"I look around but it's you I can't replace..."

The ipod is a miraculous little invention. Of course, I don't own one but I use one at every Chimos home game to do the music and pump up the players. I love it. One of the players even has the U2 ipod which I covet. Every time I use it I am reminded of just how far music has come. How we buy it and how we listen to it now reminds me of my introduction to record buying...and the introduction of the cassette tape.

Is music important to you? On a scale of 1-10? I would say 15 1/2...but that's just me.

When I was 10 I was always hanging out with the 3 sisters who lived across the street from me in Rio Terrace. One of the older sisters was in highschool (so she was super cool) and listened to The Police. I borrowed her tape...yes tape...and on my "NEW, state of the art" tape recorder I listened to it at night time before I fell asleep, hiding it under my pillow so I wouldn't get in trouble.

Keep in mind that up to that point it was all vinyl...I had lots of records but this was the first time music became portable for me and also recordable. Blank, recordable tapes changed everything! That summer "Synchronicity" by the police became my solace from the world. Back then you knew which side, A or B, your favorite songs were on...you had to rewind and fast forward. In fact, it was common knowledge that rewinding used more battery power which meant most times you would pull out the tape, turn it over and fast forward instead of rewinding, then pull it out and flip it back over to listen to the song you wanted. Holy high maintenance!

That tape recorder opened my mind to all types of music. I would hold it up to the radio and tape songs and make "mixed tapes" (imagine that now...sitting perched in front of the radio for minutes recording a song you've waited forever for the dj to play).

Do you know the kind of tape recorder I am on about?

Classic.

Except mine was silver all over.

Compare that to MP3 players - you can download whole albums and rearrange the songs for your listening pleasure and flip through music in a flash. I don't know if we really appreciate how great it is now, and how it only promises to get better.

So when I think back to those scratchy mixed tapes and the first recorder I had before Walkmans were the rage I am amazed. I didn't get my first walkman until the next year. The first tape I ever *bought* for myself was U2's "under a Blood Red Sky" a live concert album from red rocks (I had The Unforgettable Fire record, but this was my first tape).

Yesterday, I posted a link to another live concert performance by U2 (some 24 year later) and the 10 year old music lover in me can't resist being super excited for such incredible technology (and slightly awed)!


Song Du Jour: Every Breath You Take - Police
(it's so hard to pick just one song off that album....)