Now for something a bit more cheerful, and the only live album that made my top ten. As always, if you missed my original post, please check out “ten perfect albums” first.

Discovery

Finding my way to the Mighty Mighty BossTones was quite the journey. In 97 / 98 I would occasionally hear “The Impression That I Get” on the radio, sometimes when waking up, or perhaps in the car with my parents. We were sometime away from services like “Shazam” however, and although I had the internet, I never quite managed to find out what the song was. It didn’t help that when I was asking other people, 15 year old me was referring to it as ‘Knock on Wood’.

No one else ever seemed to know what it was though, and it may have been a whole year later, when I’d all but given up on finding out what the song was called or even who it was by. When watching the film “Clueless”, I saw, and more importantly heard, the scene where the Mighty Mighty BossTones perform “Where’d you go?”, I recognised Dicky Barrett’s distinctive vocals as being from that song I already loved. While I obviously didn’t have the foresight to just wait for the credits, a week or so later I was in HMV in Hanley and it occurred to me to look for the Clueless soundtrack. I didn’t buy it, but a glance at the back of the box told me that “Where’d you go?” was performed by the Mighty Mighty BossTones. HMV didn’t have any of their albums in, but I wandered down to Mike Lloyd Music to try my luck.

Mike Lloyd Music had three Mighty Mighty BossTones CDs, result! Given my financial status (pretty sure I was still at school, or just left) I could only afford one CD. They had an EP “Ska-Core, The Devil and More“, a studio album “Question the Answers“* and the subject of this post, the live album “Live From the Middle East“*.

I used a schoolboy’s approach to value for money shopping, and went for the live album, as it had 22 songs on. Also from the track listing it had “Where’d You Go?”, so even if the other song I was looking for wasn’t on there, I at least know I liked that. Took that CD home and fell in love.

I think there was a good chance I was the only Mighty Mighty BossTones fan in Stoke, over the next couple of months I saved my money and bought those other two CDs from Mike Lloyd, no sign of anyone else buying any.

Standout songs

Where’d You Go?

Going to start with “Where’d You Go?”, it’s a great single and received its own EP. As above, this should be recognisable to fans of the movie Clueless, and I still have it to thank for helping me connect with the band.

The Impression That I Get

While it’s very uncool to say you like a band’s most successful single, I don’t care. The Impression That I Get remains my favourite song of all time. I adore everything about it. Introduced on the album with the less than subtle “I think we know this f*cking song…”, damn straight it’s a highlight.

Hell of a Hat

As a live album, it’s by default also something of a ‘best of’. I’m going to resist linking them all though, and just point to one more. “Hell of a Hat” is another great track, a song about being nervous around someone carrying a gun. I can only imagine the extra poignancy the lyrics have in America.

Relationship with the album

Live albums are funny things. Some of the MTV Unplugged albums are really good, and those offerings from Placebo, Nirvana and Jay-Z* are personal favourites. They could have conceivably made this list. Broadly though, I usually prefer a studio recording.

Live from the Middle East managed to convey the energy and personality of the Mighty Mighty BossTones, to a teenage me in the UK. It was still a long time before YouTube was established, so it wasn’t easy to see much of the band here, despite their evident popularity in the USA. While I have picked up the rest of their albums in the years since, this remains my favourite. It is timeless.

Mighty Mighty BossTones

If you were paying attention during the Placebo post, Mighty Mighty BossTones are the answer to the question raised there; “Who is your other favourite band?” Every other band or artist in this list I can point to a person who either influenced my discovery, or at least discovered them at the same time as me. The Mighty Mighty BossTones is the only one where not only did I get into them off my own back, but no one else has ever really shown much interest at all.

Generally (not always) if I mention the Mighty Mighty BossTones being my favourite band to people, I usually have to include a short explanation of who they are. The one major exception to this was on a visit to Charlottesville, Virginia to see a friend. Discussing music with some of his local friends in the bar, I mentioned my love for the BossTones, and they were also passionate fans. I think at least one of them was from Boston though, which goes someway towards explanation.

Unlike the last two artists, I’ve never seen the Mighty Mighty BossTones live. That is due to change this year though, as I have tickets for their gig in London in June. Hurrah!

Other albums and songs

The Magic of Youth – “Like a Shotgun”

Enter Sandman

As an unashamed fan of Glee, I’m no stranger to an ill-advised cover. I’m no Metallica super-fan, but I recognise the classic status of some of their output. Enter Sandman is one of the biggest of those, and not the sort of song you’d want to cover lightly.

I think the BossTones do a great job though, and Dicky Barrett’s voice is one of few that I think could really do it justice. One of my favourite covers.

Conclusion

As per my initial post, all these albums are ones I return to often. I regularly just ‘throw on some BossTones’. Generally that means either hitting shuffle on the full discography, or it’s replaying Live From The Middle East in its entirety. If you’ll excuse me I’m just off to do the latter. It is perfect.

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.