My Music Journey Part 3

My Music Journey Part III: The 90's Era


My exposure to radio had me excited meeting my favorite personalities. Voice is often much different than what a person imagines the DJ to be. Radio is a voice speaking from an ether talking to anyone who is a dedicated listener can imagine what the voice would look like. Having heard that there was an expectation with imagination versus real often is a unnerving experience to behold.

What was curious to me with radio is there is a mixing board, and with each section whether it be tape, compact disc, or record there are presets in which a DJ will tinker with to get the right tonality. I didn't know that commercials were recorded on old 8 track tapes, and I also didn't know at that time what broadcast frequencies were. I just wanted to be where the action was.

My first exposure was meeting Bill Alred a radio personality of (then) KJQ at a jewelery store gig. At first I was thrown off by it, as I was not prepared in how radio involves a type of personality (like a job) whereas I was under the guise it was make belief. Little did I know that I was in for a complete shock! When I moved on to another radio station, that experience prepared me, I was better equipped to learn and observe how two DJ's Greg and Ron at KBER 101 made DJing work. I met those cats in the summer of 1992/93.

As quickly as I was introduced to radio, a change was coming. Like KJQ, which became X96, KBER also would see a shift in its on air personalities, and format change within a couple years. This article though written later in the decade explains what was happening to radio stations throughout the 90's with terrestrial radio.

Subsequently KBER changed their format again to a more contemporary alternative style (mid 90's), as the station introduced a quaint discussion show called Ground Zero hosted by Clyde Lewis. From recollection this was really weird, and I remember calling into the show a couple times to talk about Michael Diana (Artist from Florida), and the Heaven's Gate suicide. In 1997 the writing was pretty much sealing my radio foray. Though it was a brief entrance, I got to be a fly somewhat to the cog of the machinations of broadcast.

My next introduction was being a concert goer. Though I've not had the luxury to see shows like some, I felt that I could be there in spirit. Yet it was never the same, in any capacity because I felt cheated. I still feel robbed of not seeing bands when I could, and there are a great many.

One of the most unfortunate situations to befall me was in 1991 I had the opportunity to see Living Colour touring in support of Time's Up. I had the money to get tickets but I was in the deep throes of personal adversity. I finally was able to see these guys in May 2001 which more than made up for the long wait.

My first concert was Metallica's The Black Album tour in (02/10/1992). I wasn't sure what to expect, and because of the largeness, I was thrown off by the whole affair. I wasn't uncomfortable, I was intrigued, but little did I know this would be last time I would see or listen to this band in a long time.

My second concert of that year was Suicidal Tendencies/Megadeth (11/28/92)at the Salt Palace before it closed down in 1994. At this concert I got to see two of my favorite bands play. But, I was more taken aback with the whole thing because of my vantage point, technically nose bleed section. I also couldn't stay the full show because of a commitment to my education. I was also able to see Dave Mustaine completely give rise to some jackass who got up on stage. Hair flung all over, and quickly the individual was taken off stage. Just as quick as I was into the show experience, it was over.

When I couldn't afford the tickets to shows, I reserved myself to the notion of complete portability (Sony Walkman), and at that time I was pretty much into anything that was off the radar or extreme as possible. This means of portability was often met with stop gaps with gaining and losing what I was collecting. At that time the idea of cloud for music storage was not even in the lexicon.

Collector wise my first cassette tape was Crowded House Temple Of Lowmen. My first Compact Disc was Front Line Assembly Gashed Senses and Crossfire. My first LP was DEVO Freedom Of Choice. Each one in their own place in my journey, were lost along the way.

By 1994 I acquired my 'second' official boombox, a JVC single CD, dual cassette deck stereo system. That JVC just blew the doors off the other units, and I was happy.  That unit was my constant companion until 1998 when sadly I had to give it away.

A lot of the 90's was a decade of shape shifting, and portability with entertainment. Like today there are correlations with taking music with you, in a portable way. Though I don't entirely agree with the mechanism of which is used now, the point remains life creates change and listeners and supporters of music have to adapt along the way.

But for me the 90's was a lost decade. I missed a great many shows from bands whom lost singers, guitar players, and the such. The painful realization of lost chances and the fact I can't change them. For most it was a decade of risks, starting families, and profitability.

I was lost because I had nothing to connect with as a listener. Bands I listened to in the late 80's and early 90's had grown out of the rough and unpolished into an established sound. It was hard for me to really get into. I began to take my music journey into darker recesses of extreme music because I felt alienated, and disenfranchised with the whole thing. I connected with the extreme sound because it guided my intense love for independence.

I suppose for the most part that I was seen by many to be extreme in my rigidity or inflexibility. Some would view it snobbish, brute, and ogrish. I was determined to find the next more advanced sound out in the world. I was dedicated to finding anything different and off the path. Because I had no connection to the alternative scene, I was an outsider that didn't quite fit the mold of what was out at the time.

Though I've tempered in my assessment of sorts, I still have retained my intensity and love for new music. I have to say its jarring to look back at this time and remember vividly everything, new release Tuesdays, bands whom were prominent, and when they fell, etc. Next is the 2000's decade and how the internet rekindled my interest. Thanks for reading.

B.