the kinks — dedicated follower of fashion
When I was in college, my roommate Michelle and I followed The Strokes around the east coast, and eventually the west. We saw at least twelve shows in one year. Michelle saw them first, opening for I don’t remember who, but I want to say Doves. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club? No, it was Doves. She came home from that show with an E.P. and an obsession, and it didn’t take long for me to catch on.
The first time we saw the Strokes together was at an art gallery in Cambridge. I think the gallery was closing down? I don’t know why the Strokes were there. It was before they were on the cover of every magazine, after they were known to those in the know. The art gallery had no stage. The band played in the corner of a wide, white room, and we stood right in front of them, close enough to smell. Julian was still wearing that military jacket he always used to wear. We were nineteen.
For some reason we decided to make the band a mixtape. For some reason this seemed like a good idea. I don’t remember most of the songs. We made a master cassette, then four copies of that, then we added one bonus track to each tape, individual picks for each member of the band. I don’t remember what we chose for Julian. Michelle chose a Blur song for Fab. Our other roommate, Kate, chose “You’re So Rad” by the Bouncing Souls for Nick. We agreed on “Psycho Killer” for Nikolai. For Albert, who was “mine,” I picked “Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” in honor of his striped shirts and tight pants.
We gave the tapes to the band after another Boston show. I want to say it was at the Paradise, but that feels too small. What is the name of that other, bigger club, the one on Landsdowne, next to that other biggish one? I can’t remember anything anymore. We waited for the band outside, and then we accosted them with our tapes. We explained to Nikolai that we chose his song for the sweet bass line, because he plays bass. This was a lie. I don’t remember what we said to Julian. Michelle enchanted Fab, in the way she enchanted every curly-haired boy she ever met. Nick was too intimidating to speak to for long, but I remember he said the tapes were “cool.”
Albert Hammond, Jr. and his tight, tight pants said, “‘Dedicated Follower of Fashion’ is one of my favorite songs!”
“Mine too,” I said. Then we talked for a while about the Kinks.
