For most people, music is something that plays in the
background. It’s a big part of their lives, but never the driving force. I would have to say that is not the case with
me. I’ve always have been the guy who is
searching for that perfect song, and band.
This is a search that I do believe has shaped me to be the person I am
today.
Thriller was released November 30,
1982.
I do remember shortly after this
release date, my mother came home from work one night with
Thriller.
Actually it could
have been a couple of years after the release for all I know, because I really
didn’t know of such things as release dates at the age of four.
One thing is for sure.
I spent plenty of time studying this album’s
music, and art work.
(On a side note,
some of that art was plenty strange.
Like the one with Michael and Paul fighting over a girl, or the
Guns N’Roses looking picture for the song “Thriller”.)
Little
did I know that in a few years, I would be doing the same thing with every
tape, or CD that I bought.
I
really am not sure how I came to owning this, but I do remember the first tape
I owned was Ray Parker Jr.’s “
Ghostbusters”.
At the time of the song’s release, I was the mighty age of six, and I
had this Panasonic hand held tape recorder that I used to listen to it.
Honestly, I can’t tell you what else was on that
“Ghostbusters” soundtrack, because I don’t think I listened to the rest of it
more than once.
Now there is one thing
that I can tell you about this time frame, and that is the next tape that I
owned was by a man named
Weird “Al” Yankovic.
This was a self titled album of his that I found in my Christmas
stocking.
I remember at first glance I
thought that it was something I might not like that is until I played it.
It was full of fart noises, and funny
lyrics.
My cousin would come over, and
we’d listen, and listen, and listen to that album.
Rewinding to the fart noise we liked best, or
the heavy breathing part of “Another One Rides the Bus”.
It was a six year old boy’s music
heaven.
After
Weird “Al”, my music started to get a little more serious well, kind of.
I had found heavy metal in the form of
“
Cherry Pie” and “
Dr. Feelgood”.
The
music was so cool, and edgy to me.
This
was the first time I said to myself, “This is what I want to be when I grow
up.”
I wanted to be pushed in the pool
while holding a beer, to have the girls to throw things onto the stage while I
played, but most of all I wanted to hear the crowed chant my bands name before
getting on stage.
Hair bands had the best
fans, and watching them go crazy on the videos made me want to be a star.
After a
couple of years of hair metal, I started to hear bands that were on the heavier,
and faster side.
Most of these bands scared
me, but in a good way.
At first listen of
“
Iron Man”, I was sold.
It was dark,
heavy.
From there I started to search
out other bands.
I found
Metallica, and
Slayer.
My music taste kept on getting
heavier, and faster.
Songs started to
have meaning to me, and made me think that it shouldn’t be all about having a
good time.
I started to make friends who
had the same music taste now too.
We
would talk for hours about music, and shared our knowledge about other bands we
haven’t heard before.
It really set me
up for the next stage of music for me.
Punk,
and hardcore.
I went
to my first show when I was roughly 14 years old. It changed my outlook on music forever. Before this I only knew of stadium shows where
there was a barricade between you and the band, and there was no way for a fan
to get close. What I was seeing at this
show was different. Here the band was
right there! No longer did I want to be
part of the big crowd. Now I wanted to
step away from the crowd. Any band that
was on a major label, or MTV were sell outs to me, and I wanted no part. I was now finding my music by going to shows,
and reading ‘zines. I didn’t rely on MTV
to tell me what I should like, but found it myself.
This
was my attitude to popular music for some time.
That is until I rediscovered the Beatles. A friend of mine had recorded a tape for me
with the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band on one side, and some of The White
Album on the other. This tape did
get heavy play in my Jeep for a summer, and also convinced me that not all
popular music was bad. I realized that I
wasn’t doing myself any favors by being close minded when it came to
music.
Now
days I don’t limit myself to just one genre of music, and in any given day I
could be listening to anything from Minor Threat, Waylon Jennings, and everything
in-between. I have found that life is
too short to have a closed mind when it comes to music. Because, even though Thriller is a great album, I’m sure glad that it’s not the only one
I’ve ever listened to.
