It took exactly three seconds to know I’d be linking to this Living Colour appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. Living Colour is one of my all-time favourite bands—I’ve listened to Vivid possibly hundreds of times, and named my post-college creative endeavors “Broken Hearts Productions” after one of their tracks.

Growing up in New York in the late ’80s, I caught them early in their rise. Hard rock was new to me, and Black hard rock artists were a rarity. Living Colour pried open a genre of music I didn’t know existed, and forged a core part of my musical identity. They reminded the world—and me—that Black musicians went way beyond jazz, reggae, and soul. My everlasting thanks to Anton, my friend of 40-plus years, for introducing me to them.

The band sounds phenomenal, especially Corey Glover’s wails—enjoy it on a big screen and your best headphones—but the concert was all too short. I ended up watching it twice, back to back—then immediately started playing the albums.

What’s your favorite color, baby?