In Junior High I had an awesome Social Studies teacher, Mr. K. He taught us about apartheid. He showed us the U2 - Rattle and Hum video documentary. He showed us the movie, The Killing Fields. He played blues music for us. He opened my mind.
I started subscribing to Rolling Stone Magazine in 8th grade. After my subscription to Thrasher ran out. The REAL Rolling Stone magazine...you know, when it was big and awkward and floppy. I received an education from that subscription. I learned about music, the world and life in those pages.I continued to subscribe year after year with my birthday money or saved up allowance. Between that and my annual contributions to Greenpeace and WWF, my spending cash took a major hit until started working at Edward's Apple Orchard and then Ambrogio's Pizzeria. Ahhh, Ambrogio's such good times. But that's another story. Subscribing to Rolling Stone led me to...Columbia House. You know the total con of "free" and we'll send out a card each month and all you have to do is say NO you don't want the "monthly selection". Of course we are talking about cassette tapes back then. I have such fond memories of received that first shipment of 15 cassettes. To my recollection I join and re-joined several times in order to received the "free 15" or whatever. Some of the cassettes on my very first order were:
Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining
Tori Amos - Under the Pink
Erasure -
Hothouse Flowers -