Static Screens and Cassette Tapes
Feeling Those 80s & 90s Vibes
As a teenager who grew up in the early 2000s, I really didn’t get to experience very much of the tape days, before blue-ray, before Netflix, before the iPhone, and before Instagram. I fortunately do have many memories of playing with my Barbie CD player and visiting my local Blockbuster weekly, but there is this essence of life that I feel has been lost with our current technology, and my goal in life is to learn from the decades before social media and try to capture that pureness and incorporate it into my own state of living.
On Saturday nights, I usually spend centuries trying to find a film to watch through any one or all of the ways we can obtain movies these days, it’s honestly a waste of time and my suggestion to try and really enjoy picking out a movie again is simple, go thrifting! My town has this amazing used book, record, and CD store that also happens to sell movies and I love visiting it occasionally to continue growing my movie collections. Some VHS, some DVD, but overall I truly appreciate having hard copies of movies and it always brings me back to the time when they were made and I’m sure we all can admire the sound of that tape rewinding and the grain that it leaves on old TVs.
Another way that I try to take myself back to the decades of pretty in pink and jawbreaker, is simply to listen to music that’s not on your phone. This might seem obvious, but I cannot tell you how many times I forget that I have an amazing array of vinyl and CDs (all used of course), when I get sucked into my ridiculous touchscreen world. Obviously not everyone has these kinds of resources but if you do, or know where you can maybe invest in some, I truly recommend it, because there is nothing better than listening to Simon and Garfunkel on a record when stressing from AP course work (props if you are in college or dealing with any hard classes because we are all in this together man). Just remember to disconnect every once in a while, because school is stressful and we all need an honest break sometimes.
Lastly, my biggest suggestion is simply to live. This is something that 21st century kids seem to have a problem with. The small task of putting down the phone and going outside has become harder and harder every year, with more apps asking you to join their world, and more things requiring a smart phone, it’s no surprise that we feel funny sometimes when we leave it in our cars or at home. You can do it guys! Take a deep breathe right now. Close your eyes. Think about the last memory you have when you were completely blissful. Now take that moment, and figure out what you were doing that made you so happy, and incorporate that into your everyday life. For some that may be hanging with your best pals, for some that may be laying in a bubble bath with rose petals listening to Joni Mitchell’s Blue album on repeat, and for some that may just be sitting on your porch swing in the middle of summertime while you read Oscar Wilde excerpts. Whatever small that you’ve done in life to bring you immense pleasure, don’t forget about it. Do what makes you happy and embrace all the joys of life.
I had this kind of realization when I took an existential nature walk (well it was through my street light covered neighborhood, let’s be honest), and as I listened to some of my favorite podcasts (check out Lauren Rose’s Vagina Slims and my The Daydreamer Diaries on Sound Cloud if you’re interested), I felt this overwhelming sense of the past. As 1992 ford models passed by and the soothing words of one of my ultimate favorite people played in my head, I realized how much of the past is all around us. If you are ever feeling that this time period is just TMI for you I totally understand. I’m not encouraging that you “live in the past” or that you become some pretentious hipster that mocks people who listen to the top 100, I’m just trying to let y’all know that it’s seriously OK if you feel that your mix-tape makin’ teenage heart needs to be quenched sometimes. In the end, I’m just sayin’ that we all need a break sometimes and the simplicity of the 80s and 90s can be quite refreshing, especially when you see the right movie or hear the right song.
Without further ado, here are some of my favorite STATIC movies and tunes that always put me in a good mood, enjoy!
Coming Soon To Own on Video and DVD
Clerks (1994) dir. Kevin Smith
“A day in the lives of two convenience clerks named Dante and Randal as they annoy customers, discuss movies, and play hockey on the store roof.”
Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) dir. Susan Seidelman
“A bored suburban housewife, seeking adventure to her life, accidentally gets hit on the head, wakes up with amnesia, and is mistaken for a free-spirited New York City drifter named Susan.”
200 Cigarettes (1999) dir. Risa Bramon Garcia
“A collection of twentysomethings try to cope with relationships, loneliness, desire and their individual neuroses in 1980s New York City.”
Next Stop Wonderland (1998) dir. Brad Anderson
“An unlucky in love nurse finds her life taking a detour when her mother places a personals ad in the paper, while on the other side of Boston, a plumber is trying to change careers.”
Empire Records (1995) dir. Allan Moyle
“The employees of an independent music store learn about each other as they try anything to stop the store being absorbed by a large chain.”
Office Space (1999) dir. Mike Judge
“Three company workers who hate their jobs decide to rebel against their greedy boss.”
The First Wives Club (1996) dir. Hugh Wilson
“Reunited by the death of a college friend, three divorced women seek revenge on the husbands who left them for younger women.”
You’ve Got Mail (1998) dir. Nora Ephron
“Two business rivals hate each other at the office but fall in love over the internet.”
St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) dir. Joel Schumacher
“A group of friends, just out of college, struggle with adulthood.”
Twister (1996) dir. Jan de Bont
“Bill and Jo Harding, advanced storm chasers on the brink of divorce, must join together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes.”
Now available on Vinyl and cassette
Temple of the Dog (1991) // Temple of the Dog
The only studio album made by the alternative-grunge band, which came to be when Soundgarden’s front man Chris Cornell and the soon to be Pearl Jam’s lead vocalist Eddie Vedder created their love child.
Pottymouth (1993) // Bratmobile
The debut album of the zine acclaimed punk rock, all girl band that was a leading contributor to the riot grrrl feminist movement throughout the 1990s. Made with the help of Kill Rock Stars label and the star bellied girls themselves, Allison Wolfe, Erin Smith, and Molly Neuman. Apparently a guy named Tim Green who recorded a few tracks on the album was paid with a slice of pizza and a bottle of black hair dye.
MTV Unplugged in New York (1994) // Nirvana
The voice of a generation, Kurt Cobain, and his band members met in New York City on November 18, 1993, for the television series MTV Unplugged. The show was directed by Beth McCarthy and first aired on the cable television network MTV on December 16, 1993. As opposed to traditional practice on the television series, the band played a set list composed of mainly lesser-known material and cover versions of songs by The Vaselines, David Bowie, Lead Belly, and Meat Puppets, whose Cris and Curt Kirkwood joined Nirvana onstage. The album was released almost a year later on November 1st of 1994.
I Love Rock ‘n Roll (1981) // Joan Jett and The Blackhearts
Joan Jett’s second studio album and was the first to feature her backing band The Blackhearts. Soon after the first recording sessions at Soundworks Studios, original Blackheart guitarist Eric Ambel was replaced by Ricky Byrd. It is Jett's most successful album to date with over 10 million copies sold, largely due to the success of the title track, which was released as a single soon after the album was released.
Like a Virgin (1983) // Madonna
A former dancer and fixture on the New York club scene, Madonna Louise Ciccone became known to the world simply as Madonna, with the release of her 1983 self-titled debut album Madonna. Fueled by hit songs like "Holiday", "Borderline" and "Lucky Star", the album was one of the best-selling of the year and helped Madonna become one of the most exciting new artists of the 1980s. When she started work on her second album, Madonna felt that her first album had succeeded in introducing her "street-smart dance queen" persona, and she wanted to solidify and build upon that concept.[3] According to her, "My work, my dedication—the stubbornness for getting Madonna released—had paid off. Now it was time to solidify my future.
For Like a Virgin, Madonna attempted to become one of the primary record producers, feeling the need to control the various aspects of her music. She believed that depending on a particular producer for her album was not something that suited her. Madonna said "I learnt my lesson while creating my debut album, and the way Lucas left me in the water with the project, you can't trust men".
