Soul-Junk- Junca Del Sol Andromeda

Recently I’ve become aware of a number of you whose appreciation of music began at CCM. I’m in that camp too. How did I get out (I’m speaking non-pejoratively)? Short version: Gomez on the local rawk station and Soul-Junk’s 1955, which I bought at Family Christian solely because the question marks all over the cover mirrored my own confusion at a CD that didn’t have pretty artists’ faces all over it. This is the worshipful party track from 1996’s 1953. Sufjan’s not on this disc, but he’d show up a couple years later.

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M.O.P.- World Famous

The song with so much street cred it crashed my computer. Here’s Brownsville’s finest, riding the Hathaway/Flack sample Scarface would use later with so much poignance for “On My Block”. Here’s, it’s just a swinging baseball bat to the temple.

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Los Lobos- Angels With Dirty Faces

I’m shrink-wrapping a pallet at four AM when the Lobos’ cover of “La Bamba” plays over the warehouse radio. My trainer looks at me. “Hard to believe this was their only number one hit.” I think he was more trying to show off his knowledge of 1980s chart rock than pointing up the amazing career of everyone’s favorite East Angelenos. But I had to agree, making a note to cue up Kiko in the car on the way home. Then I spent the rest of the night, at his prompting, trying to identify AOR stalwarts by their deep LP cuts. Mike knows his stuff, I tell you what.

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