Ramblings From Justin Penney

The subject of favorite summer albums came up on a forum I frequent. I decided to re-post mine here. They are Appetite For Destruction, Punk In Drublic, Weezer (blue), and Exile In Guyville. When I first started caring about music my cousins, Cindy and Carly, gave me Appetite For Destruction on cassette. This was just after they took me ice skating at Crown Center. It was my birthday turning eight or nine. That summer the DJ that was hired for Puddle Jumper Days, the town fair in Odessa, played Welcome to The Jungle, Paradise City, and Sweet Child O'Mine. I was too young to really enjoy the "dance" part of the fair but the way those songs sounded on that sweltering August night still rings in my head. Punk In Drublic and Weezer were staples in our cars while skateboarding or inline skating during the summer. We'd blast these albums and all sing along while traveling from spot to spot. The camaraderie that is built by having six or more sweaty, smelly guys crammed into a car belting out "Surf Wax America" can not be erased. I fell in love with my wife during "Butterfly" in February of 2000, the same month I left my first wife. We went on our first date in March and spent nearly the entire summer of 2000 hanging out, drinking, and listening to this album.