March 2, 2015

I's Like (Most Kinds Of) Music

Hi-de-ho neighbors and neighborettes! I bring you all tidings of C#, Bb, G-clef and an assortment of whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes and everything else in between.

Like most people in their younger years, I was pretty much a two genre man when it came to music. Rock and BMJ Pop were my main genres of choice back then, and everything else basically sucked major testicles. It wasn't until I started working for the State of Connecticut and had co-workers in my own age bracket that I was initially dragged kicking and screaming towards other genres.

Once I got used to listening to very offbeat radio stations (mostly college radio) that my co-workers liked, I started really getting into the various genres and sub-genres that make up the wonderful world of music.

Last week, for example, I finally bought the c.d that contained this song:


Most people who know me, usually shake their collective heads over the fact that I would actually be listening to this kind of music (DJ club music), but to be honest with everyone, even though I bought the c.d. for that one song, the entire c.d. rocks from beginning to end.

In the past few years, I have greatly expanded my musical horizons, mostly from listening to the free version of satellite radio, aka college radio. Some of the genres that usually drive me batty because of the drivel that makes it to pop radio (mostly new R&B, rap and hip-hop) I've learned to appreciate because college radio has a tendency to dig way down deep into those genres and play stuff that a person in my age bracket won't be turned off by.

The other way that I've expanded my horizons is by buying used c.d.'s that my local library has for sale. They have a lot of used c.d.'s from people who donated or from their periodic purging of their music library, and most of them are priced $1 to $2. Not only have I found c.d.'s in genres that I normally wouldn't give the time of day to (country pop for example), but I've found c.d.'s from bands that I really like that contained songs that I really liked and would cost me a fortune on Amazon.

In regards to genres that I wouldn't give the time of day to, I picked up two c.d.'s the other day that my children have threatened to disown me over should I play them with earshot of them.

One is by this particular Celtic band:



And another is by this classical musician:


By the way, I've always had an affinity for classical music, partially from my exposure to Carl Stalling and Looney Tunes, and partially from my exposure from playing it when I was my daughters age.

So on this glorious snowy Monday, I pose this question to you: is there any music that you didn't like while growing up but as an adult it later grew on you?

(c) 2015 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved.

10 comments:

  1. I'm a little more narrow in my tastes.

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  2. Thanks for introducing me to The Wicked Tinkers -- I love the pipes! I've always liked all kinds of music. Liking only one or two types is like eating the same one or two types of food every day for the rest of your life. Where's the excitement in that?

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    1. You're very welcome. I haven't had the opportunity to listen to it yet, but I probably will sometime this week in my car.

      When you're a kid, the excitement was being able to listen to music, any kind of music, and if you were limited to what your parents listened to, so be it.

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  3. Looney Tunes - funny!
    I admit I don't stray too far from the basic rock genre. But there are dozens of sub-genres within rock.

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    1. Yeah, it is, in a peculiar way. I never really got the classical music thing until I was in my late teens and started reading more about them. Then I got the inside jokes, so to speak.

      I agree, lots of fun sub-genres in basic rock, so even if you're staying one basic genre, you're still expanding your horizons.

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  4. I loved Bugs Bunny classical music in chase scenes- But didn't like alot of classical until my daughter played with the Symphony, n I went to tons of concerts learning a bunch of it I'd never heard. Then there's alternate rock which didn't exist yet when I was young I heard my other daughter listen to. I love the new celtic stuff out these days..

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    1. Classical has always been in the background while growing up and almost all alternative music wasn't on my radar until a co-worker turned me onto college radio in the mid 90's.

      If you Celtic music, there's an Irish folk singer I like called Fil Campbell. She's very good

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  5. I've developed an interest in "modern classical" music (there's an oxymoron for you). I don't spend a lot of time listening to it, but every once in a while I get in the mood to listen to a contemporary composer. For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx0kk3lv-FQ

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    1. I'll have to check out your link.

      Only when there is nothing else to listen to on my commute home will I listen to classical music (a local college station plays a 3 hour block of classical M-F).

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