Monday, September 4, 2017

Lets talk about music

I grew up in a baby boomer household.  The kind of music we heard on the radio was very old school country music such as The Letter Edged in Black and Old Shep, genuine tear jerkers.  The other music was Glenn Miller big band type of stuff.  I learned how to dance at sock hops at noon in the gym at school and Glenn Miller featured highly. 

TV music was mostly The Hit Parade, the regular singers had to figure out how to produce the current hit in a different way each week.  They sang "This Old Man" and other popular songs from movies we didn't see until well into our adulthood.  Of course we watched The Lawrence Welk show and learned how to dance the polka.  I remember one particular live show where a lady from the audience danced so energetically with Lawrence Welk that her wig bounced off.  Pretty sure that would have gone viral if the internet had existed in the 60's.

Elvis Presley did not feature much in our household.  Mom deemed his music too provocative.  I didn't care each way.  I watched the Beatles debut on The Ed Sullivan show and could only hear teenaged screaming and I only knew their early music from top 40 radio stations. 

The next three or four decades blurred together.  I like driving music because I loved driving.  When I lived and worked in California it was nothing to hop in anyone's car to drive to the San Francisco airport just to watch the jets land and ride on the walkways.  Oy!

I learned what little I know about classical music courtesy of Carla.  She mentioned how much she liked Handel's Water Music.  I bought the album, the tape,the CD and enjoyed it in various reincarnations over the years.  Opera was a different kettle of fish. I grew to love Nessun Dorma and other bits and pieces.  An entire opera?  Um please pass the hard stuff.  Burp.

Sister Ellen always enthused about American Idol and I never got into that.  Later on I began watching The Voice.  I really liked the blind auditions and learned to love songs I had never heard of.  I even Googled the original songs and found that in some instances I enjoyed the second hand version even better. 

As a miscellaneous category and in no particular order I have come to enjoy the following modern pieces; Say Something, Listen, Gravity, I'm a Creep, Hallelujah, Defying Gravity, Alabaster Box, Fix Me Jesus and The Four Seasons.  And I love just about any version of Tennessee Whiskey. 

I have noted on various international versions of The Voice there are a few songs that will guarantee a four chair turn; It's a Man's World, Natural Woman, Highway to Hell, Who's Loving You.  Yeppers that does turn the chairs. 

I accidentally discovered Hailey Reinhart on Google.  She was on American Idol when she was 18 and got to the semi finals.  Her voice has improved so much over the intervening years.  She does a terrific set in All About the Bass. 

So having exposed my vast ignorance I shall go catch up on morning news and when I get bored I will watch Britain's Got Talent on my Kindle.  Happy Labor Day!!!

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