Musical Musings

I've come to the decision that music really does soothe the savage beast. Now I'm not saying that I am a savage beast, but it does cool off my bad mood and helps me enjoy my day. My parents always played music in the house. At a very young age I heard artists like Elton John, Chicago, Sly and the Family Stone, Al Green, Kenny Rogers, and the Beatles. My mother was musically inclined having studied the piano from a young age. She had amazing taste and so did my father. My Dad always loved Elvis Presley, Cream, and Eric Clapton. They would take me to concerts when they could. I remember seeing the Charlie Daniels Band, the Mamas and the Papas, The Turtles, and even the Monkees. I remember enjoying my mother's Peaches and Herb eight track and I really loved her Blondie eight track as well. I was very into Olivia Newton-John. I also loved my mother's Kenny Rogers - The Gambler eight track. I never realized it was country. At this point I hated country and, along with gospel music, that feeling was unwavering during most points in my life. I was addicted to listening to my dad's stereo and I loved playing my parents' reel to reel tapes.

At the age of nine, I loved Billy Idol, Cheap Trick, AC/DC, and Black Sabbath. Mostly I enjoyed these because my parents hated them so much. I can remember getting birthday money from my grandmother, and buying my first cassettes. I went to a small store in Peddlers Village. Now Peddlers Village is called Circle Factory Outlet. I went into the store, and this was before the Parental Advisory stickers went on to every piece of recorded music, and picked out AC/DC's Back in Black and a Men at Work album. I was also into the Eagles big time! I also listened to REO Speedwagon and Bad Company. I liked them, because they had a beat that was intoxicating. When you are a kid, you love music like that. MTV only incensed my love for music. I was addicted to hearing and watching the videos of my favorite artists. When I became a teenager, my tastes began to refine themselves. I would listen to a select kind of music. You start to share the musical tastes that your friends have. It definitely is a popularity thing. For a time, all I listened to was metal, which I still love to this day. Then I started to hide my love for metal and I listened to new wave and alternative music. All the while I was a Richard Marx fan, which I kept hidden from most people. You wear clothes that associate you with the music you listen to. It definitely is a certain type of culture and, for some cliques, it gives you a foundation for your identity.

When I started to get into my late teens, I started to listen to metal again. (At least out in the open) I began to find an individuality when it came to music. I didn't like a type of music, because of it's genre. I started liking music for it's quality, though I still loathed country and gospel music. I got into classic rock, and I enjoyed John Lennon's solo works and some of the old Beatles records. I began to enjoy arena rock and pop music. I was into bands like Journey and Toto. After a time, I even let my affinity for Richard Marx's music come out into the open. I remember when I heard Hold on to the Nights for the first time and crying. (I have every record he ever made) I also started to go to concerts on my own and with my friends. I was listening to underground music, so to speak, like Sonic Youth, Sebadoh, Juliana Hatfield, and the Meat Puppets. Once I made it into early adulthood, I enjoyed the grunge scene. I enjoyed festivals such as Lollapalooza headlined by Jane's Addiction. Perry Farrell was the one who created that show, and I've gone to two of those festivals. When I met my husband, I was still into grunge and indie rock, but I was starting to settle into this Top-40 groove in my life. I still love that music, but eventually I added to my favorite genre's. Eventually MTV became more about reality shows, rather than music. I was part of the MTV Generation, but eventually I selectively took myself out of that league.

Now that I am in my thirties, I listen to a large variety music. I still love the music that I listened to before. I started to appreciate ballads and slower songs, which I really felt dead set against before. I started to reflect on the music my parents played when I was kid and I began to listen to Frank Sinatra. Fly Me to the Moon was our wedding song in 1995. I also started to love old jazz and contemporary jazz. I listened to Miles Davis, Dave Koz, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Chris Botti, and Dave Brubeck. My love for Richard Marx brought in another genre for me. I began listening to country music in 2003. I started to enjoy artists like Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, and Garth Brooks. My father-in-Law got me into Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. I was going to different concerts, and I even got a chance to see Richard Marx in concert more often. I eventually got to meet the guy, which was a dream come true. I started attending country music concerts for artists like Kenny Chesney, Gary Allan, Keith Urban, Leann Rimes, and Jason Aldean. Most recently I got to see the Eagles and John Mellencamp. I was even able to see Ozzy Osbourne. My love for heavy metal has approached a contemporary place, and now I attend concerts for bands like Disturbed, OTEP, Five Finger Death Punch, and Static-X. This music makes me feel younger and I feel like my metal tastes evolved. This was platformed from my love of Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Black Sabbath.

Today, my love for music depends on my mood rather than sticking to one genre. I have my iPod and I basically drifted to where my collection is almost all digital. For some parts of my life I remember grieving over the loss of the record, then the tapes, and I almost grieve over the loss of the CD format. I don't remember the last time I used a CD or if I remember walking into the record store in the past five years. With the venture of Amazon.com, iTunes, and Rhapsody, there is no reason to do it. I think the last CD's I purchased, I purchased online. Mostly they were Richard Marx discs and Vertical Horizon's newest disc. In a way, I miss the fun of looking at the liner notes of an album and the anticipation you get when you unwrap a new album. It seems like that is a thing of the past, and almost like it's part of my childhood and teen years are falling away. Luckily, some artists do a track by track analysis of each song. The internet changes the face of how we enjoy music. The accessibility of music almost takes away from the whimsical feeling you get when you are searching through the shelves for that perfect piece of music.

I do think that the invention of the digital format cuts out the middle man of having artists deal with the politics of the recording industry. Maybe it will give the buyer the chance to hear indie artists that aren't signed and then open a new door for those artists to find a record deal. The only problem with signed artists and record companies is digital theft. So many people are able to download music without paying for it. Sadly, it is really easy for someone to do. I don't believe that any company or the RIAA will be able to seal every crack tight from theft. Artists take time and effort to record these tracks, but are losing the profit. This goes for the retail venture of it, and even in the digital market. iTunes takes some of the heat off the situation, but it doesn't stop it totally. The RIAA makes examples of some perpetrators like Jammie Thomas-Rasset. How does that really accomplish anything. Maybe if the recording industry lowered the price tag on recorded works, people wouldn't be so inclined to steal that material. In the meantime, I'm enjoying purchasing the songs that I want off of iTunes. The beauty of that is buying the songs you want without buying a full album. It isn't as fun as the retail shopping, but it definitely is economical for me.

Recently, I purchased the Richard Marx - Hits and Ballads disc. I was really happy, because I got to look at the track by track and the liner notes. I was happy moreso because, I was able to listen to my favorite artist play The Best of Me. I am a huge David Foster fan, and I loved the version done by him and Olivia Newton-John. Marx wrote the song with Foster and Jeremy Lubbock. I have been waiting for Richard to record that himself for what seems like forever. I remember hearing it and having tears come to eyes. A good song always does that to me. I wish things like that could go through a renaissance, but I feel that never will be. I hope that record companies can eventually find a way to enjoy that feeling again. Music isn't what it used to be and it's almost like the talent bar has been lowered. It's not that I don't like artists like Beyonce and Lady GaGa, but it doesn't feel as cool as listening to a Billy Squier record. It just doesn't seem like new artists put the same dedication and care into their records. I think that technology takes away the need to "have the goods." Some people say what goes around, comes around. Maybe that will hold true with music. We can only hope, but then I'm older. My tastes will always be rooted in the past, but I definitely love newer music. I can't wait to see what turn the future will bring.