Musical Musings
Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. The weather was rainy here, so the original plan for Maverick and I to go golfing was washed out. I told him he'd have to get a rain check. We went to my mom's for dinner. It was nice not having to cook. Other than that, we didn't really do much. Kind of a lazy day.
Not that I don't normally, but a post by Jay had music on my brain a little. She posted about the "good old days" of MTV. I'm old enough to have lived through the launch of MTV. I remember how it used to be all music. Not what it currently has become, mostly stupid reality shows with some lame musci in between. Back then, an artist that could get heavy rotation on MTV was almost guarenteed to be cool and sell tons of records.
Not that I was into much of the music that was on MTV at the time. I was a dedicated heavy metal maniac back then. If it wasn't heavy, it wasn't shit. I would watch MTV for HOURS, trying to catch a Girlschool, Judas Priest, or even Pat Benatar video in between all of the New Wave music that dominated the channel. You would not believe the number of Duran Duran, Haircut 100, Spandau Ballet, and Missing Persons videos I had to sit through to get to the good ones I was waiting for. Of course, not that there's anything wrong with any of those bands. I actually enjoyed the Missing Persons videos. It had nothing to do with what Dale Bozio was wearing, really. It was Terry Bozio's drumming. Cause I'm all about the music.
I did learn most of my chops as a guitarist watching MTV. Since I was waiting for good videos to show up, I'd sit with guitar in hand, and with nothing better to do, I'd start learning the songs I heard on the TV. It helped refine my ear and helped me work on different rythems. I actually recommend it for musicians. Just sit and learn all kinds of stuff and listen to different styles. Of course, nowadays, I actually dig a lot of that 80s music. I mean, it wasn't cool in 86 to say Jesse's Girl was a cool song. But 20 years later, you know, it's not half bad.
In other musical obsessions, I've also been considering getting an Ipod. I know it's hard to believe, but I don't have one. The Wife and Grasshopper each have one, but not the musician/computer geek. And before all you Ipod owners jump all over me on how it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, hear me out.
I haven't needed one. The only times I really listen to music are in the car and at work. My drive to and from work is like 15 minutes, so a CD works just fine. At work, I fill a 512 MEG jump drive with MP3's and I have enough music for the whole day and then some. So why spend the money?
Except now I'm travelling more for work. And it would be nice to fill an Ipod with a ton of music and put it on shuffle. It would kind of be like listening to the radio without the commercials and crappy music. Or all the damn talk that goes on in the morning. But that's a seperate annoyance. So I'm getting one of those cassette thingies you can plug into an Ipod for the car. I'll probably try out the Wife's Ipod on my next road trip. If it works out, I may just get one. It would be nice to have all my fave CDs loaded in one spot. So we'll see.
On the plus side (for the Wife at least) I've pretty much gotten over the itch to get a new guitar. Without actually buying one! Though I'd still like to get a Brian May guitar, I'm going to wait on it. One of these days, but first I have figure out how much I want to spend and which I'm going to get. And whether or not the Wife will break it over my head when it arrives.
Not that I don't normally, but a post by Jay had music on my brain a little. She posted about the "good old days" of MTV. I'm old enough to have lived through the launch of MTV. I remember how it used to be all music. Not what it currently has become, mostly stupid reality shows with some lame musci in between. Back then, an artist that could get heavy rotation on MTV was almost guarenteed to be cool and sell tons of records.
Not that I was into much of the music that was on MTV at the time. I was a dedicated heavy metal maniac back then. If it wasn't heavy, it wasn't shit. I would watch MTV for HOURS, trying to catch a Girlschool, Judas Priest, or even Pat Benatar video in between all of the New Wave music that dominated the channel. You would not believe the number of Duran Duran, Haircut 100, Spandau Ballet, and Missing Persons videos I had to sit through to get to the good ones I was waiting for. Of course, not that there's anything wrong with any of those bands. I actually enjoyed the Missing Persons videos. It had nothing to do with what Dale Bozio was wearing, really. It was Terry Bozio's drumming. Cause I'm all about the music.
I did learn most of my chops as a guitarist watching MTV. Since I was waiting for good videos to show up, I'd sit with guitar in hand, and with nothing better to do, I'd start learning the songs I heard on the TV. It helped refine my ear and helped me work on different rythems. I actually recommend it for musicians. Just sit and learn all kinds of stuff and listen to different styles. Of course, nowadays, I actually dig a lot of that 80s music. I mean, it wasn't cool in 86 to say Jesse's Girl was a cool song. But 20 years later, you know, it's not half bad.
In other musical obsessions, I've also been considering getting an Ipod. I know it's hard to believe, but I don't have one. The Wife and Grasshopper each have one, but not the musician/computer geek. And before all you Ipod owners jump all over me on how it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, hear me out.
I haven't needed one. The only times I really listen to music are in the car and at work. My drive to and from work is like 15 minutes, so a CD works just fine. At work, I fill a 512 MEG jump drive with MP3's and I have enough music for the whole day and then some. So why spend the money?
Except now I'm travelling more for work. And it would be nice to fill an Ipod with a ton of music and put it on shuffle. It would kind of be like listening to the radio without the commercials and crappy music. Or all the damn talk that goes on in the morning. But that's a seperate annoyance. So I'm getting one of those cassette thingies you can plug into an Ipod for the car. I'll probably try out the Wife's Ipod on my next road trip. If it works out, I may just get one. It would be nice to have all my fave CDs loaded in one spot. So we'll see.
On the plus side (for the Wife at least) I've pretty much gotten over the itch to get a new guitar. Without actually buying one! Though I'd still like to get a Brian May guitar, I'm going to wait on it. One of these days, but first I have figure out how much I want to spend and which I'm going to get. And whether or not the Wife will break it over my head when it arrives.
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