dad knew a thing or two

My dearly departed Pop used to refer to rock and roll (the Beatles!) as "banshee music." But the same man, who ran his own local newspaper, also encouraged me to write a music column for the paper (I was a teen at the time) titled Turntable Talk. Yes, those were the olden days (the 80s) when folks still bought vinyl, although cassette tapes were rapidly on the rise and Cds had yet to make an impact.

Dad also suggested that I write to the major record companies, telling them that I was a columnist and willing to review their albums. How cool was it when the (free) records started pouring in, and my musical knowledge and tastes expanded to include the Clash, Police, Squeeze, Elvis Costello, and countless other artists and one-hit (or even no-hit) wonders. I think my cousin has most of those records (that I kept). He's the only one I know who still has a turntable.

Somehow I think the old man would be proud that I'm still writing, occasionally, about music, if just on this blog. I hardly consider myself up-to-the-minute or a music expert on any level, but it's still fun to write and share an opinion, which is what Turntable Talk was about, back in the day, and the Internet is all about, these days.

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