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I've been looking over my shoulder

Seeing Mark Olson and Gary Louris over the weekend, along with seeing Wilco's new DVD, Ashes of American Flags, I couldn't help but think of random little memories from my past. Writing up the "Personal Bias" part in my review of the Olson and Louris show, a lot of things rattled around in my head, and here's some of the things that came up that I'm still thinking about today.

--Back when VH1 was more of the older brother/sister channel to MTV, there was a half-hour late-night show called Crossroads. This was the show that not only introduced me to the Jayhawks' music (I had heard about them a few years prior thanks to a Week In Rock profile of them), but also to Uncle Tupelo and Wilco. These days, if I were to watch the channel in that same time slot, I'd probably hear about how awesome Lite Brite was in the 1980s or which viral video is best thing ever since the last viral video that was the best thing ever.

--I don't know why, but I didn't pick up the Jayhawks' Tomorrow the Green Grass until summer of 2000. Their Smile album was also something that came highly recommended from friends of mine. So, I'm still gracious for those recommendations by Chris and Steve. I'm also thankful for the respective college radio stations they worked at during that time. Who says people aren't just introduced to the things that are in high rotation?

--I do remember one morning driving into my summer gig at a Top 40 station and listening to Tomorrow the Green Grass. My commute was a whopping ten minutes, and even in that short amount of time, I got drowsy listening to the record. I don't think I've ever driven with it on in the morning ever since.

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