One of my passions in life is music. For as long as I can remember, I've been someone who craves new music, and I've always looked for new ways to find it and share it with my friends.
I remember going to a (long-gone) store in Wellsboro called the The Brass T-Shirt when I was in my early teens, and the lady who ran it had access to mail-order music catalogs, and it blew my mind. Here were all these records (& bands) that I would have never had access to through the local Ames dept. store — some that I had heard about through magazines like Circus or Hit Parader, and some that I had never heard of. So I'd take my chances and order some obscure record (or cassette, as this was before cd's became the norm), and if it was good, I'd share it with my friends, and they would make a copy too.
Though the years, this is how I discovered many great bands, and some you may have even heard of. For example, this is how I first got Metallica's "Kill "em All" on vinyl back in '82 or '83. Then I think there was the Anthrax "Spreading the Disease" album, which Rich Rawson and I freaked out about. There were also some lesser-known bands like Fugazi, the Dayglo Abortions, Bad Religion, Quicksand, Naked Raygun, NOFX, and the Offspring — these were all bands that I discovered by reading magazines, and DIY zines, and thumbing through mail-order catalogs, and then shared with my friends. Some of them even became huge (Green Day, anyone?)
I'd get some album or cassette, and then freak out, and then have to run and tell my friends. I remember the day having Metallica's "Ride the Lightning" on cassette, LOVING IT, then playing it for people — and many were like, "Ugh! That's too heavy, the guy can't sing!"
But I loved it anyway, and I knew they were going to be HUGE. Of course, "Master of Puppets" came out, and lots of people were getting into them, and my friends and I then felt we were in on something before the masses caught on.
There are so many examples: the Circle Jerks, and Greg Hoke getting his Circle Jerks t-shirt and offending people who didn't know it was a band... The Anti-Nowhere League and the Meatmen, just some of the bands that influenced the original members of CCAB to start playing music in Louie Reese's barn... Suicidal Tendencies, the Cro-Mags, Exodus, Slayer, and Megadeth; all good examples of bands that my friends and I bonded over, our own little scene in small town Wellsboro.
I won't even go into the hair-metal scene, except to say that I was the first guy (that I know of) to find out about this little band called Ratt who had a cool demo, and were just getting ready to release their first album, "Out of the Cellar". I work my Ratt t-shirt to school with pride, like it was something that set me apart.
Later on, I worked at a store in Mansfield called "Speed of Sound", which was owned by a local musician and sold musical gear like guitars and strings, drumsticks and drum heads, pedals and effects, etc.
This was a great avenue to meet all the local guys (and a few girls) that were forming bands and creating a scene around the county (guys like Jeff and Jamie Morral, Ritchie House, Dennis Gee, and Jimi & Timi Martin are just a few — I met so many, and the names now escape me, but I'm sure many of you could help here.)
Not long after I started, I convinced the owner, Wayne Krause, to start selling tapes and cd's. I figured that I personally knew so many people who were interested in new music, AND there just happened to be a university in town, so it was a no brainer.
We set up an account with a major music distributer and it just plain EXPLODED. Soon the tape & cd section was a huge part of the store's retail business, and over time Wayne gave me the leeway to order what I thought would do well. I'd try stuff out, then call up my friends and tell them to come over and buy some tape or cd we just got in. The band "Lord Tracy" comes to mind, another band nobody had heard of, but now (for some of us) their "Deaf Godz of Babylon" is a classic.
I remember one particular discovery that blew up big time: I had read about this band called NIRVANA who had released an album called "Bleach" on indie label called SubPop, so Wayne let me get one in, open it up, and play it in the store (even though it really wasn't his thing). People liked it, so when "Nevermind" came out and blew up like it did, we were right in front of the wave.
I'm proud of moments like that.
I DJ'd at Mansfield University a few years later (thanks to Ben Nevin), and not only had access to a MASSIVE amount of cd's and new bands, but had a new way to share what I'd discovered. Although that didn't last long (I dropped out), it was an amazing few years.
Which brings us to today. Cd's became the OLD way to get music. MP3's became the norm, and file sharing services like Napster, Morpheus, LimeWire and more came along and revolutionized the industry. And you know the rest: lawsuits, bands taking stand against file-sharing, music stores closing, Napster and LimeWire getting shut down... Etc, etc.
Everyone got an iPod. Every band got a Myspace page. Rhapsody and Pandora came along. Blogs sprouted up everywhere. And through it all, I adapted how I continued to look for new music. I still prefer "the underground", so these days I have a list of blogs I check out via Google Reader, and Pandora throws in music it thinks I might like based on my listening habits. I even have an account on Emusic to BUY the albums I can't find for free on the blogs.
I've been thinking about how much great music I've gotten over the years, and thinking I might "pay it back" (or "pay it forward" or some other rewarding cliche). I'm considering learning how to rip a cd to my computer, compress it through WinRar or WinZip, and sharing it through MediaFire or my Dropbox account. I would only do it with cd's I own (or owned at some point and have the MP3's still), and would share by posting it on my blog.
It's still just a thought, but one I felt inspired enough to type this whole thing out. So, we'll see. You might start seeing me posting some of my favorite cd's soon.
Or not.
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