CMJ published the CMJ New Music Report monthly and it was sent to the college radio station that I worked at while passing time between classes. It was big, it was glossy, and it had interviews with new bands that would be there for a moment and then disappear off the face of the planet for one reason or another.
CMJ held an annual conference in New York City every September. Bands would perform and you could go and watch different seminars with speakers. New indie movies would be shown. Some would see a wide release and some would just suck, hoping they didn’t even make it to the DVD market. Going to the CMJ conference was almost a rite of passage for people that worked at our tiny 10-watt radio station…”1 Watt For Every Finger You’ve Got!”
In the years leading up to the year that I went to the conference, it sounded like the entire station management team would go down, but the year that I went it was me, myself, and Jack. Looking back, it may have been a better idea for me to stay behind and let Jack go by himself. At the time, I was the Station Manager and he was the Music Director (I think) and we were both from the New York City area so we would know our way around the venues.
Something that should have tipped me off that this wouldn’t be a team-building exercise that we would be taking back a wealth of information to the radio station to make it a success, hoping to rival the in-town “Just The Hits!” station was the fact that we get to the hotel and Jack says, “I’ll see you in a couple of days.” Okay…so no going over the schedule and figuring out what keynote speakers we would go and see. Maybe we’ll cross paths and go over each other’s plans for the day.
Nope. Did not see Jack for the entire weekend, except maybe when he came back to the hotel to sleep at night. I would ask him how his day was and gave very dismissive answers, changing the subject. It was apparent that he had his own agenda and CMJ wasn’t part of it. Okay then, at least I would try and make the most of it.
Saw some great speakers, got a shit-ton of free merch from bands, and made a couple of friends so I wouldn’t fly the entire event solo. All in all a great experience, but I can see how the college administration thought it was a waste of time and money for our little station that barely reached a mile out of campus and into the local penitentiary. At the end of the conference, true to his word, Jack showed up and we headed back to school.
One of the nice things about the conference tab being picked up by the school is that some of the expenses (think meals and some incidentals) were picked up as well, as long as we had receipts. I religiously kept my receipts from the weekend and gave them to Jack for reimbursement. I think I totaled it all up to about $150. I never saw a penny of it. Jack kept making up excuses on where the money was. In hindsight, I think he got a check and “forgot” to give me my cut.
Dick.
| Track | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Rape Me | Nirvana | 2:48 |
| I Am One | Smashing Pumpkins | 4:06 |
| Touch Me I'm Sick | Mudhoney | 2:29 |
| I Wanna Be Adored | The Stone Roses | 4:53 |
| Indian Summer | Beat Happening | 3:03 |
| Igneous Ejaculation | John Zorn | 2:24 |
| My Philosophy | Boogie Down Productions | 5:37 |
| Dirty Blvd. | Lou Reed | 3:31 |
| Lorelei | Cocteau Twins | 3:41 |
| Tear-Stained Letter | Richard Thompson | 4:41 |
| Take Me To The Other Side | Spacemen 3 | 4:36 |
| Slack Motherfucker | Superchunk | 2:53 |
| Veronica | Elvis Costello | 3:09 |
| Angel Of Death | Slayer | 4:52 |
| Stigmata | Ministry | 5:44 |
| Me Myself And I | De La Soul | 3:41 |
| Devil's Roof | Throwing Muses | 3:40 |
