Got Music?

I think I was 11 when I got my first very own music tape. It was ABBA's SuperTrouper. I was visiting friends of my parents for a week and their older daughter made me a tape of her album. She played the record and ran her taperecorder beside the record so that tape captured the ambient noise around us - someone coughing, her mother calling to her dad, a plane going by... but it was my very own tape and it was magical to me. I listened to that tape over and over again on an old tapedeck my Dad gave me.

Then came the days of taping songs off of the radio. Listening with finger poised over the record and play buttons, just waiting for the song we wanted to come on the radio and trying not to miss the first few notes. Inevitably there'd be some dj chatter at the beginning and end of the song. I taped songs like Mona with the children, Footloose, St. Elmo's Fire, and Sunglasses at Night this way and my girlfriends and I would dance and sing along to these 'absolutely awesome' songs.

I can also thank my brother for exposing me to real 80s music. He was very particular about his music and would buy his favourite record, carefully take the record out of its plastic wrapping and tenderly place it on the turntable. The record would be played once as he recorded it onto a tape and then carefully put away, not to be played again until he wanted to make another tape of the album or make a mix tape. I was given strict instructions not to touch his records - he would notice my fingerprints so "don't even try it." But he was good about making me mix tapes so I couldn't complain too much. He brought music like David Bowie's Major Tom, ELO's Time, Pink Floyd's the Wall, REM, U2, the Cure, etc etc. into my life. Even as I got older and got into buying my own stuff he was always a great source for music and his mix tapes were welcome gifts -its amazing how those old Maxell XLIIs still sound pretty good all these years later and they sure are great for a trip down memory lane.

I've been surrounded by music from birth. I remember waking up to a sister practicing piano and going to bed to a sister practicing piano. My oldest sister would get up at 5 am to have the piano to herself and my mom had to carve out my practice time (8:00-8:30 and 4:00-4:30) or my sisters would gobble up that time too. Now that's dedication. They've both made music their careers so it was definitely time well spent for them.

My parents sang in choirs, my brother and sister played in orchestra, my oldest sister went to Canterbury; but by the time I came along I think my mom was pretty tired and was just glad to get some piano lessons in to me. I dabbled with the cello for the last couple years of high school but never really had the chance to play in an orchestra.

When no-one was practicing CBC was on. My mom loved Jurgen Goth. That man's voice will always take me back to my childhood - to coming home from school and having a quick snack before it was my time to practice and Jurgen was shut down till supper time. I was sad to see him go when they revamped CBC a few years ago, but I must say I am loving the new lineup they have on during the day and things have come full circle - my kids come home to CBC on though its Rich Terfry's voice they hear and its Rich Terfry who gets shut down when its time for them to practice.

From taping songs off the radio to downloading music off of itunes, my access to music has certainly changed over the years, but the emotional response evoked by a favourite song is still the same. Songs have travelled with me all along my journey so far, and certain songs will always stand out as symbolizing turning points or forks in the road along the way (though not necessarily Green Day ;-) ). I can't imagine my life without music and it makes me so happy to see my kids get an emotional response from music as well. It warms my heart to see my 3 year old suddenly get up off her chair because she just HAS to move to the rhythm of a song on the radio, or to hear my ten year old singing along to some of my favourite stuff or to hear my 5 year old ask me to turn up a song because its his "favouritist ever song in the universe". Though a time will come when they scoff at what I listen to and find their own musical personalities, I'm glad to know that they get alot out of music too. Fingers crossed it'll still be something I consider to be "music" and not some noise I can't stand listening to...