna
Robyn Hitchcock, Fegmania!

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