2005-06-28 - 12:31 a.m.

eemy memey mimey moe?

Hmm, all righty, I'm willing to play...

-- What is my total volume of music?
Wow, that's difficult. Let's go by medium:

Back at my parents' house is where my 8-tracks live, there are a few dozen of those...

Cassettes - I probably have a few dozen pre-recorded ones and a few hundred that I taped, mostly from my albums and some from radio. I used to tape songs off the radio back in the 80's - the original method of "downloading" music for free for one's own personal use!

LPs - I used to actually keep a written list of all the albums I'd bought. Every time I bought one I'd add it to the list. It was on 3-hole-punched, lined notebook paper. And I shouldn't say it "was," because in fact it still is, and it just so happens that I can turn around from where I'm sitting at my desk right now and put my hands on the folder, in which is said list. So, I can tell you that the first album I bought with my own money was Average White Band (by the Average White Band), sometime in 1976. In December of 1986 when I stopped writing them down, I had 293 LPs (#293 was Invisible Touch by Genesis). I know, much more information than called for by the question. So, by now... probably about 400-450 LPs.

CDs - probably about 400, and I'd guess that about 100 of those are albums I already owned on LP (or 8-track or cassette).

mp3 songs - about 1200. Quite a few of those are songs included in the above media.

Then there's videos and live shows on Beta, VHS and DVD - that's music, after all. Probably close to 60 tapes and discs full of music there.

So, total? I don't know, is all that add-able?

-- What is the last CD I bought?
"Always" by Sam Harris. Bought it because I went to see him perform and there was an autograph/meet & greet opportunity afterward, which I had no idea there would be! So I bought the only CD of his at the merch table that I didn't already have. Funny that I'm such a big fan of his because he's so different from just about everyone else I like. But I was thrilled all over the place to get to meet him after being a fan for 20 years... and he was a doll.

-- What song is playing right now?
It was "Wouldn't It Be Good" by Nik Kershaw, until the sound on my PC died for the sixteen millionth time. It just cuts out when it's tired of playing. I need to clean up around here so I can use an actual CD player without balancing it precariously on a pile of junk.

-- What five songs do I listen to a lot because they are special to me?
I don't necessarily listen to the special ones more than any others... but there are some special ones. Some because they evoke special memories of specific times and places, and some because the lyrics are just so true. These may not necessarily be the definitive top 5 but they're up there.

#1 - the one that sealed my fate with my band - I used to hear it on AOR radio back in the late 70s (it was one of those that I illicitly taped off the radio) and never knew who sang it. 20 years later when I was just beginning to get into my band in a big way, I suddenly discovered that THEY sang that obscure song I'd always loved, and I finally put a name to the singer I'd been wondering about for all that time. The rest is (top secret) history.
#2 - Rock and Roll All Nite. I forget I was such a Kiss fan until that song comes on the radio. But it brings it all back, and everything that went with it.
#3 - Manic Depression. Takes me back to a sweltering day in Dallas when despite the near heat stroke I had one of the happiest days ever.
#4 - The Load Out, by Jackson Browne. Another one of those songs taped off the radio, and a song that I listened to over and over to learn the words. Something about the story it tells just captured my imagination. Funny how the life on the road depicted in that song still resonates with me.
#5 - Won't Get Fooled Again, by the Who. Probably the most powerful song of all for me - it grabs me on a lot of levels. For one, it used to be the last song played over the PA before Kiss hit the stage. The black curtain fell on the YEEEEEEAAAAH scream. Not the first one. The other one, the BIG one. At the moment this is the song that is the last one played before my band comes on stage. They start it with the scream, so that scream just starts my adrenaline full tilt. Also, I heard the Wallflowers play this song as their encore for the first show they played after 9/11, and it will always have a bit of that meaning for me also - that dogged determination and defiance covering fear and vulnerability. Pick up my guitar and play. Just like yesterday. And I'll get on my knees and pray we don't get fooled again. Meet the new boss - same as the old boss. YEEEEEEAAAAH! (And, they played this on the field before game six of the Red Sox-Yankees ALCS series last year, so there's it's magic powers there, too.)

-- Five people I'm passing the musical baton to?
Hm, I don't know... the first five to happen by, I guess. I'd love to hear what anyone who reads this has to say... but I'm not even sure there are five people reading.

my mood -

the mood of the whole world wide bleepin' web -