(1986)  A&M label.  Original release lyric sheet included.  Bought this record used in Santa Monica at a record store I cannot remember the name of– for the price of $2.  david + david were David Baerwald and David Ricketts.  They only released this album.  They had a hit with Welcome To The Boomtown and Swallowed By The Cracks.  I really like this album. The songs are reflective of the late 80’s– loneliness, addiction, and LA.

side one

1. welcome to the boomtown
2. swallowed by the cracks
3. ain’t so easy
4. being alone together

side two

1. a rock for the forgotten
2. river’s gonna rise
3. swimming in the ocean
4. all alone in the big city
5. heroes

I like buying one hit wonders.  If I like a song I will buy the album.  The lesser known artists that stayed that way didn’t start out with that in mind– at least I wouldn’t think so. Stories continue to be written about how tough the music industry was to be in.  From infighting between artists or bands, to development, production, writing, management, promotion– the road alone wiped out artists.  And if your albums didn’t sell…

I find it interesting that my children typically don’t hear new music on the radio.  They either hear it live at shows or by researching on the internet.  Today you can write a song, record it at home on your computer and upload it to the internet.  You can promote it yourself on some type of social media platform.  As long as you eventually get signed to a contract do you care if you ever actually make an LP or CD or tape?  Do music buyers of the new generation care to own that type of merch?  I don’t think so.

So the question can be asked, do new generation music fans still have the same passion for music as my generation?  I say yes they do.  They call it being a “fangirl” or “fanboy”. They share playlists like we shared mixed tapes.  They buy portable music players with larger gig capacity so that they can have all of their music in their pocket.  Illinois and I cannot hold all of our music in our pocket: we have to have a strategy on how to save the records in case of a fire.