Music, 80's, WLIR

1982 had it's ups and downs. The following bands broke up: Adam and the Ants, Blondie and The Jam. The Who announced their farewell tour seemingly moments after I discovered them. On the bright side, it was the year I discovered U2. Sadly, I went to the record store Sam Goody and asked for the song "Gloria" and came home with Laura Branigan's "smash" hit of 1982.

This pain and disgust led to adventure, I searched for a record store that carried import records. This quest led me to Mad Platter's in Yonkers on Central Avenue. I spent many teenage years there buying as many records as I could. Mad Platters is where I discovered The Clash. One day I bought "Combat Rock," which led to a follow-up visit the next day to purchase "Sandinista".

1982 was also the year that "Thriller" was released.
Shortly after Thanksgiving, I remember vividly the day when my friends rushed to my house after school. It may seem hard to believe, but I was the only kid that had the new Michael Jackson album. Having two older siblings gave me insight into what was new and exciting in the world of music. This and my frequent trips to Mad Platters made me the music expert amongst my friends. When the long-form video for Thriller came out, we would all sit in the den under blankets and watch my betamax tape of it, over and over. We loved it, but it scared the crap out of us. We would sit around and chat about the Michael's dance moves, the choreographed zombies and how John Landis was a genius.

All of that said, Thriller wasn't really my kind of music. Don't get me wrong, I loved it (who didn't?). But as soon as I discovered WLIR, everything changed. WLIR was free-form radio station out of Long Island. I soon became a devot fan of "Dare to be Different" with Malibu Sue and Larry the Duck. These two angels from music heaven changed my life. It wasn't much later that every one of my friends (preppy and guido) was listening to the station.

My parents always asked me how I could remember the lyrics to every song but could not apply that same ability to my studies. I just shrugged my shoulders and said ..."I dunno".