As a child I was the youngest of six other siblings....five of them from previous marriages for both my mom and dad. I only have one full sister. My mom was nearly 38 when she gave birth to me, so my dad was 47 years old. This made for quite an interesting upbringing, as yes...I did hear all those 'stories' of walking to school...uphill, both ways...in the snow...barefoot....yup...and it was the truth! My parents grew up poor, as did many during that era...and also endured 'The Great Depression' which began in late 1929 and lasted for about a decade. My dad's mom died when he was just 7 years old from a brief illness, and my mom's dad died from injuries in a mining accident when she was 12. Bottom line, 'old' to me is older than what it is for most of my friends around my age, as my dad retired at 62 when I was a sophomore in high school. My oldest sister and brother are now 70 years old. I guess there's some advantage to being the 'baby' of the family...and no, I wasn't spoiled, regardless of what my siblings might try to tell you!
Music has, for as long as I can remember, been a part of my life...perhaps more so than many of my childhood friends...my first experience being in a church setting, involved in the children's choir, due to my mom's persistence that I could carry a tune, and at home with weekly television viewing of 'Lawrence Welk' and 'Hee Haw'. Learning to play piano at the age of 8, brought a whole new world into my sheltered young life, an experience that for me would continually be developed and grow to what it means to me today, five decades later. The impact it has had on me has been profound. I now enjoy many styles of music, as my relentless appetite and appreciation of musical talent continues to be an attraction that I cannot ignore. There are a few varieties that do not appeal to me, but I still admire individual expression in this form of art.
I find it interesting in retrospect of the last six or so decades of music, specifically rock and roll, how it has changed with each generation. I looked it up to see how many years makes up a generation....as 'I think' 20 years should. The answer is, '20 to 25 years', 30 being a stretch. That is certainly enough time for the many changes that occur during that span to make a difference...that difference being in how parents understand, adapt and even accept the period in which their children are growing up...their experiences, what molds their world. That being said, I believe the most challenging part of that aspect is the music. The 1950's was 'the birth of rock and roll'. Hot off the remnants of the 'Big Band Era' of the 1940's, names like Doris Day and Frank Sinatra, to new faces and sounds from Elvis Presley, Bill Haley & the Comets, Nat King Cole, Fats Domino, The Platters and many others, set in motion a musical journey that would be a long road of twists, turns and melodic evolution. This was not my generation of music, so most of it is rather foreign to me, but my oldest brothers and sisters can relate to this style of rock, such as it was in that day.
Moving on to the 60's, rock and roll 'comes of age' and dominates the pop music charts. Since I was born in the early 60's, I can relate better to this style, as I was exposed to it periodically. It was the introduction of a lifetime of appreciation of musical talent that would shape my world. Soul bands such as Stevie Wonder and The Four Tops, surf-style music from The Beach Boys, folk rockers like Bob Dylan, barely scratched the surface of the emerging music scene. You can't talk about 60's music and not mention the big player, The Beatles....the 'British Invasion' at its best! Along with psychedelic styles from The Byrds and The Grateful Dead growing in popularity, hard rock also made its entrance. Led Zeppelin, The Who and The Doors, along with many others, enabled this genre to rise abruptly and rapidly launch rock and roll style to the top of the music charts, its popularity being highly contagious. I can certainly recall watching 'The Monkees' on tv as a kid. http://www.monkees.com/ And I know there are many who during this time personally experienced the 'Summer of Love' and the 'Woodstock Rock Festival' during 1967 to 1969.
The 70's would continue to expand the rock experience...making it 'big business' during this decade. With the deaths of rock legends Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, progressive rock and heavy metal usher in the popularity of concerts to large sports arenas. Queen, Jethro Tull, The Rolling Stones, Deep Purple and scores of other bands continue to change and define the face of rock music. It was this era that the hard rock band KISS rose to popularity with their face paint and stage outfits, elaborate live performances and pyrotechnics. Rock would never be the same, paving the way for what was to come over the next twenty years. With 28 gold albums and 40 million albums sold in the U.S. alone, and over 100 million worldwide, KISS is one of the world's best selling bands of all time. I know the influence they had in my life, and as many of my personal friends would attest, played a major role in their musical interest and influence as well. I was truly surprised when I was in high school, for Christmas my mom and dad bought me the 'KISS Live 2' cassette tapes as a present! Wow! Really? Thanks mom and dad! I even had many of the music books from their albums so I could play them on the piano.
'My time' was the 80's. I legally became an adult, which enabled me to become actively involved in the local club scene. MTV (Music Television) took to the airwaves in August of 1981, expanding the reach to the American living room at a whole new level....music videos! Now 24/7 private home viewing rapidly gained popularity. The British rock band Dire Straits penned a tune 'Money For Nothing', highlighting the 'demand' for this new avenue of technology. The resurgence of heavy metal brought 'hair/glam metal bands front stage, so to speak. Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Poison, Warrant, L.A. Guns, Cinderella, Winger, Whitesnake and other hot acts rode a wave of loyal fan followers. Heavy metal still sharing the limelight of success....AC/DC, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Scorpions....all continued to influence the market. Even the previous decade of rockers such as Genesis, Simon & Garfunkel, Abba, Queen, David Bowie and many others shared this generation.
Another decade and a half of music has transpired since that time, and my interest somewhat ebbed after the 90's Internet and digital music popularity. However, I have regained an enthusiasm in today's new faces...as the babes born in the 1980's have come of age, and there's a whole new talent emerging on the scene...how exciting! What I am noticing is many on the local level in Indy bringing back the 80's, guys and gals that played and lived a part of the local market of that time....and younger ones renewing the 'old'. I should have realized I could not stay away for long from something that had and continues to have such an impact on my life. I've spent the last two hours or more here of my afternoon, researching and reliving my musical background to write this blog. It has truly been a reflective journey. I relish the moments and the people along the way that have been and are even now a part of that. Music is truly a universal language, and has the ability to reach the very soul of an individual. It is a God-given talent that I believe should be shared with others. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have in writing it...join with me on my continual journey to explore the old and the new that the musical world has to offer, won't you? Hope to see you out and about....stop by...chat, say 'hey', and take care.
No comments:
Post a Comment