Age 1 – 10 (45s): I was born in Hunterdon County New Jersey (1965) which was a pretty f*cking awesome time and place to be born in from a musical perspective. It meant that I was raised within the AM signal of WABC in New York and was therefor weened on ‘Brandy’ by Looking Glass, ‘Dacining in the Moonlight’ by King Harvest and other very light and poppy melodies performed frequently by musical families. Those families being The Partridges(fictional), The Jacksons(black), The Carpenters(white), The DeFranco Family(other) and of course, The Osmonds(LDS). My young ear was tuned to the rock/pop harmonies, cow bell, and big hooks of the 70’s. They ain’t heavy, they are my brothers and even today when I hear an updated version of this style performed by the likes of The Spice Girls, I swoon.
Age 11- 15 (albums): Upon moving to Delaware, the radio held less sway and I found myself in a neighborhood wholly owned by “black music.” From the Jackson Five, it is a short hop to other musical families: The Brother’s Johnson, The Isely Brothers, Earth Wind and Fire (my first concert) The Commodores, Heat Wave and eventually Parliament & the Sugar Hill Gang, which changed everything. Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall” was naturally huge, but “Thriller” wasn’t so thrilling for us as the sun was already setting on that phase.
Age 16 – Early College (MTv): The album based R&B/Funk of my pre-driving years served as a sound track to numerous basement parties, but after some of the gang turned 16 and started driving all of that basement slow dancing innocence faded quickly. As the gang broke up, I moved toward U2, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Alarm and other early MTV new wave phenoms like Wall of Voodoo, REM, INXS, and yes… Duran Duran. I arrived for my freshman year in college with blond highlights in my hair and an Elvis Costello album under my arm.
Late College (CDs) – New wave had a nice long run. In 1982 Squeeze released “Singles – 45’s and Under” by 1985 it was ubiquitous. Yaz, The Style Council, Bill Bragg, The House Martins, Simple Minds, Big Country you name it. Every genre has its genius and its dreck. I was undiscerning, and liked all of it. I was never big on for the darker moodier stuff, but what’s not to like about The Cure?
Post College (Pandora) – There comes a point where you either become one of those sad guys who tries to keep up with what the kids are listening to, or become one of those sad guys who wallows in nostalgia for the music of his college years. I became the later. Music created since 1990 doesn’t do much for me, unless it is pretty much an outright homage to the 70’s or 80’s.