Introduce Yourself

I’m not sure where Matt discovered Introduce Yourself. Growing up in Yakima, we didn’t have what you'd call a broad exposure to pop music. Radio was limited to classic rock, Top 40, and modern country - two or three stations per format. All playing the same damn songs day after day. There was no internet in 1986, and there were definitely no rock shows in Yakima. But junkies find a way, and we developed a couple connects.

First, we discovered that one of the local Top 40 stations - 92.5 KZHR - broadcast a syndicated program called Rock Over London every Sunday night from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. The posh-sounding host Graham Dene played the latest Brit chart-toppers including the Smiths, the Cure, New Order, et al.

Second, as often as we could convince our folks to drive, we would journey to Cellophane Square, an oasis in the nightmare otherwise known as Bellevue Square mall. The three hour drive (often permeated by clouds of yummy pipe smoke courtesy of Matt's dad) was amply rewarded by Cellophane Square's smorgasboard of what was then called “modern rock” or “college rock”. We would buy whatever we could afford from the Square’s top 10 list, which was handwritten on a whiteboard. No reviews or listens necessary. We knew it would be good. Before leaving we'd scrounge all available copies of The Rocket, then we'd haul our booty back over the Cascades gleefully anticipating the endless listens awaiting us.

So, the thing about Introduce Yourself was that it was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. That Southern Cal mix of metal, funk, rap and punk was a million miles away from the sensitive lads crooning on Rock Over London. In retrospect, Introduce Yourself foreshadowed Jane’s Addiction's successful formula on Nothing's Shocking and even some aspects of nu metal. Listening today, the smart punk attitude and off-key vocals sound fresh to me.