Nine Questions
By Linda Ray
- Bill Mackey
What was the first concert you ever saw?
Elvis Costello on his Imperial Bedroom tour.
What CDs are in your changer right now?
Neil Young, On the Beach; Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, Streetcore; Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks; Sufjan Stevens, Illinois, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Moanin'.
How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks)?
Vinyl, about 36 inches; CDs, a couple of club soda boxes worth; cassettes, one Swiss Army electrical component box worth.
Do you download music, and if so, legally or illegally?
I didn't buy a CD player until 2002. It takes me a while to catch on to the new music format. I assume in the future, I will download music and do it illegally.
What was the first album you owned?
The Who, Hooligans (a 1982 "best of" compilation). I probably bought it when I was 11 or 12. I'd just gotten a record player.
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
"The Big Country" by Talking Heads. I love that vision of removing yourself from daily life.
Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don't know about? What's your favorite guilty pleasure
I love the soundtrack from Grease. It's just so happy!
What band or artist changed your life, and how?
Talking Heads. I got into them at my "coming of age" stage in life. The lyrics and the music said a lot to me at the age of 13.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
I can't pick one. The Clash, Sandinista!; Frank Zappa, Uncle Meat; Talking Heads, More Songs About Buildings and Food; Camper Van Beethoven, II and III; The Band, The Last Waltz; Grateful Dead, Stanford 1972 concert bootleg, set one.
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