Name Cy Curnin
Best known for As a vocal expressionist with a philosophical bent. Being in my band, The Fixx, is the only real day job I’ve ever had, apart from selling hats for a minute or three in the early ‘90s.
Current city Santa Cruz, California
Really want to be in Actually, really just want to stay here. The energy lines and micro climate make this spot paradise. I missed this fact when I first visited in 1984. I had my pretentious head up my ass obviously so I decided to live in NYC.
Excited about Being alive and conscious of the fact that I still have much to learn. I’m excited about being in a band that still tours and our music has remained relevant with the audience. Who knew?
My current music collection has a lot of Miles Davis, flamenco and old Bollywood film music.
And a little bit of Alternative rock.
Preferred format It all has its place. Kicking myself for believing that my amazing turntable was obsolete back in 1983. I’d kill to have that system back along with the vinyl collection. Streaming makes sense to keep up with the Joneses. Shazam to grab a tune out of thin air and boom! Download the whole album. Very useful tool.
5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:
1
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, David Bowie
This album connected with me viscerally. My nascent puberty collided with this epic work. I’ve been inextricably linked to it ever since. It helped form the character in me that wanted to express itself artistically and hide behind the enigma of music.
2
Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd
Along with countless millions of souls, this album reached in and became a balm against the early frustrations of living by the law. A dangerous combination of cynicism and rebellion. Just what a 15-year-old mind needs to hear. There’s a reason this album stayed on the charts for over 900 weeks and counting. Every time I hear “Money” I’m reminded of the trap we all are in. Bring on the revolution!!!
3
Manitas Et Les Siens, Manitas De Plata
I think I was about 10 years old when I became obsessed with the sound of flamenco guitar, thanks to my mother constantly playing this record. There was a wildness to the melodies and a passion that, though it didn’t know it then, is the key to most radical, unscripted music. This album would make me jump and dart around as if possessed by spirits unknown.
4
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
My friend’s big brother exposed me to this album over a period of months. Though I was aware of the weird counter-culture movement happening at the time I was only able to delve into the trippy music of the day. The almost nonsensical imagery opened my mind in a Dali-esque way. It was an early lesson of noticing that things are not always what they seem and the literal can be exposed by the surreal.
5
Feels So Good, Grover Washington, Jr.
I bought this album on a whim. I was browsing in the local HMV when this weird and wonderful instrumental music caught me off guard. I asked the shop attendant to put it on in the album review kiosk (still the best way to sell music IMHO). Within three minutes in headphone-land I was already counting my hard-earned after-school job money. Couldn’t stop playing it and even had a thumbs up from my dad, which was strange at the time (he thought all the music I was listening to was atrocious). Bless him.For some reason this album is my own soundtrack to the book Jawslong before I heard John Williams’s disturbing few notes accompanying the film, Seadogshad become the sound of sharks for me.
