Where Was I?

I recently had a question posed to me by my buddy, Ed. We've been great friends since middle school, but we really started hanging out in high school. At the tail end of high school and the beginning of college, our age bracket had it's musical revolution: GRUNGE. Oh, and I dove headfirst into it! A few days ago, Ed asked me if I could remember the first time I heard a grunge band. I had to think about it because those memories can be a bit hazy.
I remember two major events that shaped not only my musical tastes, but basic attitude for many years. I remember going to my friend Shawn Simon's house. He had a tape (NOT CD)by this band called Soundgarden. The tape was Louder Than Love, to this day, still my favorite Soundgarden album. I immediately bought the only copy I could find. I played that tape the entire summer. I believe it was 1990. Around that same time, I got a sampler tape from Concrete Music. It had a song by Mother Love Bone on it. The song was Stardog Champion. It sounded like nothing I had heard, but like everything I had been wanting to hear. It was punk and psychedelic all mixed up and thrown on a tape. I went out and bought the CD ASAP! So I'm pretty sure Soundgarden was first, then came MLB, because once I got a CD player, I never bought another tape.
Imagine my ecstacy when I found that some Soundgarden members had joined with some MLB members to do a tribute to Andrew Wood, lead singer for MLB. Thus was born my grunge obsession. I became a completist. If I liked a band, I bought anything and everything related to any member of that band. So my CD collection grew and grew. I'm not as insane as I used to be. I've gotten better as some of my favorite bands have gotten worse. My life is no longer centered around trips to the music store. It's funny how you can miss something and not miss it at the same time. I loved my trips to Princeton Record Exchange, Vintage Vinyl, and countless record shows. But my life has changed. I have higher priorities, more stressful days. But I'd not change it for all the CD's in Princeton! (that's for you ED!)All the angst of my grunge days has ended. I'm happy being happy, not angry. Most music aimed at kids is angry. I'm glad I can now listen to the music of my teens and early twenties with nostalgia. You heard it here first: Grunge Nostalgia!!! Man I'm feeling old again.