The Record That Changed My Life: Vinnie Williams - Le TechnoPUSS13s

Dale M. Johnson Vinnie Williams - Le TechnoPUSS13s

Tiny Tim, God Bless Tiny Tim and Lil' Kim, Hardcore I was 11 and I got it at Mole's on Short Vine. It was water damaged and had a picture of Tiny Tim with his ukulele on top of a mountain of flowers and some angel gibberish here and there, and, in big bold letters, "GOD BLESS TINY TIM." It was only 50 cents and I played it constantly. It was the first album I ever owned that pissed off my entire family. Bill, my brother, was deep in the rocker years, so my parents were unfazed by Motörhead, but no one could take Tiny Tim. My mother said that the trills in "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sent shivers down her spine. My dad and my brother are big music lovers, and Tiny Tim would send them both into quick barks of complaints. What magic! He was androgynous, but not sexy like David Bowie, just creepy-looking with bad teeth and a freaky big nose and soft flowy lady-hair. I also have to give a shout out to Lil' Kim's Hardcore. I heard it when I was 15, and "Not Tonight" shocked me. I was offended for one of the few times in my life, until I saw the feminist theory behind her words: "Don't want dick tonight/Lick my pussy right." Right on, sister! It contains a lovely arpeggio between catch phases, which makes the song pretty and delicate. "We Don't Need It" confronts both male and female sexuality, and who doesn't love old skool Lil' Kim when she first got big, and she'd wear that over-the-shoulder sparkly outfit with a boobie hanging out and a shell glued over the nip. I just love her. Classy and sassy, she lyrically changed me forever.