The comment thread from an old blog post about the shaky finances of higher education has somehow morphed into a conversation about those albums that we played over and over and over in college.
My roommate had a tape of Police’s Synchronicity that was on heavy rotation on her boom box. And she must have played David Bowie’s China Girl a bazillion times.
Me? It was Murmur, the Cure, the Pogues, Talking Heads, and, for some reason, the Kinks.
Apt. 11d 
U2’s Joshua Tree, also The Cure. They Might be Giants. That’s all I remember. I was into the blues quite a bit then, because I was in Memphis and had access to fantastic live music.
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Joshua Tree & They Might Be Giants here too, plus about halfway through Nirvana’s Nevermind hit.
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When I was in the dorm, the guys on one side of me would play “Beth, I Hear You Calling” every day when they all got back from class. Eventually somebody threatened to kill them (not me) and they stopped. Then I moved off-campus and one of my roommates would play the whole album from The Doors every day. I still can’t listen to either without rage.
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My freshman year, The Doors were huge. My freshman roommate played that, Guns and Roses, and a bunch of other stuff.
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For me, as I think for most people in today’s America, particular songs or albums are associated with particular years/living situations/girlfriends/mental states etc. This is especially true for one’s youth (say 15 to 25), but remains true to a certain extent. So “Eat to the Beat,” which I mentioned before, is the spring of 1980. I had taken a semester off from college, after almost flunking out, and I returned full of energy. (My memory may be slightly exaggerated, but I think I did 16 1/2 hours with a 3.8 average.) All fueled by Blondie.
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Every Friday after the last class of the day, “Welcome to the Pleasure Dome” turned up to 11. Many beers were chugged in those twelve minutes and fifteen seconds. A few years later it occured to me that my fraternity had a significant minority of gay men. Still love the song, though, and must always play it loud.
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I note that the women are mostly reporting the songs they played, and enjoyed while in college, while the men are reporting the songs that were imposed on them (or that they imposed on others).
I am very unmusical but realized how significant a role “soundtracks” played in our lives when my kiddo came home and asked me to play “eye of the tiger” (music teacher introduced him). We downloaded an 80’s greatest hits playlist and I realized that I was viscerally familiar with every song, even though I never listened to music. The music must have pervaded the time and space.
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Exactly.
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Well, I started it off my mentioning the song imposed on me….
I remember Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Police’s Synchronicity, and Yes’ Owner of a Lonely Heart (the single) being played constantly.
In grad school, we listened to Little Creatures (Talking Heads) all the time. That was also when I was introduced to the Violent Femmes. Before that, if it wasn’t on MTV, I didn’t know it.
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Kate Bush The Sensual World
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Wasn’t in a dorm. I just had a few cassette tapes — but Paul Brady, “Welcome Here, Kind Stranger”, Andy Irvine and Paul Brady eponymous album. I also listened a lot to Randy Newman’s Trouble in Paradise and Paul Simon, Hearts and Bones — but then some bugger broke into our shared house and stole my passport, 30 quid, and both those tapes. I have never replaced them, which is stupid, because I replaced the passport.
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My in-laws were once robbed and the burglars pointedly left their entire music collection (I believe after going through it). Lots of classical stuff.
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Somebody once broke into my garage, pulled the car stereo out of the dash, realized how bad it was, and left it hanging there. It’s not likely that they got chased away or something because they stole four cases of soda.
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