Sing us a song you're the piano man,
Sing us a song tonight.
Well we're all in the mood for a melody,
and you've got us feelin' alright.
-Billy Joel
Part II: Out of the Woods…and into the Gauntlet
In order to really understand the next phase of my musical development, it is necessary to briefly examine the technological revolution I engaged between the years of 1992-2000. It seemed for a while that every other year there was either a new format to adapt to or some new device to buy. This torrent of technology created a musical brain freeze that didn't quite calm down until the end of the decade, and surely had its impact on my preferences.
Technological Tune-up(s)
It was yellow, but sporty. It was bulky, yet sturdy. It was a tape-player, but it was portable. It was...a Walkman!
I think I was about 10 years old when I first obtained one of my very own. It must have had a battery life of about no more than 5 hours. But those were a good 5 hours, and they could be spent anywhere. I loved the fact that I could take my music wherever I went. This development coordinated perfectly with the mountain bike my father bought me in exchange for mowing the lawn every week for an entire summer. Many a bike ride to my friend’s house across town was complemented with my bulky yellow Walkman blasting some sweet tunes in my eardrums. Although this practice contributed to some minor hearing loss, my musical senses were sharpened and honed.
The musical drug of choice was usually some tape I found around the house. We had a couple of oldies compilation tapes that my parents got from some Shell Oil promo long before I entered the world. I learned to appreciate Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons, especially since I could match his high range as I had a few years to go before puberty. The Doobie Brothers got me "listnen' to the music" and the Beach Boys taught me the many virtues of "California girls." Life couldn't get better...or so I thought.
It was on the day of my birthday that my mother presented me with what still remains my largest present by size/volume that I have ever received. Inside was a big black stereo; a boombox or 'ghetto blaster' if you will. Along with it came my very first two CD's. A Beach Boy's compilation and REM's Automatic for the People. After giving this new system a test run by playing "Man on the Moon", I soon knew the days of the magnetic tape with its 'rewind squeals' and 'high speed dubbing' were numbered. In no time at all, my music collection had quickly phased out cassettes to compact discs.
But of all the many musical delivery systems in my lifetime, none do I remember so vividly as my first portable cd player. I don't recall for exactly how many months I scoured the Best Buy ads looking for one that suited my fancy. I do however remember my excitement when I finally found 'the one' that I was going to buy. It was a super sleek silver Audiovox Discman. Since I had already tried out all of my buddies machines, I knew very well that if a cd-player didn't have at least a 10 second skip protection, it was worth about as much as a one legged table. Consequently I was happy to find out that this model had 15 sec skip buffer and ultra bass boost. I promptly procured a ride over to the store, and forked out the best 20 bucks I've ever spent. I hit the jackpot too. That little player lasted for quite a few road trips and hundreds of early morning cross-country bus rides before it met its well earned demise. With the appropriate technological armaments, I was ready to engage in a glorious period of bliss that all musical lovers reminisce upon with glee and fondness: the rise of the peer-to-peer sharing services.
Enter the Napster
Contrary to what any music label will try and tell you, file-sharing programs were the best thing to ever hit the music world. All at once, virtually every type of music was at the fingertips of anyone that had a computer device capable of soaking up bandwidth. Random acquaintances with cd-burners became good friends. Friends with cable modems became best friends. At the height of the late 90's anyone could access just about any song from any major group that made music from the 60's and onward (even Metallica if you were Naptser savy). Musical libraries were built up faster than Wal-Marts in the suburbs, and music-crazy adolescents like me were cashing in on this new resource.
By then my musical tastes had already been formed to some extent. I lived off the classic rock, and the hits of the oldies. I dabbled in some New Age but only if it was Enya. Despite having my regarded favorites, I will still up for a little experimentation.
I remember my buddies and I would have 'music burning fests' where we would gather at a house with the fastest internet connection we could find, a list of the stuff we wanted and about 15 blank CD-R's. I remember having the single "Hotel California" by the Eagles on one of my lists. Before the end of the night, I had both the Eagles greatest hits albums all on one cd minus the songs I had already previewed and dismissed as unworthy. This method of course had its faults as manifested by what happened when I brought home the disc and played it in my father's presence. When the disc was finished he turned to me and very sternly asked, "Why isn't Desperado on this cd?!" I had no good answer.
Of course my morals on music sharing have come full-circle and I now wholeheartedly respect the rights of musicians to receive a just remuneration for their services to mankind, but to a 16 year old kid with no idea about the breadth of music available to the itching ear, Napster was heaven-sent. I downloaded all sort of songs and listened to them sometimes only to delete them after a single play. I got to know just about every classic rock band that hit it big in the 70's and I knew all their hit songs. I must say that this motivated me to go and purchase many albums as a result of my exposure to all this input, but usually only the albums that were mostly full of good songs I already knew. After all, I think it was Confucius that said, "life's too short to listen to musical rubbish and pay 15$ for it."
In short, Napster and the other p2p sharing programs helped my musical tastes in two ways. First, I got to be exposed to a virtually infinite amount of new material. Second, I learned to prune my tastes, and only accept the 'best’ of what was out there. You could spend all day sampling, but when the cd playlist got finalized, only the quality had better remain. If somehow a lemon slipped under the radar, you were fiercely reminded of your bad judgment every single time you listened to the mix thereafter and eventually always ended up asking the same quintessential question, "What evil spirit possessed me to put Backstreet Boys on my Downtown Driving Mix?"
Haven't stopped reading yet? Well, now you have to because Part II is over. Get set for soon-to-be release of Part III of the musical exegesis including "The Two Year Fast" and "Rise of Acoustics."
