Way Long Ago Wednesday

Today's eighties cut is a real roasted chestnut. Anyway You Want It by Journey. And I know what you're thinking. "CJ, you're way too cool to be swinging to Journey. Or at least to admit it." And I can understand that--a KBVR alum and Tower Record alternative hero doesn't seem the type. But I have hidden depths, complexity of musical palate. Plus, everybody who grew up in the eighties loves Journey, even if they won't admit it. They may have been Santana's farm league team at first, but their music burst forth with such raw, simple, even occasionally cartoonish emotion--emotion like teenagers find themselves drowning in, confused and overwhelmed. The lyrics could be sophomoric, but this is pop music and that's really nothing new. The videos were often... awkward and cheesy, but this was the eighties and that's really nothing unusual. Journey looked us in the eye and said "Dude, we totally understand what you're going through." And that was something we needed.