Music

Music, especially rock music, has been a big part of my life. Huge. I found my way into rock at Lake Junaluska, NC, as I said in a previous post. It led me to everything else, and it left me with some specific songs that have nostalgic places of honor, even if I didn’t love them.

I found America (the band) with “You Can Do Magic,” which I found fascinating. Steely Dan’s “Hey 19,” which I can’t escape liking a little, even though I don’t “get” Steely Dan. Alan Parsons Project’s “Eye in the Sky,” which was huge to me. Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” which I found to be meh because I didn’t understand it yet (and I found Weird Al’s “Like a Surgeon” at roughly the same time, which I liked much more).

I remember Styx’s Kilroy Was Here was the first tape I bought. My first 45 was Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration,” followed by Rick Springfield’s “I’ve Done Everything for You,” around the time they came out. My first vinyl was Thomas Dolby’s Golden Age of Wireless, which floored me. CDs were a little later, and I didn’t have a player for a long time. I don’t know what was first there. I did end up with a couple of 8 tracks, and one was Styx, but I probably got them from a yard sale and didn’t care much. Oh, one was the celebrity remake of Sgt Pepper’s (unless that was a fever dream. Maybe George Burns was on that?) I got Alan Parsons Project’s Eye in the Sky in a record club deal as one of my first.

I recently listened to Golden Age of Wireless again, which led me to think about all of this. Music held me together. I can remember Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” on Miami Vice, and that whole scene just took my breath as it happened.

I still get caught up in music, mostly the older stuff, but I like some newer music. It has always been important to me (and yes, I listen to more than easy listening, but it’s where I started). I got through high school and college by constant listening. It’s still a big part of life, something I circle back to. My parents hated it, wanted me to listen to gospel and Christian music, but I was much more taken by rock and pop.

Thanks for reading.