| Anodyne | Uncle Tupelo | 4:48 |
| Nothing Compares 2 U | Sinéad O'Connor | 5:10 |
| Black | Pearl Jam | 5:45 |
| Losing My Religion | REM | 4:27 |
| The Power Of Equality | Red Hot Chili Peppers | 4:04 |
| Heavenly Pop Hit | The Chills | 3:27 |
| Girlfriend | Matthew Sweet | 3:40 |
| John The Fisherman | Primus | 3:36 |
| Let Love Rule | Lenny Kravitz | 5:42 |
| Possession | Sarah McLachlan | 4:39 |
| Go | Moby | 3:36 |
| Godlike [Black Box Mix] | KMFDM | 6:33 |
| No Bulbs | The Fall | 4:27 |
| Keep On Movin' | Soul II Soul | 6:00 |
| The Downtown Lights | The Blue Nile | 6:27 |
| I Love Paris | Les Negresses Vertes | 3:13 |
| Damn Right, I've Got The Blues | Buddy Guy | 4:30 |
| Good Morning, Captain | Slint | 7:38 |
| Kool Thing | Sonic Youth | 4:06 |
| Tennessee | Arrested Development | 4:33 |
| Only Shallow | My Bloody Valentine | 4:16 |
| Sad But True | Metallica | 5:24 |
| Fucking Hostile | Pantera | 2:49 |
| Lemon | U2 | 6:56 |
| Would? | Alice In Chains | 3:27 |
| Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown | Jimmie Dale Gilmore | 2:52 |
| Push Th' Little Daisies | Ween | 2:49 |
| The Concept | Teenage Fanclub | 6:06 |
| Little Fluffy Clouds | The Orb | 4:02 |
| It's A Shame About Ray | The Lemonheads | 3:06 |
| Scenario | A Tribe Called Quest | 4:10 |
| Thunder Kiss '65 | White Zombie | 3:54 |
| Who Does She Hope To Be? | Sonny Sharrock | 4:40 |
| The Carnival Is Over | Dead Can Dance | 5:31 |
| Big Sky Country | Chris Whitley | 4:46 |
| Runaway Train | Soul Asylum | 4:26 |
| Rid Of Me | PJ Harvey | 4:27 |
| Cannonball | The Breeders | 3:34 |
| Insane In The Brain | Cypress Hill | 3:32 |
| Buena | Morphine | 3:19 |
| In The Meantime | Helmet | 3:08 |
| Nearly Lost You | Screaming Trees | 4:06 |
| Ping Pong | Stereolab | 3:01 |
| Soul And Fire | Sebadoh | 3:46 |
| Mr. Loverman | Shabba Ranks | 5:38 |
| Isabel | Unrest | 2:14 |
| C.R.E.A.M. | Wu-Tang Clan | 4:13 |
| Feed The Tree | Belly | 3:27 |
| She Don't Use Jelly | The Flaming Lips | 3:40 |
| Noel, Jonah And Me | The Spinanes | 3:22 |
| If I Can't Change Your Mind | Sugar | 3:17 |
| Longview | Green Day | 3:59 |
| Round Here | Counting Crows | 5:31 |
| Ai Du | Ali Farka Touré | 7:07 |
| Selling The Drama | Live | 3:26 |
| Johnny Mathis' Feet | American Music Club | 3:40 |
| Loser | Beck | 3:56 |
| Violet | Hole | 3:24 |
| Live Forever | Oasis | 4:36 |
| Closer | Nine Inch Nails | 6:26 |
| Old Friend | Lyle Lovett | 3:09 |
| Big Things | Ted Hawkins | 2:40 |
| Tin Cans & Twine | Tortoise | 4:21 |
| No Pain No Gain | Buckshot LeFonque | 5:27 |
| Zombie | The Cranberries | 5:07 |
| Kerosene | Bad Religion | 2:42 |
| Refuse/Resist | Sepultura | 3:19 |
| Delia's Gone | Johnny Cash | 2:18 |
| Only Happy When It Rains | Garbage | 3:57 |
| Santa Monica | Everclear | 3:12 |
| Faget | Korn | 5:49 |
| Sour Times | Portishead | 4:11 |
| One Of Us | Joan Osborne | 5:19 |
| I Am A Scientist | Guided By Voices | 2:25 |
| Black Hole Sun | Soundgarden | 5:19 |
| Sabotage | Beastie Boys | 2:59 |
| You Oughta Know | Alanis Morissette | 4:12 |
| Connection | Elastica | 2:21 |
| Natural One | The Folk Implosion | 3:09 |
| So Real | Jeff Buckley | 4:39 |
| Human Behaviour | Björk | 4:11 |
| Lump | The Presidents Of The United States Of America | 2:12 |
| Please Return It | Posies | 3:30 |
| Everything Zen | Bush | 4:38 |
| Until | Cassandra Wilson | 6:27 |
| Leviticus: Faggot | Me'Shell Ndegéocello | 6:08 |
| This Is A Call | Foo Fighters | 3:54 |
| Ashby Man | Charlie Hunter | 5:17 |
| More Than I Can Do | Steve Earle | 2:37 |
| Pepper | Butthole Surfers | 4:43 |
| Ready Or Not | The Fugees | 3:47 |
| Naked Eye | Luscious Jackson | 4:39 |