A college friend of mine just recently--today, in fact--posted on Facebook this old picture of me and some friends. It really blew me away because I'd never seen it before.
I'm pretty sure this is either freshman or sophomore year at Michigan State, which would make it circa 1986/1987. (In case you're wondering, I'm the guy in the red shirt).
I can't quite put into words how gleeful I am to see this photo. The guy standing next to me is Pete Overton (Kadyk), who introduced me to The Smiths, The Feelies, and Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks. Yes, he was "that guy": the guy you always hope to meet in college. The guy who says, "If you're into so-and-so, you might like such-and-such." He was the cooler guy who leads you down unknown paths. (Unfortunately, he left this earth far too early, in 2001).
The first time I met Pete was my second or third day on the MSU campus in September 1986. I was dragged out of my room by a few other freshmen to take on the daring odyssey of visiting each and every dorm room on our floor, just to meet these other kids and see what was going on. It beat sitting meekly in our rooms twiddling our thumbs. G-69 was the last room on our floor before one hit the stairwell: the room of Paul, Pete, and their third roommate whose name escapes me. Their room was already pretty well appointed, and music was playing. Pete lounged on the top bunk and the moment he saw me, he said something like, "Hey, you look like this guy!" as he pointed to a magazine picture of (who I later learned was) the Smiths' lead singer Morrissey that was taped on the wall behind him. I must admit at the time that I had no idea who Morrissey was and, in fact, thought it was Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. (Embarrassing admission--but I think I've finally reached the age where I just don't care about "embarrassing admissions" anymore).
Anyway, my nickname was firmly and irrevocably in place, created by Pete. I would henceforth be referred to as "Morrissey." As a result, I had to know more about who this Morrissey guy was, and I quickly became a Smiths fan--aided by Pete who let me borrow his copy of The Queen is Dead. I learned that the Smiths' music spoke to me, as it did many angst-ridden young people. (By the end of the 1986 calendar year, I believe I owned all the albums the Smiths had released up to that point).
This photo is wonderful in so many ways. My roommate John is in the foreground, covering his face. He's either laughing or in pain--I'm not sure which. All of your 1980s college dorm room signifiers are there: my life-size Jim Morrison poster, my proudly framed "Walked, Swam, Hunted, Danced, Sang" Lifes Rich Pageant-era R.E.M. poster, and the Sports Illustrated Cheryl Tiegs. We had to have some cheese cake on the walls, that was a must back in the '80s. (I have no idea if, in these somewhat less misogynistic times in which the objectification of women is frowned upon, guys have pictures of scantily clad women on their dorm room walls anymore. In fact, I have no idea how college kids decorate their rooms these days).
This old photo probably means nothing to anyone outside of myself and maybe a few people who lived on Ground Floor East Shaw Hall in 1986-1987, but it gives me a tremendous amount of joy to see it again after all these years.
The first time I met Pete was my second or third day on the MSU campus in September 1986. I was dragged out of my room by a few other freshmen to take on the daring odyssey of visiting each and every dorm room on our floor, just to meet these other kids and see what was going on. It beat sitting meekly in our rooms twiddling our thumbs. G-69 was the last room on our floor before one hit the stairwell: the room of Paul, Pete, and their third roommate whose name escapes me. Their room was already pretty well appointed, and music was playing. Pete lounged on the top bunk and the moment he saw me, he said something like, "Hey, you look like this guy!" as he pointed to a magazine picture of (who I later learned was) the Smiths' lead singer Morrissey that was taped on the wall behind him. I must admit at the time that I had no idea who Morrissey was and, in fact, thought it was Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. (Embarrassing admission--but I think I've finally reached the age where I just don't care about "embarrassing admissions" anymore).
Anyway, my nickname was firmly and irrevocably in place, created by Pete. I would henceforth be referred to as "Morrissey." As a result, I had to know more about who this Morrissey guy was, and I quickly became a Smiths fan--aided by Pete who let me borrow his copy of The Queen is Dead. I learned that the Smiths' music spoke to me, as it did many angst-ridden young people. (By the end of the 1986 calendar year, I believe I owned all the albums the Smiths had released up to that point).
This photo is wonderful in so many ways. My roommate John is in the foreground, covering his face. He's either laughing or in pain--I'm not sure which. All of your 1980s college dorm room signifiers are there: my life-size Jim Morrison poster, my proudly framed "Walked, Swam, Hunted, Danced, Sang" Lifes Rich Pageant-era R.E.M. poster, and the Sports Illustrated Cheryl Tiegs. We had to have some cheese cake on the walls, that was a must back in the '80s. (I have no idea if, in these somewhat less misogynistic times in which the objectification of women is frowned upon, guys have pictures of scantily clad women on their dorm room walls anymore. In fact, I have no idea how college kids decorate their rooms these days).
This old photo probably means nothing to anyone outside of myself and maybe a few people who lived on Ground Floor East Shaw Hall in 1986-1987, but it gives me a tremendous amount of joy to see it again after all these years.
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