Summertime Records

While Summer isn't officially over, it is September 1st, the kids are back to school, and for my 5:00 run this morning, the sun didn't so much as peak over the horizon. Summer is winding down, and we will be seeing the leaves change color before we know it. Reflecting on these past few months, I can safely say that my playlists saw plenty of Y&T...damn, next to Van Halen, they are just one of those perfect Summertime bands.

While record shopping downtown recently, I found the Open Fire live LP from Y&T in the bin. Since I'd been jamming them for weeks on end, it only made sense to pick up this piece of vinyl.

I'd drawn a line in the sand with Y&T and wasn't going to bother with anything released after Mean Streak. The band's reputation gets a little sketchy after this '83 release, so I was just going to ignore anything after that. The thing is though, Open Fire was released in '85...well past my Y&T expiration date. Still, this live album was packed with classic Y&T songs from the band's first five albums. Hey, the sun was out and the weather was great while walking around the city...I had a moment of weakness, and rolled the dice. I'm so glad that I did, because this live album is awesome, and the live version of Open Fire melts my face off.

The only odd ball in this live album is a studio version of Summertime Girls. This was a low point for Y&T as far I'm concerned, and was the turning point when the band really took a shot at commercial MTV success, trying to imitate Van Halen's Jump. While the song was their biggest hit, it also seemed to alienate their diehard fans, and Y&T fell in to obscurity.

I love the order form for the VHS of their live show in San Francisco. Man, I remember watching this on MTV in '85, recording the audio with my cassette deck, and playing the shit out of that over the summer. Thirty years on, Y&T are my Summertime band once again.

Okay...since the Open Fire live album turned out to be a nice surprise, it made me curious about the Y&T album from '84, In Rock We Trust. For one reason or another, I'd rolled this album up into the Summertime Girls shit pile. After a quick download, I discovered how wrong I was...this album is mid-fucking-80's gold!

After picking up that Open Fire live album, I was on a Y&T high, and needed more vinyl from the band. Finding In Rock We Trust for $4 was a find too good to walk away from.