The name of the band is…

Some time early in the 1980’s my family went into the big city of Vancouver, British Columbia to visit family. My dad’s cousin Jimmy, who my brother and I called cousin Jimmy was a bearded fellow who, to my young eyes, walked to the beat of his own drum. Jimmy had a record collection. I was starting to get heavy into paying attention to music, and already had a Blondie record at home that I danced to as much as possible. Jimmy’s record collection met me at the perfect moment in my young history. While I was filing through the collection of vinyl, and listening to the neat sounds of whatever weird to my ears was happening, Jimmy offered to lend me a couple of albums that he thought I might like to hear. He lent me three; Talking Heads ’77, Talking Heads Fear of Music, B-52s self titled first album, I promised to return them on our next visit.

I took the record home and listened. And listened. And listened. And listened.

A few years later, from the back of a super fast Camaro, my cousin popped in a cassette and we listened. Newly release Speaking in Tongues played to my already New Wave adoring ears. Once again I was all in.

Over thirty years later I am still listening, and hearing and loving. The music I was hearing was so unlike anything I had head before, and I imagined it was a new sound to a lot of other people at the time as well. The foundation it had started to build on my love of what I would later understand to be considered and generally labelled New Wave and Post Punk, was based on three bands – Blondie, Talking Heads and The B-52’s.