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Random play/Psychic links

This has been a strange week for music. On Monday I was mentally writing the next section in my lengthy post on taste as I drove to Target and thinking about the first two albums of rock and roll that interested me (the reasons for that will become clear when I post this opus--hopefully tomorrow), David Bowie's Let's Dance, and Duran Duran's reissue of Duran Duran (their first album which they re-released as their third album after their second album Rio and it's hot videos put them on the map, not to be confused with their 10th album, also called Duran Duran but referred to as The Wedding Album because of the cover art which...oh, never mind).

Anyway, I flicked on a radio show here in Boston called "Left Over Lunch" with DJ Julie Kramer which plays 80's and early 90's music (and some 70's glam) between noon and one and which I never get to listen to because of reception. The first song being played was Modern Love from Let's Dance--weird, but Ok, kind of cool, not my favorite but haven't heard it in a while. BUT that was IMMEDIATELY followed by Is There Something I Should Know from Duran Duran--the reissue, in fact the only new song on the reissue. IS THAT WEIRD OR WHAT? Now, Julie Kramer often says that people should send her requests telepathically, but I wasn't even requesting it.

Then, Wednesday, at work, the new guy in the cube next to mine calls out, "Are you listening to The Cure?" Turns out (he's about 11 years older than I am) he is a HUGE New Wave fan and WENT to tons of concerts in the early 80's--U2 in clubs and as opening acts, Psychedelic Furs, Bowie, The Police, The Go-Gos when they were punk, The Ramones, Elvis Costello, and on and on. I was nearly drooling. We startled a co-worker when she walked up as we were discussing the Buzzcocks! So I hit Album of the Day and virtually every album it brought up for the next two days was from the early 80's! Now, this might be partially explained by the fact that I just started downloading and loading all the 80's albums for which I have "albums" and cassettes. I don't know if Random Album is more prone to selecting new music, but that doesn't explain why it brought up two different Psyc Furs albums and So (Peter Gabriel) this morning when I ripped those at Christmas! I have often felt that my Album of the Day is keyed into my mind. Often I will be thinking of an album and it will bring it up on the first or second click. Given that I have over 400 albums in there in at least 10 genres, that's pretty amazing. SPOOKY...

(On reflection--probably not spooky, probably good coding that's written to remember what you tend to go to most often--but I very seldom listen to So. The mystery continues.)

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