I’ve owned one new vee-hickle in my lifetime (so far, at least): a 1993 black Chevy S10. Man did I ever love that thing. ’93 was the last year those trucks had a boxy design to them; the following year all of those boring aerodynamic rounded edges started to make their way in. My new truck had a manual transmission which is something I’d never driven until the day I bought it and drove it off the lot of Midway Chevy in St. Paul. That was a rather interesting drive home to say the least! It took a couple of weeks but I eventually got the hang of it.
Driving that brand new truck was the best. Feeling. EVER. Everything worked. Everything was clean. Every time I’d get in I’d take a good strong whiff of the newness of it all. I particularly enjoyed driving on the back roads of Woodbury and Cottage Grove (or anywhere, really) at night with the dashboard all lit up cranking one of my beloved 24 cassette tapes in the carrying case that lived on the passenger side of the bench seat. Not only did I listen to T-Ride’s “Luxury Cruiser” during a lot of those rides, I was effin’ living that song. Whenever I was mixing a new song that I was chipping away at in my bedroom I’d hop in the S-10 and go for a listening ride. Sometimes I wouldn’t even ride, I’d just sit in the driveway taking notes on what needed to be changed.
I drove that thing until it was well over the 100K mile mark. It lasted me a good 10 years before it was getting too expensive to fix. It sat on my parent’s land for a year or two (thanks mom and dad) until we finally called the grim reaper (some guy who bought old dead cars) to come take it to truck heaven.
“S-10” is the latest musical installment in my Fishman TriplePlay MIDI pickup shenanigans and a tribute to that sweet ride. The starring synth in this one is of the Oberheim variety, I was exposed to that sound a lot as a young music listener on Van Halen’s 1984 as well as a lot of Prince’s stuff. Little 10-year-old-me thought it sounded so massive and futuristic; did it ever do a number on my synesthesia. It still does, too! Those long drawn out stacks of notes make my brain buzz, as does the ending (which is a total nod to Billy Idol/Steve Stevens’ “Eyes Without a Face”).
Thanks for the memories, S-10!
