"WHERE'D YOU GO" THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES (1992)

For the next 30 days, I’ll be taking the #AprilAcrossAmerica challenge, picking one song a day as I make my way across the country and across genres at the same time.

Day 2: Boston, MA

For many of us, college is where we experienced some of our fondest encounters with music. When I first headed off to university for my freshman year, the alt rock landscape was going through a monumental shift known as the grunge era. Everyone was listening to Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins and the like. But, because I was in Boston, I also got exposed to a thriving era for ska punk through the local outfit The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. My best friend from college – who later became one of my groomsmen – was a big-time Bosstones fan. The culmination of our experience with the band was a concert at Boston’s The Middle East, a basement club that seemed to only book excessively loud, hard rocking bands. I had my first experience in the mosh pit there, but there were also plenty of afternoons in our dorms where we’d crank up the Bosstones on our stereos – and “Where’d You Go” was one of our go-tos.

I’ve never seen the movie Clueless, and I likely never will. But I’ll tip my hat to whoever was in charge of the music. There are some gems on that soundtrack. “Where’d You Go”, even at its peak, was a bit of a minor alt rock hit. But for those who knew it, it has become an endearing song. Repetitive as hell, you can’t help but sing along to it. “Where’d You Go” doesn’t do anything unusual for the ska punk genre – but everything it does it does extremely well. Dicky Barrett’s vocals are practically swimming in gravel. The dueling saxophones and trumpet fly high, while the unforgettable trombone takes nosedive after nosedive.

“Any minute you will show and I'm wondering where did ya go?”

"WHERE'D YOU GO" THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES (1992)

This month, the Mental Jukebox revisits the movie soundtracks of the nineties. The music I’m highlighting are some of my personal favorites. In many cases, the movies themselves were huge for me as well. But the focus will still be on the music – as always. Let’s bring on the throwback classics, the grunge, the gangsta rap, and the indie gems. #31DaysOf90sMovieSongs

Movie: Clueless

For many of us, college is where we experienced some of our fondest encounters with music. When I first headed off to university for my freshman year, the alt rock landscape was going through a monumental shift known as the grunge era. Everyone was listening to Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins and the like. But, because I was in Boston, I also got exposed to a thriving era for ska punk through the local outfit The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. My best friend from college – who later became one of my groomsmen – was a big-time Bosstones fan. The culmination of our experience with the band was a concert at Boston’s The Middle East, a basement club that seemed to only book excessively loud, hard rocking bands. I had my first experience in the mosh pit there, but there were also plenty of afternoons in our dorms where we’d crank up the Bosstones on our stereos – and “Where’d You Go” was one of our go-tos.

I’ve never seen the movie Clueless, and I likely never will. But I’ll tip my hat to whoever was in charge of the music. There are some gems on that soundtrack. “Where’d You Go”, even at its peak, was a bit of a minor alt rock hit. But for those who knew it, it has become an endearing song. Repetitive as hell, you can’t help but sing along to it. “Where’d You Go” doesn’t do anything unusual for the ska punk genre – but everything it does it does extremely well. Dicky Barrett’s vocals are practically swimming in gravel. The dueling saxophones and trumpet fly high, while the unforgettable trombone takes nosedive after nosedive.

“Any minute you will show and I'm wondering where did ya go?”

"THE IMPRESSION THAT I GET" THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES (1997)

This song is permanently inseparable from my fuzzy memories of college. It brings me back to one night at The Middle East club on Mass Ave in Boston. That was the night the full force of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones hit me in the face and kicked me in the ass. My best friend thought it was a great idea for a scrawny 125 pound kid to jump into the mosh pit. So in I went. Honestly I haven’t been the same since that show, because that was the night I stopped thinking about concerts as musical experiences and started thinking about them as visceral experiences.

“Have you ever had the odds stacked up so high you need a strength most don't possess? Or has it ever come down to do or die? You've got to rise above the rest.”