The Memory Lives On

Are you haunted by song fragments? I am....and with the advent of Kazaa and itunes I have been able to satisfy 99% of my long frustrated aural needs by downloading songs from the Internet.

Why are we thinking about these songs from so long ago? Betcha other than your first sexual encounter (even if you were alone) those short little songs comprise the bulk of your memory of that time. Try to quickly name 25 of your classmates from those days. How about 25 song titles or groups?

Our earliest memories of music are of the nursery rhymes we learned as toddlers. They were easy to learn because they were short and highly repititious....much like your average 2 minute and 3 second rock and roll song. The "hooks" or choruses of those ditties are what we remember still. Any of you know all the verses of "American Pie" or "MacArthur Park" or "Alice's Restaurant?" Probably not. Ever hear them requested in a club? Probably not.

Having been in the radio business and having access to music research, , I know that the music we remember most are those songs we heard in our last formal formal year of education. At that time, popular music was playing in almost any recreational venue in which we found ourselves from the bars to our dorm rooms or apartments. My experience with this occurred in about 1966. However, something else was taking place at that time which would divide our memories. The something else was the advent of FM stations starting to play music other than their two traditional categories which were classical or elevator. But, not everyone embraced FM as a music source. One reason was the fact that there weren't very many FM sets in cars. If you wanted one, it was an expensive option. It wasn't until 1974 when federal law mandated that all car radios manufactured in the US had to be AM/FM. But back to our bifurcated musical memories. People who graduated in 1966 either listened to the Carpenters on AM OR the Doors and Captain Beefheart on FM. There are songs from that AM playlist that I never heard when they were popular and I have friends who missed the whole FM lexicon from their last year of formal education. Couple that with the ploitical schism that was occuring over Vietnam, and the two musical forms went into their separate camps with their fans....

So, rush to an Internet music website, type in your favorite song that you've been hearing in your head all of these years, play it ten or twelve times and move on with your life.

While you're at it, think about how fast your children burn through their favorite music due to the many sources they have from which to hear and copy it. Remember how long you listened to the radio waiting to hear your favorite tune? While you're at it, encourage your child to slow down in his or her appreciation of the latest hit.

Why?

Because they aren't going to have anything to dance to or request at their 20th high school reunion.

Hello

Today is the beginning of yet another life activity for me.  I have been thinking about blogging for a long time.  I am not a diarist although I thought about that for a while.  But then, who would read them and why?  I suspect the same could be asked of this process.  I'll have to find out.

First, a bit about me.  I was born in Atlantic City, NJ.  I am an only child.  I spent my adult life in the broadcasting business.   I am a 64 year old retired man who has been living on the North Fork of Long Island for ten years.  I spent most of my working life in Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio.  For the last 18 years I have been married to Ellen who was also in the broadcasting business.  She is now involved in cat rescue and other community activities as am I but not to the extent she is.  Upon retirement, I reinvested in my life long hobby of photography and have developed a reputation as a fair to middling landscape photographer.  I don't listen to the radio anymore, but I am a major television watcher.

I have a 33 year old daughter who lives far away from here, but we have a wonderful telephonic relationship and we see one another when we can.  She is my lifeline to the younger generation. She is also living proof that heredity trumps environment as we have very many of the same beliefs and habits that had to come from the gene pool as I was not present for the first 16 years of her life.   My other lifeline to the youth of America is made up of the two photographic interns I take on each year who never cease to amaze me with their technical expertise and their understanding of the life culture which we share.  These kids will do well because failure is not only something they have never considered an option, it is something that if they think about it at all, they think it happens to other people.

When I first retired, I thought that since I was just a year or two ahead of the baby boomers, I would contact the three major television outlets in the city and, for a modest fee, give them unlimited access to my life and ultimate death and all that came in between.  I thought this would appeal to them as our demographic group was becoming the largest segment of the population.  But then I imagined....(roll tape) here I am in the urology office, he's going to check my prostate....all of you know how important this is....." and I thought this show is going to be some sort of  tour of my orifice's, my finances, my marriage and my friendships old and new.  I couldn't imagine myself being that interested in my life, let alone strangers.  I never made the call.  But I have been actively thinking all of my life and maybe some of those thoughts might be of interest to the blogosphere or the ether or the plasma screen or whatever you call this medium.

So, over the next however long this lasts....let's find out.

Only The Best!

Steve

PS...Thanks, Nancy for showing me how to technically to do this.

PSS Don't miss "Fringe" on Fox tonight.