Mainstream

Certain Songs #952: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – “Hey Rusty”

August 4, 2017 by Jim Connelly

Album: Mainstream
Year: 1987

One of the reasons I loved Mainstream so much in the summer of 1988 was that it was the perfect album to put on at 2:00 in the morning when you was alone and depressed and trying desperately not to call the person you still had feelings for because you were trying to be oh so strong and you can feel your resolve weakening and collapsing in the face of your impending insomnia.

Or so it seemed. In any event, “Hey Rusty” was the story of why that phone call probably shouldn’t be made.

Certain Songs #950: Lloyd Cole & The Commotions – “My Bag”

August 2, 2017 by Jim Connelly

Album: Mainstream
Year: 1987

My favorite Lloyd Cole and the Commotions album and one of my top 25 records of the entire 1980s, Mainstream ended up suffering from the same record company dickery that delayed their first couple of records, and in fact, almost didn’t come out on these shores at all, eventually surfacing nearly a year after the October 1987 U.K. release.

Luckily, Tim — who was living in the U.K. at that time that time — bought a copy for me and brought it when he came across for Christmas in late 1987. It turned out to be a perfect record for 1988, and so all of Lloyd’s draggy beats and druggy words about the consequence of bad young love resonated with the same frequency as my heart all damn year.