I have very vivid memories of the first time I chose music to play on/in any type of device. The piece? A hand-me-down vinyl copy of the Beatles' Revolver. At 4yrs old, I played it on my Mickey Mouse portable record player. The case opened to show Mickey's face on the hollowed top. The needle was hidden under a white gloved hand at the end of a plastic molded arm in the shape of a striped seersucker sleeve. Watching the vinyl spin, I played it over and over again. I alternated between that LP and a 7-inch from the animated Hobbit movie that'd "ding" when you were to turn the page. Hours and hours and hours. It was the next step up from turning the key on my aunt's music box all day long. I sat on the same sky blue rug under the cherry desk moving up in the mechanical world. Repeatedly, I lifted the arm up and try to figure out what the needle was reading in the grooves. This is years before I ever heard of Edison and his is wax cones.
Later, in early puberty, I would blow the grooves out on my first copy of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by laying on my bedroom floor while staring at the swirls in the plaster of the ceiling with a mega-huge pair of headphones on-- listening over and over and over again . A diamond tip carving through molded plastic. I still own that particular copy; it is filed next to the second, playable copy. During the progression toward that Bowie LP, I discovered the difference between stereo and mono. I eventually figured how to assess the speeds (whether 78, 45, 33, or 16rpms) needed based on groove size and spacing. I learned the different materials and mechanisms needed to press a record. I read about how bugs makes shellac.
A few historical markers in my life revolve around LP acquisitions. The first time I received my own LP at Christmas, ChangesOneBowie. And, the first time I used my own money to purchase an LP, Roxy Music's Stranded. I didn't even know you could read the spine of a jacket to find an artist's name. I can probably still remember when I bought each record in my collection as well as what I was doing when I first listened to its tracks. Each one, each time are all significant to me.
Around the time of the Mickey Mouse turntable, I figured out (with a bit of help) how to thread tape through a reel to reel deck. My father would set up the RCA and 1/4" jacks, telling me about input and output. I flipped through stacks of cardboard boxes with various names and dates written on them. I watched the heads engage and read the tapes. Recording LPs by the Kinks, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles usually coincided with other little busy work projects like magnetizing metal objects with a battery. Soon, I would realize tapes and magnetics would work hand in hand. And, a little over five years later, I would discover how to recorded my own data from new PCs on to cassette tapes.
I also remember the first time I inserted a cassette tape into a player. I picked the Beatles' Abbey Road. I can still sing through every song, probably in order from that recording. If you haven't figured it out yet, I liked the Beatles. Mostly, because my father liked the Beatles. We would ride around in his cherry red El Camino on weekends, driving through the country side and finding bridges to stand on. We'd listen to the music on his new cassette player, very hi-tech for the times. We rarely talked. A couple years later, I received my own first cassette from my uncle along with a pair of tiger-eye earrings. The Best of Blondie christened my first "boom box". This piece of equipment would engage me in my love for radio-- especially AM radio. I would sit in front of it, slowly turning the dials back and forth while trying to find stations and messages from other cities. I still take great joy in trying to tune in AM stations. It relaxes me. And, listening to CD sets of secret codes transmitted over airwaves is just good old fashion fun.
I later went on to purchase the same recording of Best of Blondie vinyl. Always back to vinyl. I like the sound, the sheen, the way it reflects light, the jackets, the liner notes. I never truly trusted tapes after something mysterious occurred in my bedroom during my freshman year of high school that caused all my cassette tapes to click intermittently regardless of what devices I played it on. However, like many children of the late Seventies and Eighties, I fondly recall various mix tapes made for me by others.
I am still having problems embracing CDs. I do own some... ok, alot. And, the idea of MP3 downloads is sort of silly to me. Like paying for water. But, I am slowly reconciling myself to that.
Soon, I will document my first interactions with instruments and amplifiers. I am sure you all want to know what brand my first tube amp was, right? And, film. That might be next. Knowing the title of the first silent movie I ever saw, where I saw it, with whom, and at what age will give you great insight into my soul.
