By the Time You See Things My Way, I'll Be Halfway Down the Highway

I tend to be nostalgic for things that most people have never even heard of, especially when it comes to music. As an example, one of my favorite records released in the 80's was the eponymous debut of Scotland's Shop Assistants. After the Shop Assistants broke up, lead singer Alex Taylor briefly fronted a combo called The Motorcycle Boy. As far as I know, The Motorcycle Boy only released one album, but the lead single of it was an obscure gem which got a little airplay on college radio, but dropped into obscurity.

Big Rock Candy Mountain takes its name from a song about a hobo's vision of paradise:





The Motorcycle Boy's song of the same name concerns an unhappy woman's desire to escape from an unsatisfying relationship. It's an almost perfect noise-pop confection which features the blend of sweet melody and melancholy lyrics which also characterized Alex Taylor's previous work with The Shop Assistants. I hadn't heard the song for a decade and a half, and scoured used record stores (Google them, if you've never heard of them) in vain to find the album. Thanks to teh t00bz, I was finally able to find this Holy Grail of pure pop bliss (that voice!):





For more of that pure pop bliss, here's another number, which I had never heard before composing this post: