1983 GHS Yearbook - B

1983 GHS Yearbook - A

OK... I'm not going to lie. The next project I've decided to tackle is going to be a challenge for me. But I think it will also be a good learning experience... force me to pay more attention to detail, build skills.

I recently read about a guy who decided to sketch everyone in his mother's 1968 high school yearbook. I figured since I'm coming up on my 25 high school reunion, it might be fun to do that for my own yearbook. 1983. The dark spectacles, the feathered hair, the polyester shirts, the wide collars, a walk back in time! The guy who did the other yearbook took a strictly cartoon approach. That's not quite my style, so here goes.

Luckily, I had a small high school class. Here are the "A"s .

Timber Wolf #3

Iron and Wine - The Shepard's Dog

From old 1980's favorites to my last record purchase - Iron and Wine. Iron and Wine is the recording name of Sam Beam, a singer/songwriter with a soft but eerie kind of voice and intelligent, poetic lyrics. I cannot get the song "Boy with the Coin" out of my head... it could be the rhythmic hand clapping, the deep lyrics or the darkness that's kind of rolling along underneath the tune. It's mesmerizing.

April Wine - Nature of the Beast

Once in awhile in high school, we would go to the local movie theater... which where I grew up was a half-hour drive from home. This was just enough time to listen through "Nature of the Beast" on the way there. The first side had the best four song lineup of any tape in my collection.

1. All Over Town
2. Telling Me Lies
3. Sign of the Gypsy Queen
4. Just Between You and Me.

Journey - Escape

It's hard to describe the epitome of coolness that was Journey in 1981 when this album was released. Nobody was cooler than Steve Perry in Jordache jeans, shirt open down to his belly button with hair that took at least an hour to blow dry and feather back properly.

When this album was released, I was a sophmore in high school, on the verge of getting my driver's license. Before even buying my first car, I got a 8 track tape deck that I had ready to install, with the Journey Escape album one of the handful of 8 tracks I had raring to go.

The Cure - Staring at the Sea

Staring at the Sea was the first Cure album I ever bought. I got it on cassette tape (1986), mainly on the strength of the song "Close to Me." I remember hosting an apartment party in college, with a girl asking me to "play that song again"... over and over.

The rest of the songs led me to eventually go back and get most of the other Cure albums that this singles compilation borrowed from, along with most of the Cure albums since, all of which I've enjoyed immensely.