Song: Hate Is A 4 Letter Word
Album: Shock Therapy
Year: 1985
Genre: Electro Dance / Industrial
It’s amazing what
you can remember from so long ago about a specific moment in time that had a
significant impact on your life. I’m not
speaking of some tragedy or life altering experience; just an unexpected blip
on the radar that had a long lasting effect.
Pretty sure it was the fall of 1987, I was riding a bus with of bunch of
other obnoxious, teenage boys on our way to a soccer game. Of course I had my portable cassette player
with me for the long journey. A great
friend of mine also had a bunch of tapes with him. He got his music from his super cool older
brother. You know, the type of guy that
was always 10 steps ahead of everyone else when it came to music, movies, trends,
fashion, etc.. At that time I had pretty
much morphed into a pure thrash fan. All
I wanted to listen to was the fastest and heaviest and was always on the hunt
for more. My playlist was filled with
D.R.I., Attitude Adjustment, Celtic Frost, Slayer, C.O.C., Anthrax, Cryptic Slaughter,
Exodus and the list goes on. I
didn’t have time in my narrowed brain for anything else. Back to my friend. He was more of a new wave, goth-ish, MTV 120
Minutes kind of guy, so when he told me to check out a band that he liked, my
first silent thought was, “Ok, but I know I’m gonna hate it.” Well, the song was called “Hate Is A 4 Letter
Word” by the Detroit band Shock Therapy. The song was so good and haunting and
catchy that I specifically remember listening to it over and over again for
the remainder of the ride. By the end of
the trip, I’m pretty sure I had the song memorized. I was freakin’ hooked. Other than hearing new wave songs that were
played on the radio, I’d never listened to a band that was driven by synthesizers. What self respecting thrash kid would? So, technically, Shock Therapy was my first
exposure to industrial.
Keyboards were no longer my enemy!
Shock Therapy’s self-titled record was released in 1985 on Metro Music,
and after hearing that one song I couldn’t wait to get it. I don’t remember why (probably because I was
bugging the living hell out of him), but my friend gave me his brother’s
record. Yes, I still have that copy
to this very day. It’s not the easiest
album in the world to locate, so like a true record nerd, I’ve bought any other
copies I’ve encountered just in case I need a back up. I’ve loved this record since the
first time I threw it on my parent’s home stereo. Thank god I wasn’t a complete close-minded
idiot because I would have missed out on something incredible that opened the
door for me to so many other bands of the same style.
