TAPE Me Back To The Future — MADE For Tape # 7: Joe Satriani, “Surfing With The Alien” (1987)

An occasional series here that celebrates the cassette-tape format in all its glory. Wobbles

Joe Satriani, Surfing With The Alien (1987)

Yes, it’s the sound of 1987, but for me it’s actually the sound of 1990 — that’s when I first heard it. This album absolutely blew my mind, sent me down a path, or further down a path. In 1989-90 almost all I listened to was guitar music: Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. I loved Deep Purple too, and all the Clapton-related material like Cream and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, I dug B.B. King, and through that Gary Moore blues album I got into Albert King and Albert Collins. I was also into Metallica and Anthrax a bit, and a few things like that. It was all loud and guitar based, basically.

But Joe Satriani was something else entirely. And it took me to Steve Vai, and via that and the movie Crossroads I started subscribing to Guitar World and reading up about George Lynch and Eric Johnson and Tony MacAlpine. I got into Sonic Youth because of Guitar World though too, and that’s where I read about Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s then new album, Ragged Glory (still one of my favourites). So, yeah, it was a time.

But Satriani was huge. For a time…

In third form music class, we would all get a turn to play a piece of music for the class — something we liked. I took in Too Much Blood by The Rolling Stones, from the album, Undercover; I loved it, but look, the real reason I took that song was so I could sneak in the word ‘fuck’ — it was so subtle I knew the teacher was never going to notice, but I had told my mates all about it before hand, so they were listening out. We gave ourselves away, just like a row of third form boys, giggling at our apparent brilliance.

Anyway, a couple of weeks later, one of the guys in the class brought in Joe Satriani and played the title track from Surfing With The Alien. And holy fuck! It was a eureka moment for me. I had seen the tape cover on posters when I was in Sydney in late 1987, and nearly bought it because on that trip I got my first Walkman and I thought the Silver Surfer cover was badass. But there were too many Midnight Oil tapes in Sydney, Australia. So I bought those instead.

And so I had to wait three years to hear Joe Satriani. But, he still blew the bloody doors off, I tell ya. That instrumental guitar piece just floored me. And so I was off to get the album that weekend with my pocket money. I thought it was his debut, until I learned that there was a more recent album (Flying In A Blue Dream) and one before it (Not Of This Earth) and so I bought both of those. And loved them too — but for the longest time Surfing was number one.

I played that tape in my Walkman for years. I’d graduate up to CD. And vinyl. For some weird reason it never felt right on LP — never quite worked for me (but Not Of This Earth, and Flying In A Blue Dream did).

It was perfect lawn mowing music, I’d get to sneak it on in the car now and then — mum wasn’t a fan, but dad didn’t mind. And it was often music I’d listen to while writing my first poems, as a 12/13 year old kid.

It started to get a whole lot harder to defend Satch at university, and of course my tastes were changing. I stuck in for a few new albums but largely gave up. Still, 13yo year old me would have never believed that I’d grow up to not only see Joe Satriani play — twice — but also to interview him!

He was nice enough, but not one of the greats to speak to. And his gigs left me a bit cold really, still nice to tick someone like that off the list:

When it comes down to it all — this grab from my 2014 review sorta sums it all up really — the frustration and absurdity and guilty pleasure of once being (and then kinda therefore forever being) a Joe Satriani fan:

But, look, I bought a Walkman again — and found Surfing With The Alien again. On tape, again. And it has everything I want from a nostalgia-kick. I listen through to it and know I’m never going to play it more than twice a year, which means the tape should last. And I’m instantly more connected to it than on any other format. It’s a reminder of the start of a really significant era in my music listening. Guitar music was so dominant, and though I still love a great guitar solo, and very strong riffs, I do feel like ever since about 1993, or 1995 certainly, I’ve been somewhat reacting against “Guitar Music” as much as I was ever attracted to it. Surfing feels like the perfect guilty pleasure now, made for TAPE, made for 13yo me. Made for the Walkman.