Music Archaeology

I've always been into music. Always. My mom & dad had one of those big cabinet stereos -- they still do. One of my chores was dusting it on Sunday afternoons. My dad refuses to part with it although it is huge and one of the legs broke off a few years ago when mom insisted it be moved to his man cave. Now it sits at about a 30 degree angle, balanced on its three good legs and whimpers when Dad promises to fix it and refuses to part with it. Mom and I threaten that one day it will be his eternal resting place, because we will bury him in it -- he'd fit with no problem.

Anyway, my music (& comedy) history started with their record collection: Sonny & Cher, America, The Smothers Brothers, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Englebert Humperdinck, Bill Cosby... included with that was the surge in popularity of country music in the late 70s. (Note: Just because it was music I had around me, didn't mean I liked all of it -- I never want to hear "A Horse with No Name" ever again.) We'd always tune into Hee Haw and one of the first records I chose on my own was Kenny Rogers Greatest Hits.

One Christmas -- I'd guess I was about 6 years old -- I received a little portable record player so I'd stop playing with and messing up the big stereo that was Dad's. We'd go to garage sales on Saturdays and it was common to find 45s being sold for 5¢ or less. Often, I didn't know what I was picking, but I'd just pick a few, sometimes with some hints from my mom. Some of the ones I remember listening to the most were "I Feel the Earth Move Under my Feet" by Carole King; "Here Comes the Judge" Pigmeat Markham; "Love the World Away" by Kenny Rogers; and "In the Navy" The Village People -- it was cracked, but would still play. These, mixed with my favorite Sesame Street records, (known to me simply as Bert & Ernie) and my mom & dad's collection, were my music foundation

I loved my little record player and my records. Somehow my mom didn't murder me for listening to them all day on Saturdays over and over and only occassionally with those huge, padded stereo headphones from the late 60s that weighed about five pounds and would give me headaches and neck pain from trying to hold my little head up while wearing them. Probably more annoying was me singing along with them, often at the wrong speed because I thought I got bonus "Fan Points" for being able to still keep up with the words by playing a 45 at 78 rpm.

About 2nd Grade, mom started working at Kmart in the department that sold electronics. She and dad finally purchased a cassette player/recorder. It wasn't one of those cool ones; it was the kind like FBI agents put on the table to record an interview. One time they were having a sale on cassette tapes; she'd found a few she liked, so took me to Kmart to pick out from those she'd narrowed down to which ones we'd get. We ended up with Pacman Fever and some compilations that I don't remember the name of now; they had Frankie Valli and some Beatles remakes on it.

As I progressed in my music exploration, I was often scolded for signing up for BMG Music Club or the others that advertised in TV Guide... all you had to do was tape a penny to a post card and you'd get all this "free" music. Mom's friend introduced me to Lionel Richey and Michael Jackson. Two of the first cassettes I would choose on my own were "Dancing on the Ceiling" and "The Best of Michael Jackson".

We lived in a rural area and only had three or four television stations, but once mom started working on Saturdays, I'd spend the day at the sitters and could watch American Bandstand. I still remember seeing my first music video on American Bandstand: "She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer.

Eventually Kidd Video came out and I would eagerly anticipate Saturdays to get a glimpse of a new video. Friday Night Videos were great, once we got a VCR so I didn't have to stay up to watch it.

We'd often spend summers with my cousins in Florida -- they had cable and my uncle had a big 8 track collection. I would take tons of blank VHS tapes and tape all the MTV I could; sometimes individual videos, sometimes shows like Headbangers Ball. By this time I was listening to a-ha, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Madonna. I still had a mixed music taste as I'd borrow my uncles Eagles and George Jones 8-tracks, blend that with my older cousins' music taste for Lou Reed, Run DMC, The Fat Boys... it's no wonder I have Music ADD!

By 5th Grade, one of my friends told my about Motley Crue... I would have never considered what I had always been told was devil worship music... while in 2nd Grade I had become obsessed with Ozzy Osbourne, but was terribly afraid of my cousins' KISS posters, so had been concerned about acknowledging this obsession. I finally got Theatre of Pain, progressed to Poison, Guns N' Roses, David Lee Roth (real Van Halen was dead by then)... by Junior High I had every AC/DC album, my tiny bedroom was wallpapered with rock posters from the teen magazines -- even the ceiling. I started talking my mom into concerts, which became easier once she decided she liked David Lee Roth too. Sometimes I'd take music suggestions from the concert tees the band members were wearing.

I spent every moment and every dollar I could at our local music store. I had hundreds of cassettes by the time I was in high school.

Once I graduated, my new "city friends" explained to me that CDs were the new thing. That was ridiculous -- there was no way I was going to REPURCHASE all my music on a new format that was likely a passing fad, besides those cases were impossible to open. I was wrong. My first CD was purchased for me by my roommates: Radiohead, Pablo Honey. Then, I was back to Columbia House and the music clubs to start CD hoarding.

Now, nearly 20 years later, my music taste is even more confused and a I am a self-professed mp3 hoarder. It took me awhile to get into mp3s... I'm still not a fan of paying about $1 per song, but at least you don't have to buy whole albums anymore... I have a subscription to eMusic which has built up their catalog enough to cover most of my needs, although I still hit iTunes now and then to grab a song or two. Besides eMusic, I rarely pay for music...but I don't steal it...I am really into Indie music, so much of my music comes from NoiseTrade, Daytrotter or free downloads offered on band websites. (Some of these have a minimal or voluntary fee.)

I have an 80GB iPod classic that means the world to me. It's only about half-full, but I see that as an opportunity.

I don't often DELETE from my music hoard, unless it is something completely horrible, although I do not store every song I own on my iPod because there really are times you can have too much Ronnie Milsap.

I find new music on Pandora, from friends, from Daytrotter, poking around YouTube, etc. Through this blog, my intention is to introduce you to finds that I particulary enjoy and to warn you of finds that I particularly didn't enjoy. Everyone's music taste is different, so please remember that my recommendations are my opinion, which may differ from your opinion. If you do not share my opinion, you are welcome to visit other websites. Following the dinosaur theme, planned topics will include "Recently Unearthed" (new discoveries) and "Recently Extinct" (recently deleted).