Cargo by Men At Work came out in May of 1983 even as we were still enjoying Business As Usual. Like the album A Flock Of Seagulls, Cargo really belongs in 2 different eras. It starts in Space Mountain but continues into College Intermission. So what I’ll most likely do is treat it in a similar way. I’ll highlight the songs that belong here and then finish up when it is appropriate.
Cargo was like The Go-Go’s Vacation in that I was buying purely because I like the band and not because I had heard any songs from the album. Cargo was also the responsible for me learning what the term Ska meant although I’m not sure what it means. Space chef Tim told that Settle Down My Boy was Ska. I had no reason not to accept this.
So let me elaborate just a little about the arrangements up on Space Mountain. in the “Basement” of the inn were the crew quarters. Back behind a maze of storage was a little hallway that had a bathroom. and some bedrooms. The hallway terminated at a door to the outside which opened up to a deck that then went down some stairs to the ground. So it was more of a walkout basement. Of the rooms downstairs, only ours and Mark & Al’s had windows. They looked out into the valley and across to Stratton Mountain.
The inn itself was at the end of a 5 mile paved road full of steep sections and hairpin turns. To the south stood 4 FAA antenna towers. A mile down the road was an access road to three giant wind turbines. To the west was the Carthusian Monastery and a pair of mountain lakes. Strikingly beautiful all around. We all lived and worked up there. It was amazing. The work wasn’t particularly difficult so it was more like a 10 week party with little interruptions of work here and there. I can’t think of a better way to spend your first summer after high school than living with your friends in a beautiful green mountain top.
I know that this is supposed to be about music and influences but I feel the need to share my observations regarding the 4th of July fireworks. From out vantage point on the mountain, we’d be able to see the fireworks from at least 4 different towns. I had no idea what to expect. I had only seen them from the ground before. Now I was about to be at eye level with them! Or so I thought. When they actually went off, they seemed to pathetically small way down there in the valley. The resulting let down was such that it was and continues to be so comical.
In contrast, a thunderstorm rolled into the valley below us that summer.Thatwas something marvelous. The clouds flooded the valley the top quarter of Mount Equinox and the ridge across the valley stood above it. In the clouds below, lightning was striking and lighting the clouds up from below. In other weather news, it also snowed up on top of the mountain that summer. Someplace I have phots of the parking lot covered in snow and we even made a little snowman. I’ll see if I can find them. Now back to the music.
Here are the Cargo songs that belong on Space Mountain.
Settle Down My Boy
Blue For You