Retrograde Pop

The opening song off of "First Journey to the Sun in a Jeep". This recording was done in May 30, 2006, but the original was sometime in 1972 and recorded on a Sony reel-to-reel, sound on sound tape machine.

This song I wrote when I was 17. It's about a flat earth scientist (contradiction in terms, I know) who calculated that if he drove very quickly off of a tall building, just before sunrise, he'd shoot over the edge of the earth and land on the sun.

Another song off of 'First Journey to the Sun in a Jeep.' This was actually track #2. I loved it then, and I still like it now.

This is a really strange one. I don't know exactly what I was writing about, but it sounds like guilt. This one was penned when I was 17 or 18. It was a reel-to-reel recording and it was on "First Journey to the Sun", I think. (8-6-06)

Every now and then I wrote these really odd songs that sounded like they belonged in the 1930's or 40's. It was, of course, because of a Beatles influence in such songs as 'When I'm 64' or 'Honey Pie.' (July 21, 2006)

I wrote this for a girl I was gaga about when I was 18. See the lyrics page for more info.

I wrote this song when I was 19 about a young lady whose name I will not mention. I was always one of those guys who fell in love with different girls.

A melancholy song that I wrote at the advanced and depressed old age of 18.

This is the song I wrote about and for Steve when Garbage broke up (the first time). It was on Ten Tubas for Bagdad or I Am a Rock and Roll Band -- I don't remember.

With a lot of the songs from my teens, I have to decide whether I want to try to recapture the sound or, instead, try to make the best possible production. This one goes down the middle. More or less the way it sounded, except there were no drums.

A song about desire. I wrote this when I was 19 or 20. (June 02, 2006)

This was off my album 'Wyndham Way' which I wrote in England when I was 17 or 18. (Had my 18th birthday there.) The ruins pictured here where important because I climbed them and my dad took my pic sitting on the top. Long gone pic now. (6-23-06)

This song was written when I was 17. It was actually an exercise in rapid and precise chord changes, but -- as always happens with me -- it became a song. It was one of my first 'social commentary' songs.

I dated a girl who had serious mental issues. This song was written at that time, when I was 18.

This song was one I wrote with my musical friend Stephen McKay many, many, many years ago. I forget what album it was on. The lyrics, chords, and melody were mine; Steve did the original lead, but this one is mine.

In my teens my best friend and musical buddy, Steve, accused me of writing bubblegum music. I wrote this track either before or after the accusation. He was correct, of course.

I wrote this song with one of my very best friends when I was 18 years old. Donna Petrovich -- now Donna McLean for many, many years -- wrote a poem and we created this song based on it.

I wrote this when I was 18. I think it was on I Am a Rock and Roll Band, but I'm not certain. This song is probably one of the best ones I wrote as a teen. Lyrically I think it is strong even now, even though it is sentimental. Musically I love it.

A song I wrote in my teens about the sea.

I wrote this song with the my buddy Steve when I was 19. It was untrue then, because we DID care about fame, at least as much as money. It's untrue now, because I care much more about love than money. However, here is the song.