20th Century Music

1-10-08 20^th Century Music

As you probably know, the previous incarnation of this blog was called “20^th Cent Music”. I started writing it at the instigation of a friend in the summer of 2002. I have been writing about music for roughly 30 of my (almost) 50 years.

It seems that with each passing year, I buy less and less music. I hadn’t planned it that way – but that’s how it works out. I noticed that I was buying more and more CD’s – as decent LP’s became more and more difficult to find (and sometimes overly expensive). I still love LP’s – but they are notoriously difficult to store – in massive quantities. They take up so much room! But they sound great – usually.

So, 8 years into the new century – record stores are closing. Is my hobby of choice in decline? Sure seems to me that there are lots and lots of record collectors around. Is this why I have to go further and further from my home to find nice LP’s?

Of course, I mail-order music. In some instances, it’s the only way to find what I want. But as the record stores vanish, it seems that my ‘community’ vanishes along with them. No more streetcorners to meet my friends on – unless we can consider the Ron Kane Files a virtual streetcorner.

So found anything good lately? What have you been listening to? Are there still record stores where you live? Have you ever been to Japan? Are there any good Indonesian restaurants around here? What was the last concert you saw? Do you still watch TV? How’s your girlfriend / boyfriend / kids?

As far as I am concerned, the power that music can have is undiminished. It doesn’t matter if you play records, CD’s, MP3’s…you know this to be true. Music is an important part of our lives.

Have been reading “This Is Your Brain On Music” by Dan Levitin – sort of a music psychology book. That guy thinks music is important, too.

So, what part does music play in your life? It determined my livelihood for roughly two decades, as I was employed in the “music business” – but I feel like I have been a music fan for most of my (nearly) 50 years. Do you find that music’s power diminishes with how you age? Or are you still rockin’ at whatever age you are? I understand how stuff other than music becomes very important in one’s life – like looking for work, chasing girls, eating nice food, health etc.

I can’t imagine a time when music won’t be important to me. As I age, I could conceivably become deaf at some point – but – my brain is hard-wired to music – and I would probably still write about it, even if I was stone deaf.