Knott, Michael - "Rocket and a Bomb"

Knott, Michael - Rocket and a Bomb

1994, Brainstorm

1. Jan the Weatherman

2. Jail

3. Make Me Feel Good

4. Serious

5. John Barrymore, Jr.

6. Train

7. Bubbles

8. Kitty

9. Adrian

10. Skinny Skins

11. Rocket and a Bomb

My family and I used to take annual trips to Ocean City, NJ every summer for most of my teenage years. One year we found this little Christian bookstore somewhere in town. I remember they didn't really have that much. Well... they didn't have much that I didn't already have, that is. Thus, Rocket and a Bomb was purchased because it was one of the few tapes I didn't have. I listened to it for most of that trip. I was having a hard time sleeping that year and I remember some late nights listening to this album while the rest of my family slept. I didn't really like it at the time. I think it was just too mellow for me - a little too mature. However, as often happens with me, hearing this now makes me fall in love with it. It's sort of a concept album about the people Michael Knott lived with in an apartment building. There's "Jan the Weatherman" who often comes over and "wants to join the band." There's "John Barrymore, Jr." who's got sixteen cats and a dog and apparently used to give acting lessons to Steve McQueen. Particularly poignant is the story of "Bubbles." He was a drug addict that was kidnapped and beaten on the day Michael was supposed to pick him up and take him to rehab. The whole album is full of emotion and I really connected with it on this second round. I guess I'm going to have to take back the whole "I'm not really much of a Mike Knott person" thing. 

Apparently, Down the Line magazine wants to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Rocket and a Bomb. They've got a Kickstarter campaign up and running. I'm seriously thinking about backing it.

Useless Fact: "Skinny Skins" is reportedly about The Choir's Steve Hindalong.