One part New Order, one part the Smiths, two parts Pet Shop Boys. Sounds pretty fucking amazing, right?? Well, that’s Electronic with their gigantic alt-rock track from ’89-‘90, Getting Away With It. The first time I’d heard this song was on WDRE, the local station that played alternative rock after WLIR, a Long Island staple in new music radio, went defunct. It was my favorite radio station, churning out left of center hits by artists like the Cure and the Cult and all three of those amazing bands named at the top of this entry. Flash forward to present day: I pay for SiriusXM solely because they have a channel called FirstWave which generously plays all this kind of awesome music, bringing along with it radio DJ Larry the Duck! It’s no shock I identified with underground, new wave music. Even today, when the mood strikes, I’ll find a playlist of songs from this era and genre, and this song is usually atop the list. It’s not about the lyrics, as it usually isn’t in many of my favorite songs. It’s the melodic joy that makes me close my eyes and sway. There’s also a beautiful ending crescendo that transcends anything on the radio now. If all I had to do all day was listen to music like this and close my eyes and sway, my days would be complete.
From the historical writing archive. Original date: November 13, 2015. Recovered from local source material; editorial review is still in progress.
