Day 70

So after flaming out my Freshman year at the University in May where I thought I could work three jobs and date three or more girls at a time because I was a certified genius, I had a Summer of depression and self-doubt which I tried to quash with record buying sprees and some risky business with the ladies. Pretty sure I quit my job at one point, ostensibly to look for something else but ended up living on the kindness of the girls and women I was dating. If there ever was a dark time in my life it was the late Summer and early Fall of 1985. And not because of one woman or one incident - it was a cumulative event, rolling like a snowball through every aspect of my life, making mountains out of molehills. The whole jobless thing led in turn to more reliance on the Visa and less buying overall but make no mistake, the girls all had record collections and I dubbed countless albums from each of them.

Not gonna lie (why start now?) the song "Missing You" from this album was the only reason I ordered it.  Ms. Ross was signed to RCA at the time so the RCA Music Service was her exclusive mail-order home.  Not sure if the album was on clearance or if I used a rain check or savings certificate on this one but I got my $2 worth.

Swept Away - Diana Ross (1984)

• Saw Ratt open for either Billy Squier or Mötley Crüe in 1984 and then again on August 1, 1985 on the Invasion Of Your Privacy Tour with Bon Jovi opening for them.  They had been mighty impressive on their major label debut, 1984's Out Of The Cellar with no less than four hard rocking hits: "Wanted Man", "Lack Of Communication" (my favorite Ratt song), "Back For More" and the Top 40 crossover "Round and Round".  The follow-up album produced only two tracks that I liked: "You're In Love" and "Lay It Down".  The fact that it took me nearly two months to buy the album from the time it came out - and two weeks after seeing half of it performed live - tells you all you need to know about how disappointed I was with Invasion Of Your Privacy.
• Have no freakin' idea why I bought Arista's Greatest R&B Hits: Portrait Of A Decade 1975-1985. I couldn't find the cover art online but I found a track list. Also until now, I didn't know the album was the third in a three LP set; the first two albums covered Arista's Greatest Pop Hits and Arista's Greatest Rock Hits, both of which had more of my favorite songs than the R&B one, which curiously didn't have any Whitney Houston songs. Nor did the Pop album. Wonder if these records came out before she hit in 1985 or if it was a contractual thing.

Invasion Of Your Privacy - Ratt (1985)

Arista's Greatest R&B Hits: Portrait Of A Decade 1975-1985 - various artists (1985)

Despite my disappointment, Invasion Of Your Privacy is the only album of the three still on The Vinyl Wall.

Day 71

will be

August 18th.