From Paris Hilton to Clairo, Growing Up Out Loud in a Small German Town
From dancing past homophobes with Paris Hilton blasting to sitting with Clairo's quiet confessions, Tove's picks reflect a listener who's been narrating his own coming-of-age since he was fifteen.
There's a kind of listener who needs an album to be critically approved before they'll admit to loving it, and there's Tove (@grumpyspinsthevinyldiscs), who kept playing his through his metal-fan mother's disapproval anyway. For him, taste was never something to defend quietly. It showed up loud, on repeat, worn like proof of who he was becoming, whether the people around him approved or not.
The prompts follow that thread through three very different moods. One asks for an album that's a personal favorite rather than a popular one, and Tove's answer becomes a small history of who he was as a teenager, MP3 player in hand, tuning out everyone who had something to say about it. Another asks for a song that belongs in a coming-of-age film, and Tove's pick moves the genre's usual coming-of-age milestones out of the teenage years and into the messier, more overlooked twenty-something ones. The final prompt asks which artist deserves a James Bond theme, and Tove makes a case that's part vocal appreciation, part regional pride, for someone he thinks history forgot.
Which album feels like a personal favorite, not a popular one?
For this, I choose Paris by the iconic media figure Paris Hilton (@parishilton). Although it is widely recognised, the album drew substantial criticism from reviewers and the public alike. I was nearly 16 when Paris released her debut single “Stars Are Blind” in June 2006. Having just finished her book Confessions of an Heiress, to say I was an enthusiastic fan, would be an understatement.
One detail about me is that I am a dedicated horror nerd; and as some of you might know in May 2005, the slasher flick House of Wax (great soundtrack, too!) reached cinemas. At that point I was immersed in Paris-mania. Given this background, it is clear why I regard the album as a personal favourite—much to my mother’s annoyance as a metal fan who endured my poor sing-alongs.
For a flamboyant, outgoing, cheeky boy from a small German town, the record offered escape. It became a space for projecting fantasies. The tracks cover nearly every emotional issue someone aged 15 to 18 might face: love, heartbreak, friendship break-ups, and maintaining a “hot” identity amid those pressures. Back then, when concerns were limited mostly to high school bullies, the Paris album gave me confidence. They might call me names, yet Paris would play on my MP3 player while I danced past the haters and homophobes.
A small tip from me: the Luny Tunes remix of “Stars Are Blind” by Wisin & Yandel is even better than the original, though it appears on the single rather than the album.
Which song feels like it belongs in a coming-of-age movie?
For this, “Sexy to Someone” by Clairo comes to mind. I imagine a coming-of-age film centered not on a standard teen story but on a twenty-something navigating the complexities of adult life, perhaps in a scene involving a love interest. The lyrics express a wish to be recognised as a sexual, mature individual and treated accordingly. Because of those words, the song carries the perfect coming-of-age mood for me – it could still suit a teenage version with awkward sex scenes, self-discovery, and first love. The arrangement also sounds somewhat 70s, an era widely known for Woodstock and youthful rebellion against older structures. Rebellion is vital to the genre, yet the song feels too wise for a modern narrative. I regretfully think it would likely end up in a typical romantic comedy before being considered for anything else.
Clairo’s charming, soft, and calm voice is a pleasure to hear; if you have already tried “Sexy to Someone,” consider listening to the entire album, as the mood and atmosphere persist across the record. Curiously, “Charm” (the album’s title) carries many tracks I would place in either a coming-of-age film or a romantic comedy. In particular—and not at all (wink wink) based on my own experiences—since most of us feel awkward about being sexy, accepting ourselves, and finding a match in our twenties, “Sexy to Someone” serves as an ideal companion to another scene portraying the humiliation of being 23 and navigating life.
Which artist deserves to do a James Bond theme?
When I first received this question, it intrigued me for one reason: everyone I could recall had either recorded a Bond song or is already dead. Then I thought: just scroll through your library and perhaps a name fitting the idea will emerge. It did: Anastacia.
As a child growing up in 90s Germany, I was surprised to learn not long ago that most people outside Europe do not know this vocal powerhouse. The simple explanation is that her albums and songs failed to chart significantly on the Billboard. Her warm, occasionally raspy, and deeply rich voice seems to me an ideal match for a James Bond theme. It follows the path of legends like Shirley Bassey, whose tone is comparable yet not as rich, at least to my amateur ears. Combined with the slightly jazzy quality typical of classic Bond songs, I believe it would create a genuine opening number.
Honourable mentions include Freddie Mercury, who, for obvious reasons, could not do such a song. I also sense that Lorde might offer a strong alternative idea with a jazzy spin on a Bond theme.
For Tove, the deepest music memories tend to arrive uninvited, on ordinary nights, in ordinary rooms. One of them was Civil Wars' "Dust to Dust," playing quietly while his then-boyfriend sat beside him, pulling out a full-body reaction of goosebumps and tingling he still can't explain.
He found something in the same emotional register at a Madonna concert, of all places, watching her dedicate "Live to Tell" to the lives lost to AIDS on the Celebration Tour. It was one of many shows he attended by himself, tired of sitting out just because nobody else wanted to go.
These days, Tove teaches kindergarten in Germany, describes himself as a Leo who behaves more like the three Virgos elsewhere in his chart, and is a devoted horror fan partial to the genre's 80s-through-2000s run, House of Wax very much included. His favorite place to listen to anything is a train, where he gets to be DJ and editor at once, curating the mood for whatever city or countryside happens to be going by.
A Leo who insists he behaves more like a Virgo, a lifelong horror fan of the genre's 80s-to-2000s golden run, and a listener who's happiest on a train, DJing his own soundtrack while the scenery goes by.
