I bought Asia’s first album completely cold. I never heard of them. I never heard any of the music on the album before I owned it. I bought Asia because a girl told me to. Well it was more of a suggestion. If you have been following along, you’ll remember that Vermont Academy is located in southeastern Vermont in a tiny little village. The closest records stores being many miles away. It made buying music difficult. There wasn’t an Amazon.com then and I relied on Columbia House to buy music through the mail. It seems to antiquated as I look back but you had to work with what you had.
One of the side effects of going to college prep school is that you are expected to take the SAT’s at least a couple of times. Authorized SAT testing centers like music stores, require some travel. One Saturday morning, Kelley Cota and I were scheduled to take the test at a high school in Springfield, Vermont. Kelley had a car and she drove us over there. After the test, we decided to take advantage of being in a town that actually sold music. We went to this little plaza to a place called Ames or something it was like of like a miniature version of a department store that was heavy on hardware and building supplies. Maybe I’m dreaming it has been 30 years.
I remember sifting through the cassettes. I wasn’t looking for anything specific and I wasn’t finding it. I was determined to get something though. The opportunity was here and I was compelled to act on it. Kelley suggested Asia. “They’re supposed to be pretty good.” is the sentence that hangs in my mind. I had known Kelley since middle school but I’m not certain that I knew anything about her musical tastes. Still, I trusted her judgement even though as I rconsider that sentence hanging in my mind, it certainly sounds like she hadn’t actually listened to them either.
Anyway, Asia ended up being a good choice and years later, I would figure out that all those guys were veterans from other good bands. Even though I like Asia well enough, I don’t think I ever attempted to acquire any of the subsequent material. I think my soon to be room mate Aric had their second album but it didn’t seem to have that connection.
Now, I still like Asia but I don’t know if it it only because of the music or if it is another one of those albums that represents a solid connection to my life in Vermont all those years ago. It does foreshadow a trend that would be more commonplace in the CD era. This is most likely the beginning of Columbia House Roulette style of music selecting where I get something with no knowledge of what lies there in. So I have Kelley to thank for Asia and whenever I listen to this album, I cannot help but think of her, SAT’s, Ames and Springfield on a cold Saturday morning. Cheers Kelley!
Heat Of The Moment
Only Time Will Tell
Sole Survivor
Woldest Dreams
Here Comes The Feeling