Todd Content, "The Record Bin"

Mojave 3, Ask Me Tomorrow

“The Record Bin”

Mojave 3

By Todd Lockwood

As a recent college graduate in the early 1990’s my initial ambition was to find an entry level position in advertising. At that time, The U.S was still climbing out of a multi-year recession. Like many of my piers I was having a difficult time finding a suitable opportunity. Then, one Sunday, I was searching the want ads in the print edition of The New York Times and discovered a job posting for an administrative assistant working for the CFO of Westwood One Radio Networks in New York City. It wasn’t exactly the type of position I was seeking but I needed to get my foot in the door so I decided to fax my resume to the appropriate individuals. After a few internal interviews I got the job.

What was the Record Bin?

The accounting department was located next to a syndicated network news show called “The Source”. The program targeted the 18-34 demo. Westwood One had numerous syndicated radio programs that reached this demo.

One afternoon, as I was walking past The Source’s offices, I heard my name called and was invited in for an introduction with the VP of Programming. We exchanged pleasantries and then I was directed to a big cardboard bin full of CD’s and cassettes in the corner of the office. Apparently, record labels were sending promotional copies of music that they hoped the network would be placed into rotation on the various syndicated programs and networks. “As long as I’m not in the office come on in and take what you want” I was told. This was like inviting a vampire into your house. Being a music fanatic how could I say no !!

Luckily, the Head of Programming was out of the office quite a bit. I became a regular visitor to that bin. Every few days there were new items added. I was like a kid in a candy store. New music discoveries occurred almost on a daily basis. There were great finds and obviously some long-forgotten duds.

For this, the inaugural edition of the “Record Bin” I want to highlight the album, “Ask Me Tomorrow” by the English band Mojave 3. This CD was one of my first big discoveries and still a favorite till this day. The style of music is hard to pin down. Reviewers have called the sound of the album as, dream pop, others describe the style as alt country, and still others say the music includes many elements of folk music. Favorite tracks of mine include, Tomorrow’s Taken and Mercy

Prior to Mojave 3, three out of 4 members of the band were in a Shoegazing group named Slowdive. Shoegazing can be best described as a late 80’s / early 90’s style of rock music with fuzzy guitars blended with distorted vocals. My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain fall into this style. Here’s a link to the Slowdive song, Alison from their album, Souvlaki.