My Music Journey Part 2

My Music Journey Part II: The 80's


It wouldn’t be until 1983, where I received for Christmas from my grandfather a small blue colored Radio Shack AM/FM pocket radio.  Using two AA batteries (which would often drain quickly), I would parlay across the radio dial checking out whatever I could get my curious ears around. Big band swing, mutterings of old classic radio broadcasts, AM talk radio, old easy listening jams, classic country music, 60's pop, and local news.

My world changed with intermittent reception (when I could get it) of pop songs from artists like Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Ah-Ha, Wham!, and many, many others. What was often disorienting was having the modern sound while my father was still holding onto his music collection, while also adopting the next iteration of the music evolution: the double cassette tape deck,  housed inside a modernized stereo receiver, and the old standby record player. I vividly remember the smell of cassette tapes, and the odor of a freshly unpacked stereo.

My father gradually made his adjustment into country music, whilst moving away from the 60's and 70's music. I must confess here that I wasn't as interested in country. I felt it was extremely pretentious. In fact it grated upon my growing curiosity, of which is why I'm hardened from that exposure.

From 1983 to 84, there was so much material I had hard time keeping tabs on bands, or scenes. I wasn't quite ready to delve into it as I was still too young to understand the meaning or inflection. What I do remember were subtle differences, the exoticism of material so completely removed from the motif of a previous decade.  During this brief moment I was just getting into The Stray Cats, and then poof, it was gone.

By 1986, my introduction to a Sanyo M-4440 portable Walkman (borrowed from a friend) gave me unfettered access to radio, and when I could get them tapes. One of the coolest memories I had was the intense feeling of first hearing Peter Gabriel's Big Time, and the booming "Hi there!" with headphones was exciting. From other bands like The Georgia Satellites, Genesis, Yes, Simply Red, U2, Adrian Belew, and The Beastie Boys.

After thumbing through the dial, I zeroed in on a strange radio station called KJQ. Hailing from Ogden, Utah, KJQ was atypical radio station playing top 40 music, but late in 1986/87 the station would later change its format to a ‘Modern Music’ aspect, and I would be along for the ride up until early spring of 1991 when the station folded, then moved to Provo, and was reborn as X96.

By winter of 1987 I received a Panasonic RX-C36 AM/FM stereo, with a single cassette tape boom box, with two blank TDK tapes from my father. Using what I learned from radio broadcasts, I learned how to make mix tapes. I learned how to perfect the stop start format when a DJ would speak, the timing of commercial breaks, or cutting into or out of a song. It was like fine precision, I was an eager student of instinct i.e knowing when, and where to edit. Sometimes I would miss horribly, but when I was on, I couldn’t be stopped!

Since I lacked funds, or a feasible allowance, I’d set about using one of the two cassette tapes to make a Boingo Alive cassette. This was around mid 1988,  I created the artwork, and made liner notes. Though I didn’t quite have 30 songs like the actual cassette version which was released, this still didn’t take away from my first attempt at a close resemblance to owning one.

By 1991, the Panasonic finally gave up, it serviced my ability to make many mix tapes that I would give to my schoolmate Stefano, whom would send tapes back and forth via school. This was a way for me to be creative during my more rough and somewhat often difficult teenage years.

I then went portable owning two Sony Walkmans in the early 90s, and then I would return to the boombox system in 1994 with a JVC CD player. I had moved into a new area of my life, I was knee deep in the throes of extreme music, which I'll explain more of in part III. Thanks for reading.

B.