I can talk about music for days; why not write about it too?

Musings on starting my first-ever blog

From the day I started collecting music albums (CDs, cassettes, phonographs) as a teenager, I became fascinated, even obsessed, with learning about the creation of the music: the history of the band, inspirations for the songs, different versions of a song prior to final release, instrumentation and technology, musicality and instrumentation; everything! I would pour through the liner notes again and again, especially those that had details for each album track. Of course, the advent of search engines and Wikipedia made it easier to keep diving, delving, and distracting myself.

My brain latched so tightly onto musical trivia. Many times, as I was in college studying anatomy & physiology, chemistry, history -- you name it -- I would struggle to recall necessary information for exams and assignments. I had to have everything written and organized, and only rarely could I memorize anything substantial, or for a substantial length of time. But ask me about a song by The Monkees, The Hollies, The Turtles, The Mamas and the Papas? No need to look it up -- I could spew forth the song's album and date of release, who wrote it, which band member sang lead, critical reaction to it, my favorite part of the song. And leave my friend wondering, "Who is this madman?" Or for those more charitable "You really should have become a musical historian" or "You have an amazing knack for retaining information - I wish I had your brain." (And no, you don't; I wish I had your sensibility. Getting amped up about John Phillip's perfectionism in musical arranging contributed zilch to that Friday's requirement to list the major genera of bacteria classified as anaerobes.)

Well, years passed, and my interests broadened, my obsession with learning the facts began to temper, and my real drive was to share the treasure trove of amazing music I had discovered and grown to love. But how to share without becoming the Music Monster? Take people on long car rides (disguised as dates) and force them to listen to music they never knew they were missing? Join the committee for dances and submit musical selections that no one would know, but hopefully would hop to because of how inherently awesome it was? Perhaps these are great ways to expose people to less-familiar music; not-so-great for making (or keeping) friends. And as much as I like my CD-friends, I like people-friends too. What to do, what to do....

Hey, how about I make random posts on Facebook? Ah-ha, there's a way to not be too annoying. If people want to read it, then they can. If they don't, they can think that I'm nuts and move on, hopefully forgetting enough of what they saw to come away thinking I'm an okay guy, remembering instead the saner interactions of our past.

Unfortunately, Facebook's feed is fickle, and I may get lucky and have a whopping 4 people (2 of whom are my wonderfully supportive parents) read my post before it fades into temporal oblivion. Being a few time zones away from most of my connections doesn't help too much either. Hence, this blog. Here to read whenever you want to give up some of your time to enjoy what I've created with my time.

Welcome to my Eclectic Collection!

P.S: While I continue to enjoy discovering 'new' music via YouTube and other platforms, my posts on here will solely be for music I have purchased legally, either hard-copy album or digitally.

P.P.S: I do have many albums of the "well-known" variety (e.g. anything by The Beatles, Billy Joel, Josh Groban, Mariah Carey, a whole lot of 'Greatest Hits' albums from when I was first discovering bands, etc). While these may be occasionally referenced in posts, they will not be the main subject of reviews or discussions. I'm here to share music you likely don't know.