Since I discovered rock music in my teens, I sought it out heavily through my thirties (and still do, but not as aggressively). In the summer of 1996, I heard the local station play something unlike anything I’d heard to that point, but I had no idea what it was called. It was “Pepper” by the Butthole Surfers. I wanted to hear it again, on repeat, so I headed to Cat’s Records near my house in Johnson City, TN. I was 26.
When I got there, I didn’t know what to ask for, so I had a conversation with the clerk. He asked what it sounded like, and I said I had no clue what to compare it to. He said he knew just what I meant, and he sold me Odelay by Beck.
It didn’t give me the song I wanted, but Beck just changed everything musically for me. I had seen “Loser” on MTV, but I wasn’t entranced by it. But Odelay. Dude was right: there was nothing I could think to compare it to, and it was completely fascinating. I was hooked.
I only got to see Beck for the first time in the last few years, and that show was pretty magical. Beck was one of the best accidents (in terms of me finding) I can recall.
Nothing deep, just appreciating that moment. 1996 and 1997 were great years for me.
Bill Abbott, poet, web page 