Jian Gomeshi is a radio broadcaster, musician, and pr oducer. He r ecently released his first book, a memoir documenting his teenage y ears in Thornhill, Ontario. 1982 meshes stories from his y outh with piv otal songs and musical moments that had a profound impact on his life.
REVIEW: 1982
Jian Gomeshi is a radio broadcaster, musician, and pr oducer. He r ecently released his first book, a memoir documenting his teenage y ears in Thornhill, Ontario. 1982 meshes stories from his y outh with piv otal songs and musical moments that had a profound impact on his life.
The prologue begins with a list of the most important things in his life at age 14: David Bowie, black pointy boots, fitting in, theatre, his drum kit, and his cr ush, a g irl named Wendy. Coming from the only Persian family in a predominantly white, suburban neighbourhood gave Gomeshi a unique perspective. He and his older sister attended an expe rimental liberal school that had a r eputation for focusing on the performing arts, namely theatre and music. It was also known for a diverse and racially integrated student body. Here, he met Wendy, who was quintessentially cool. She was older, into New Wave music, and, to Jian, she was the female version of David Bowie.
During the summer of Grade 9, Gomeshi gets tickets to see The Police. Before they became mega stars, The Police were a relatively unknown ska / reggae / New Wave band fr om the UK. He works up the courage to invite Wendy to the concert and brings an Adidas bag full of essential items: Sony Walkman with Police mix tape, portable headphones, jean jacket, and bag of mixed nuts. The concert begins as a poignant and innocent date, but it turns awkward when a hooligan takes Jian’ s bag and hurls it onto the stage at one of the band members.
The rest of the book gets into ho w Gomeshi met the member s of his futur e band, Moxy Fruvous,
and acknowledges the star t of his broadcasting career as being the morning announcer in high school.“ And so it tur ns out 1982 w as a pivotal year in my life,” he wr ites.“ Ninety eighty-two was the y ear I became a New Wave. In my goal to be like Bowie, I acquired the black clothing and the hair gel, and some of the attitude to fit in with the punks and New Wavers. Or at least, I came close by the end of the year. And it didn’ t help that all the heroes in the New Wave were white— like Bowie— although I imag ined that Bowie had no race. He was too cool.”
New Wave is seen as one of the definitive genres of the 1980s. The genre became a fixture on MTV and the popularity of several New Wave artists has been partially attributed to the exposur e that was given to them by the channel. A few of the New Wave bands that influenced Jian’ s musical career included Siouxie and the Banshees, the Cure, New Order, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and Ultravox.
1982 is a blast to the an era some of us remember, peppered with themes of suburban malaise, the notion of fitting in and being cool, the ar t of making the perfect mixed tape, being perceived different due to ethnicity, obsessions with music, and coming of age moments. It’ s a humorous journey back through time, to a world where Google, iPhones, and Wikipedia weren’ t yet part of our everyday vocabulary. Gomeshi captur es the coming of age— his own and the world’ s— through music, wit, and heartfelt memories. – C. M. Añonuevo
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