I first discovered Suzanne from about '85 or '86, when I saw an ad in the paper for a concert she was doing at the Roxy in Los Angeles. At that time, I was all into this (short-lived, mind you) "New Age"/Windham Hill thing before it was the rage (certainly before Yanni or Enya were even around). At the local Tower Records, I checked out "Suzanne Vega" on BASF Chrome cassette, noticing the Windham Hill connection. Played it once, twice, three times and I was hooked. Both the music and her plaintive, yet evocative musings made for an interesting and soothing summer. The first notes of "Cracking" alone certainly set the mood for me that year and for the following seasons to come. Of course, "The Queen and the Soldier" was just a damn great story, period---so visceral, however sad and tragic at the same time. It reminded me so much of Joni Mitchell's "Blue" period. Nevertheless, I became sort of "waif-like" throughout my late high school years, still in the midst of the whole Smith's "Hatful of Hollow" period. Back then, both Morrissey and Suzanne were my constant companions on those lonely, melancholy days and nights where only their companionship through my tape player were all that mattered. Subsequently, the "Solitude Standing" album and tour in 1987 further solidified the intensity of her musicianship. "Ironbound/Fancy Poultry"--both the album and the live version at the Wiltern in L.A.---was simply sublime. The coda to that song haunted me for weeks if not months. Anyone else on this post present at the Wiltern that year?}