A Highway, East of Omaha...

What do you think of music? Is it important? Do you need it?
I look back on my life and I realize how important it has always been, but at the same time, how much I've taken it for granted.
I know some people who LIVE in their music, who are vv passionate about the music they listen to and the bands that they like. I've always kind of envied them, but have never been them.

I think of being a kid and listening to my eight track tape player I got for Christmas. I was 9 or 10 and we were visiting my Grandparents Up North for Christmas. I got this single speaker AM/FM 8-Track player that had a strap on the side so you can carry it like a purse. I VIVIDLY remember borrowing my brothers copy of a Grass Roots 8-Track and walking around Lincoln with this thing blasting 'Temptation Eyes' and 'Sooner Or Later' and thinking I owned the world (I was probably wearing corduroy bell bottoms too!!!)
That album was awesome and I listened to it until it broke.

I remember when I got my first album. It was Bob Segers' Live Bullet album, and thinking that 'Turn the Page' was (and still is for my money) the coolest song ever. Fast forward 10 years or so and I've got twin infants that won't stop crying and mamma's gone to work. What do I do? I pull out my 'Live Bullet' CD, put Turn the Page on repeat and they quite down, and pass out. Coincidence? I think not. They knew cool too!

I remember buying a Run DMC cassette tape, trying to figure out if I really liked rap music. I can still recite a big chunk of Hard Times (spreadin' just like the flu!)

I remember HAVING to change the stereo in my first car (1980 Mustang Coupe) because it was all about the music and the factory stereo was bad. Real, real bad.

I remember paying WAY more than we can afford for a Bose Sound System when we first got married (still have it 15 years later) because the music coming out of those speakers sounded so good you couldn't believe it. We lived on the fourth floor of an apartment building. We could turn up the stereo loud enough to hear it on the first floor.

I remember playing a game with this guy I used to work with, Rick. We'd listen to WCSX while we worked at my mom and dad's ceramic shop. We'd see who could guess the name of the band that came on the radio first. It took a while, but I got good.
My brother-in-law started working there and got involved in the game too. Still to this day, he can name songs that come over the airwaves. I bet it impresses the crud out of his wife, like it does mine!!!

One of my favorite music memories is fairly recent. I've been an Eric Clapton fan for as long as I can remember. We had the opportunity to go see him in concert a few years back with some great friends of ours. I remember thinking before the concert "I wonder why someone would go see a guitar player? I mean, sure he shreds the guitar and all, but why is that different live then over the air?" (I'm a moron, I know)
Well, I got my answer when Slow Hand was RIPPING UP 'I Shot The Sheriff' and I'm on my feet yelling my head off. Seven ways AWESOME!

The reason for the question is that there is a lot of controversy going on now about online music and I realized I don't listen to music nearly as much as I used to. Now it's more about talk radio and sports. But music still matters. It still helps me get work done when I need to be intense about something. It still helps pass the time when I'm waiting for something big. I still stirs something inside when I need it most.

I signed up for Last.FM recently and am going to try and listen to a bit more music. Not only that, but I've tended to listen only to stuff I know and know I like. It think I'm gonna expand that a bit. I hear Last is good for that. I've heard someone say that the sight is psychic. It plays the song you need to hear when you need to hear it. I'll be the judge of that.

BTW, as I'm typing this...Turn the Pages plays thru my headphones....yeah!.