10 RHCP songs that gave me goosebumps during my first year as a fan

Ten RHCP songs that gave me goosebumps during my first year as a fan

A really personal story

This year marks 20 years since I became a hardcore Chili Peppers fan. Saturday, February 22, 2003, I went to a huge record market in Moscow where I found a bootleg copy of "Freaky Styley" CD for $3 (I didn't have enough money back then). At that time I was already interested in the band, but not strong enough & heard only 2 albums - "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" & "Californication". I was very intrigued about their early sound, so, while putting "Freaky Styley" CD in my tiny old player I didn't know what to expect. I cannot describe the feeling when I heard the first minute of "Jungle Man". It was so cool, unusual, really great - I was totally shocked. Then "American Ghost Dance", "If You Want Me to Stay", "Nevermind", "The Brothers Cup", "Catholic School Girls Rule", "Sex Rap" created a stunning funk-punk-rap pallette, the incredible mixture I needed so bad. At that point I was already bored after 3 years of non-stop listening to the classic rock artists (I was a huge The Beatles, Hendrix, Zappa, T. Rex, ELP & Deep Purple fan in 1999-2002), but I was tired of rock formulas and needed something very different at that point. "Yertle the Turtle" was the best possible ending for such a weird but great collection of songs, so when the track was finished I thought that this CD absolutely deserved to be in my collection & finally I found something that I was looking for. But not only "Freaky Styley" gave me such incredible emotions. The first year of being a Chili Peppers fan was full of goosebumps. So I would like to share 10 songs that gave me the strongest emotions during this very first year.

