I first came across Tom Waits in the early 80s. Some corny Saturday evening pop quiz was polluting the airwaves on TV. A giggling teenage wanna be pop star panelist was shown a snippet of Waits and asked a question. The lost expression was magnificently matched with Waits who sounded like a saw mill misfiring. Its was an interesting time to be introduced to Waits who had recently married Kathleen Patricia Brennan. Waits would later describe his relationship with Brennan as a paradigm shift in his musical development. After releasing the Heartattack and Vine album in 1980 Waits would release Swordfishtrombones in 1983. Swordfishtrombones marked a sharp turn in Waits musical direction. Not only was it the first album he produced for himself, but the paradigm shift Brennan had brought started to bear fruit with abstract musical structures replacing his hallmark piano. The track playing that Saturday evening was In the Neighbourhood. It was the start of a musical journey, which has stayed with me to this day.