Pop Music Milestones

PopWatch via Throwing Things reminds us that Nirvana's Nevermind is 15 years old and Paul Simon's Graceland is 20. Wow, I can't believe it's been that long!

The case for celebrating the Nirvana album is simple. While Pearl Jam introduced a lot of people to grunge, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" flipped the entire music world on its' head. Kids my age responded to it because it was so...angst! And of course, even the bubbly teens of us still had quite a bit of angsty-ness in us to share with the world. It literally changed our lives. In one week, it seemed, we angsty teens in Chicagoland went from curling our front bangs into nearly impossible hairspray sculptures to wearing deep dark eyeliner, pale lipstick and flannel shirts. I can think of a band, at least in my lifetime, that has had such an effect.

As for Paul Simon, gosh, I still own that Graceland album. It came out when I was in third grade, or at least that's when I remember first getting a cassette at Dad's company picnic. I remember thinking I was so adult and sophisticated as I performed my little ventriloquism act to "You can call me Al" during my third grade gifted class field trip to Detroit. And yes, looking back my act went over exactly as you'd think and it was even funnier in real life then you imagine.

Even now I can remember the entire album by heart, including the non-english lyrics.

So two pretty awesome albums to celebrate today, happy Wednesday!