The Important Albums for Tosh in 1988

 

1988 was an explosive year for me. A good year actually. I got a job at Book Soup, as well as curating a film series at Beyond Baroque. And the big news for that year was I got married. The thought of getting married in January of that year would seem impossible. But I met Lun*na, and we connected immediately and got married on December 24, 1988. An exhilarating year! On the other hand, the music world was boring to me. Hip-Hop was hitting the mainstream, as well as Sunset Strip Hair bands. At least I had the misery of Morrissey's first solo album, which was a surprise how good it is. One commonly thought if Johnny Marr is not in the picture, then the Morrissey world will collapse. This was not the case. I'm one of the few who actually prefers the Solo Morrisey material to The Smiths. Wire I followed closely, but not always knocked by their albums, except for "Chairs Missing," which is brilliant. But I do love, "A Bell is a Cup." Straightforward and interesting sounds. Nick Cave is someone I admire but never loved his work. Except for his song "The Mercy Seat, which to this day, I think is his most magnificent song and performance. Sadly, I think it was only these three new albums that impacted me in the year 1988. I must have been buying 12" remixes of The Associates, but not sure. Still, 1988 was a mega-change for me in my personal life. 1989 will be even more dramatic. -Tosh Berman