1. Love Rollercoaster. Friday, June 28, 2002 I saw this music video during an MTV show "The Best Soundtracks" hosted by AK & Flea. There were a lot of bright, funny or weird videos, but the best of this 2-hour solid videomix was "Love Rollercoaster". To be honest I saw this video earlier, around the time Chili Peppers came to play on the Red Square in 1999 but was not much impressed back then (my beatlemania was growing bigger & bigger at that time). The sound, the performance, the music, the video - everything shocked me in the positive way on that mid-Summer night. "I have to buy one of their early albums" I thought back then.
And I was very upset to discover it's a non-album track. In the end I had to buy a soundtrack CD (oh, those pre-Internet times), thanks God the whole soundtrack was very good, but "Love Rollercoaster" was the main gem indeed.
2. The Power of Equality. Every elder fan told me back then that "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" is their best record. In September 2002 I went to a record market and found a bootleg of it, with very poor photocopied booklet & inlay. Inserted a CD in my player and... "The Power of Equality" began! That was the song I really expected to hear. Thinking about BSSM before I listened to it I imagined this kind of stuff on a CD, so "The Power of Equality" was exactly what I was thinking about 1991 Peppers. I enjoyed this song so much, that it was the track I played the most during the first two weeks of listening to BSSM. Back then I almost finished school & I had a crush on one popular girl in my class who told me she likes Chili Peppers and their songs "Otherside" and "By The Way". I remember playing her "The Power of Equality", holding a phone near the speaker. "Cool" - she said. I still think it's probably the best song from BSSM. At least the best non-single song.
3. Road Trippin. In December 2002 one classmate learned that I'm slowly becoming interested in Chili Peppers & told me he had "Californication" cassette and didn't need it anymore. I said: "Ok, I'm interested". He gave it to me & I remember listening to the album during one December evening of 2002 in my dark room. It had great moments, but it was totally different to BSSM. It sounded more like 1970s rock and at this point I was bored by that kind of music. But the magic happened when I heard "Road Trippin". This song was very popular on Russian radio back in 2000-2001, it was played VERY often, it was just as popular as "Otherside". So in 2000-2001 I didn't like it, but in December 2002.... I had goosebumps listening to the string part in the middle. It was so freaking good... I still love that song and I'd better heard it live once than "Dani California" or "Snow" 10 times each haha.
4. Jungle Man. I said enough about it. The song was such a brilliant, funky, weird - I needed all of that. Probably my most favorite Peppers' song. Live versions are great, but that echoed slower studio version with jungle sound effects, Larry Fratangello's percussion and P-Funk choir is something very special.
5. Behind the Sun. The next record I bought after "Freaky Styley" was "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan". I didn't like it the same was as 1985 lp, cause it was less funky, more punk. But the song that was very special - "Behind the Sun". Absolutely different side of Chili Peppers - melodical, but not Frusciantesque. The way it was recorded and played - I can imagine myself on the beach at sunset. What a track, so underrated.
6. What It Is. The next CD I bought was a crappy bootleg called "HOLLIWOOD" (yeah, I instead of Y) which included some remixes & some tracks from "Out In LA" compilation. The last track on the CD was "What It Is" - a cassette 1983 demo for Nina Hagen. Holy shit, it's just Anthony reading lyrics to Flea's bass. But... It's so powerful. Extremely powerful. I listened to it in my earphones at the maximum volume and had goosebumps. Strong lyrics, insane bass. There is something really magic in this old home recording. Still love it.
7. Buckle Down. On Saturday, April 19, 2003 I went to a record market and found a nice copy of band's debut album CD. I really wanted to hear it and I remember a very special moment when I was alone at home, the kitchen was full of sunbeams & the first bass notes of "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes" were played from the speakers. Holy shit! That was pure happiness. Everything sounded a lot like "Freaky Styley", much more than "The Uplift" sounded. I loved every song of it, but "Buckle Down" with its noncence but powerful chorus was a big surprise. Such a daredevil kind of a track. I listened to it soo often during April & May 2003.
8. Why Don't You Love Me. One more from the debut album. It's hard to choose the favorites from one of your favorite records, but this song with its funky brass section and very special atmosphere stole my heart & was one more most played song in my player during the second half of Spring 2003.
9. Subway to Venus. On the same day, April 19, 2003, I also bought "Mother's Milk" CD. I can't say I was too impressed, but it had some really great tracks on it. The most favorite became "Subway To Venus" - such a powerful, crazy track that became an ultimate soundtrack for that entire day. The song with its sassy horns reflected my teenage excited energetical & a bit horny condition back then. Fantastic.
10. Millionaires Against Hunger. Back in 2003 I was not a huge fan of buying 2-3 versions of one album. But I was really dreaming about 2003 new reissue of "Freaky Styley" with a booklet & some bonus tracks. And when I finished my school, my dad gave me money as a gift & I went and spent it buying an official 2003 "Freaky Styley" re-issue CD. When I heard "Millionaires" I was absolutely happy that I have two copies of the album. The song sounded so funky & cool, kinda similar to "Jungle Man" & "The Brothers Cup" that it soon became one of my favorites. The song was a soundtrack for my Summer 2003, when I was preparing to go to University. I was waking up early in the morning and walking around the garden listening to the magical sounds of Slovak's minimalistic solo in the end of the song. The moments of pure happiness.

Now it's February 22, 2023. I'm almost 36, sitting in a tiny room in Tbilisi where I went in September 2022 not wanting to fight, leaving my whole family in Moscow & loosing my job. I don't have my mother anymore, she died in November. I always shared all my feelings about Chili Peppers with her. She liked some tracks, but was more into older rock music. I'm a fully grown man whose dreams from 2003 came true or were ruined, nowadays I'm just hoping to come back home and to make my family larger together with my wife. And returning to an active fan mode, just like in 2003-2006, is a kind of healing for me. The only thing hasn't changed since 2003 - I still have goosebumps while listening to the mentioned songs, I'm still dreaming about meeting AK & Flea & asking some deep historical nerdy questions & I'm still feeling teenage happiness when some new 1980s previously unseen stuff is uploaded online. So sharing all that stuff like I used to share 18-19 years ago is the thing that makes me feel alive.

That was a long journey & it's always great to remember the first year.