Nows and Forevers

Ever hear a song you were sure would be a big hit, but it never happened?

For me, that song is “Silver Strand,” by Baxter Robertson. When I first heard it in 1983, I thought it had what it took. ‘Course, I was 16 and had no idea what made a hit record, and I still don’t. But in 2022, I still hold by my opinion.

I was browsing YouTube this morning and it came up, incredibly, and I listened to it twice. It had been a long, long time. Took me back.

It’s 39 years later, but I can still tell you where I first heard “Silver Strand”: The legendary San Diego alternative music station 91X. I listened to 91X for hours on end in 1982, 1983 and 1984. Think of SiriusXM’s First Wave radio station but all those bands — The (English) Beat, Talking Heads, Modern English, The Clash, The Specials, B-52s, Violent Femmes — in their heyday or close to it.

It was awesome. When my stepfather was transferred back to the East Coast and we had to move, I bought a bunch of cassette tapes and recorded hours and hours of 91X so that I had something to remember it by. I knew it would be a long time before I got back and it was, 21 years later.

“Silver Strand” wasn’t necessarily in 91X’s wheelhouse back then. But they played it because there might have been a local connection: The Silver Strand is a famous and scenic part of Coronado, California, where I lived. So that made the song stick in my mind even more.

It was, and is, a great song, a prime example of early 1980s power pop. There’s even the video, which is pretty fun and was filmed somewhere in LA, not the Silver Strand I know.

It took me a long time to find the album, back in 1984 when I was back in New York City, going through the record bins like I loved to do back then. I had that album for along, long time.

Like I said, I thought it would be huge. It wasn’t. And it seems to have been mostly forgotten, which is a shame. There are 167 likes for the song on YouTube. It’s not even a song you can buy on iTunes.

I tried my part. When I got back East, the local college radio station was taking requests. For only the second time in my life, I called in.

“Silver Strand,” I said.

There was a pause.

“Baxter Robertson,” the DJ replied. “Jesus. I don’t know if we have that. But I’ll look.”

It took about an hour, but I was still listening when “Silver Strand” came on the radio.