Classic & Current Contemporary Non-Schlock-Rock Metropolitan Music

Hot Fuss (Jun. 15, 2004) - The Killers

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2004 was a turning point in music for me and The Killers' Hot Fuss was part of it. Although I had always been open to new bands and regularly purchased new releases, most of what I had been listening to for the past few years was in familiar territory.

I had discovered an Internet radio station that had a channel dedicated to new music. I'm not talking about ErrorFM.com - I didn't find about that station until early 2006. I found myself listening to this station daily during the summer of 2004 and discovered a lot of great bands I had not heard before. The down side was that the announcing was canned and none of it including anything about specifically what was played. The only way I could find out what songs were played and who the artists were was to login and hope that the song scroller was working, which was not always the case.

So while I learned nothing ABOUT the artists I was listening to, I did discover a lot of SONGS by bands I had not heard before. One of the first songs that hooked me was "Somebody Told Me" by The Killers from Hot Fuss. I remember thinking that song reminded me a little of The Damned, maybe circa Machine Gun Etiquette. As I heard some of the other Killers' songs in rotation on that channel - "Mr. Brightside" and "On Top" come to mind - they reminded me less of The Damned and sounded more of like something really new.

I started buying CDS by these new bands including The Killers, Interpol, and Franz Ferdinand. There were way more great new CDs out than I could afford to buy. It had been a long time since I could remember being in that situation.

As much as I appreciated what I had learned from that Internet radio station - I even donated money during the end-of-year fundraiser - I finally abandoned it because I became more and more frustrated not have a person telling me about what I was hearing. And another thing happened shortly afterwards.

In the summer of 2005 I reconnected with an old radio buddy - Chris Corley (formerly known as Chuck Corley). Chris is an in-demand voice-over talent for movie trailers and TV promos. But we knew each other back in the early 80s and he was always tuned in to the cutting edge of music. I remember him making me tapes of KROQ - the L.A. radio station that back in the early 80s, under the guidance of Rick Carroll, was a driving force in bringing new music to the airwaves.

During our many late-night "drink-and-dial" phone conversations I found out that Chris had continued to carry the "new music" torch in a variety of ways after I left radio. He still keeps up with what's going on new musically. Best-of-all, he periodically makes "Mix CDs" heavily filled with new artists and puts songs together with a great continuity. Chris sent me a bunch of these CDs that he had made. I felt like I had hit the gold mine of great songs. His CDs were filled with songs by bands I had discovered on that Internet station. Chris was like having my own personal DJ!

As my music collection swelled with all this great new stuff, I found myself wanting to turn people on to it. So I started posting info about them here on Deaconlight.com. Yet I never got around to writing about The Killers. So now I have. There is more I want to tell you about Chris Corley and ErrorFM.com. I guess it will eventually show up here on Deaconlight.com in bits in and pieces.

-- June 29, 2008 (DDT)

The Killers - Hot Fuss Original Album Tracks

1. Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine
2. Mr. Brightside
3. Smile Like You Mean It
4. Somebody Told Me 3:17
5. All These Things That I've Done
6. Andy, You're A Star
7. On Top
8. Change Your Mind
9. Believe Me Natalie
10. Midnight Show
11. Everything Will Be Alright