"AIR OF DECEMBER" EDIE BRICKELL & NEW BOHEMIANS (1988)

For October, the Mental Jukebox is dialing it way back to the eighties and going deep. Deep cuts have always been an important element of music listening to me because they’re often the songs that resonate with me most. Deep cuts are usually the ones that the true fans appreciate most. I like my singles and hits, but I love my deep cuts.

Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars is another example of an album that started with an unflinching fascination with a single song (“What I Am”) and grew to a fondness for the entire record. Words that come to mind when I think of it: earnest, whimsical, innocent. Given these descriptions, there really wasn’t much out there with a similar demeanor. Songs like “Air Of December” did more to achieve this than even the hit single “What I Am”.

On “Air Of December”, Edie seems sultry and playful in her delivery as she conveys the effect of the protagonist on her. And the bass line feeds off it, flirting with the lower octaves. It’s the change-up in the album’s first half, opting for a slow, prodding tempo and melody that lingers like the December air. It’s heard best not in isolation, but right after the funky “What I Am” and jangly “Little Miss S.” Just like a true deep cut.

“The breeze moved the curtains And lifted my perfume into the air.”

"WHAT I AM" EDIE BRICKELL & NEW BOHEMIANS (1988)

For the month of October, I’m selecting a song each day from the decade that has the most meaning to me: the 80s. It was the decade that I grew up in. The period of time where I discovered my love for music — and explored many different genres. For the next 31 days, I’ll highlight a handful of songs that I truly loved and that were representative of the decade. #31DaysOf80sSongs

Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars was a breath of fresh air when it arrived on the scene. The sound was this unusual, quirky mix of folk, jangle pop and Jerry Garcia-like guitar playing. The album artwork was also a statement, looking like no other album cover before it. I realize the album was a bit polarizing, but it just made it so easy for me to love at the time. Songs like “Little Miss S.”, “Air of December”, and “Circle” would lure me into a daydream state. And none of it would’ve been possible without the breakthrough single “What I Am”.

“What I Am” was this weird bohemian anomaly. I thought it was catchy, but, more than anything, its oddball eccentricity is what attracted me to it. There was nothing else like it on the radio. It didn’t sound current. But it also didn’t sound like something out of the past either. In many ways, I’m surprised that it was so successful and so well-known beyond the alt rock music fans that first discovered it on stations like Long Island’s WDRE, Boston’s WFNX and L.A.’s KROQ. I could sense that it was a gift in a brief moment in time — and that moment was gone just like that.

“Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box. Religion is the smile on a dog.”

"WHAT I AM" EDIE BRICKELL & NEW BOHEMIANS (1988)

If you’re an 80’s child, you’ll remember the moment this song hit the radio. It was unlike anything else out there. It was almost instantly likable even with its unusual musicality and wistful lyrics. There were quite a few solid songs on Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars. But “What I Am” was exceptional in that all the stars just seemed to align on it. We may have forgotten about this old gem, but hearing it back, the wah-wah-driven guitar solo and vocals are immediately recognizable.

“Choke me in the shallow waters before I get too deep.”