How'd I get to this point? It's a question I ask myself often, not unlike the addict who hits rock bottom. I guess it stems from being an only child with a photographic memory who spent an absurd amount of time in front of a TV. I also used to read Trivial Pursuit cards when I was a kid. This served as boot camp to hone my ability to name entire casts of 80s sitcoms and why my mother will call me at 9 AM on a Saturday to ask "What's the name of that movie about the guys who do the thing and try to figure out how the thing happened to them?" (Seriously. She does this) She's partially to blame for taking me to the movies a lot when I was a kid. (I say blame with all the love in the world)While I love TV and movies, music is the one constant obsession/addiction in my life. This was reinforced by growing up in the Walkman/Discman era. All that time spent in my room or on the bus or just walking around, with my own personal soundtrack blaring in my ears. Sure, it started out as a pastime with a cassette here, CD there. But then as I got older, it got more and more intense as I began to get obsessive about certain records/albums, especially since I could now buy music and didn't have to wait for it to come on MTV. (Yeah, I still call interchange the terms "music" and "records." I know, I know. I'm showing my age) Here's a brief list of the ones that got me hooked..
A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory- Pretty much like my first kiss (except this one didn't dump me for some 14 year old who could grow a sweet 14 year old mustache.)
Public Enemy's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back: If The Low End Theory was the first kiss, this would be "second base."
Bad Brains-Bad Brains: Hardcore punk played by four black guys from DC? Pffft. That'll never work. When I heard this, it was like the scene in "The Blues Brothers" where Jake realizes he has to put the band back together. The highlight of my punk rock years was some guy saying to me "I think it's really cool that you're black and into hardcore." (Yes, I live in a blue state.) Apparently, he'd never heard of Bad Brains.
The Clash-The Clash: Most people started listening to The Clash and then Public Enemy. I am the opposite of most people.
This is really the tip of the iceberg. The obsession goes beyond these four records. Just trying to give an idea of the fixation you're dealing with. In a nutshell, I like music...a lot. No, I don't like everything. (Who does?) This blog will feature me writing about my likes and dislikes of tunes past, present and future. There will be reviews and clips (both audio and video) and
I hope to get some comments from readers because I'm an only child and crave attention (kidding). But seriously, feedback is fun. Isn't that what the Internet is for? To bring people together. (That and help enlarging certain organs) Leave comments. Tell me I'm wrong. Ask if my parents were brother and sister (They weren't.) Tell me I'm great. Tell me I'm average. But don't be shy.
To quote Marvin Gaye, let's get it on...and I mean that in the least creepy way possible.
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