In the interest of full disclosure, this was quite a task since I issued a "no new music" embargo a few years back. For a few years now, every time someone said, "Hey you should check out...." I would politely reply, "I'm not accepting any new music at this time." Yeah I know that sounds both weird and jerkish, but it was true. Since the ushering in of the digital music era, launched by my first iPod, expanded by iTunes and finally becoming all encompassing with streaming music on demand, I have literally been overwhelmed with music. There is just too much music to consume. Those who know me well are aware of the fact that whenever I have an overload of stimuli, I basically just shut down. Can't help it, sensory overload just freezes me up like an old computer trying to process too much data with not enough RAM.
I remember fondly the hours I spent listening to music when I was young. It all began with that turn table when I was eight. I wore out my Electric Breakdance record and then ventured into the world of hip hop. Grandmaster Flash, Doug E. Fresh, Egyptian Lover, UTFO (please tell me you remember "The Real Roxanne"?!?!), Kid-n-Play and of course, M.C. HAMMER! I can't tell you how many hours I spent in my room trying to memorize lyrics, practice new moves and ruining my turntable trying to scratch like the DJ's did. When the parachute pants/breakdance fad ran its course, I moved on to the next fad coming up on the horizon......hair metal! Def Leppard, Skid Row, Motley Crue, Guns-n-Roses, Bon Jovi, Poison, I had them all and I loved them. They were my friends, my teachers (and they taught me a few things my mom didn't want me to know), and my counselors. Don't lie and pretend like you didn't shed a few tears alone in your room to "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" and "I'll Be There For You." I'm not saying I did, but I will admit to blowing up 104.3 WZYP's all request hour every night at nine to make sure my girlfriend of the week knew that all we needed was a little "Patience."
Then one night, in an instant, it all changed. The hair metal that defined my musical passion all through middle school was eradicated by the simple declaration, "With the lights out it's less dangerous, here we are now entertain us, I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now, entertain us." Mind blown. What did I just hear, what did I just see, what was he saying, what did it all mean? But most importantly, "Who was that?" That was the birth of a cultural shift, a generational gap and a new kind of music. That was Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, and for those of my generation (X) you can remember where you were the first time you heard them as much as our parents generation can remember where they were when they learned JFK died. Goodbye Bon Jovi, Cinderella and Warrant, hello Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, Mother Love Bone, Temple Of The Dog and I could go on and on. For the first time I didn't just enjoy music, I literally felt like it was speaking to me. I never knew that music could tap into your heart on such a primal level that was beyond explaining with words, but I knew now.
From this point forward I listened to music in a whole new way. I listened for every nuance, every instrument, every phrase. Music was no longer a pastime, it was now a passion. For the first time in my life I didn't just listen to and like whatever was being played on the radio. Now I was actually seeking out music. Experimenting with new types of music that I'd never before considered. I went to record stores in every city I traveled to and searched for hours through their bins. I joined fan clubs, read every magazine I could buy and even ordered imported, underground and bootleg music. It was a whole new world, and then.......children.
Let me explain for those who are offspring challenged (those who don't have kids). When you have children, many things change in your life, one of which is music. Suddenly as a dad you start to pay attention to lyrics that you don't want your little sponge to absorb and regurgitate and the most inopportune time, like church (seriously, why did our parents let us listen to Grease, did they not hear the lyrics?). Also, they have musical tastes of their own, and although you try to school them on the pure, stripped down, unadulterated, un-produced perfection that is The Black Crowes or the genre changing, cultural gumbo and pure genius sampling of the Beastie Boys, they are apparently predestined to be drawn to overproduced, catchy, bubble gum pop (N'Sync). Of course that's an improvement from The Wiggles and Barney and Teletubbies "music" you had to endure during their toddler years. During my years in musical exile (i.e. raising little ones), my musical exposure dwindled. I'm no longer hanging out with cool, trendy, cutting edge audiophiles, but soccer moms and t-ball dads, and they are listening to the same "I love you, you love me" audio-nausea that I am. Time marches on.
The kids get a little older and a little cooler in their musical tastes and then the digital music era explodes. Now I'm going back and listening to things I haven't heard since I was in elementary school. I'm telling my kids, "You've got to hear this. This was my favorite band when I was your age" (only to be given a very judgmental look from your obviously way cooler than you 7th grader). Who knew "Walk Like An Egyptian" isn't considered a classic? Anyway, for years I immersed myself in finding, acquiring and listening to the music of my youth that I loved so much. And much like in my youth, I listened over and over again for hours and hours. In the car, in the office, at home, riding on the lawnmower. My iPod allowed me to take 10,000 songs with me in my pocket. Down the rabbit hole I went.
Bottom line, there is just too much music available now. Every one hit wonder and favorite hit you remember is available at the push of a button. New music is pumped out daily, not just by the record company, but by independent musicians on their own YouTube channels or Facebook pages. There is so much music (and so much really good music) available that it became too much for me and much like in my youth, I retreated to my bedroom to play my old favorites (which coincidentally, have literally become "oldies") over and over again. My sons, who now are full fledged audiophiles themselves, have tried relentlessly to get me to listen to this band or that band, and my response was always, "I'm just not accepting any new music right now." If I can't check it all out, then I'm not going to check any of it out.
And then I stumbled across a band that changed everything. Come tumbling down with the walls. Much like the blasting of the horns outside of Jericho, it was the music of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue that tore down the walls I had built to keep new music out (Seriously, go check out "Hurricane Season" by Trombone Shorty RIGHT NOW!) Now the floodgates were open again: John Boutte, Kermit Ruffins, Anders Osborne, Dr. John, Tab Benoit, Rebirth Brass Band. It was jazz and blues that spoke to my soul and opened my mind to at least try a few new musical samplings, and it has led me to some places musically that I NEVER in a million years dreamed I would go. But I went and I loved it and I hope you might too.
I'm not going to pretend that I'm back to feasting on the buffet of music that is available with reckless abandon, but I am accepting a limited amount of new music, and I am so glad I have. This year I was exposed to some really amazing music and I want to share it with you.....tomorrow. This post became much longer than I intended, so tomorrow I'm going to put out the first of several "Top 5" posts, beginning with my Top 5 Albums of 2014.
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