Frankly, I love music. One of my earliest memories is putting on a 'dance show' for my parents and sisters. I was maybe three or four years old. I have no idea what I danced to, but I remember loving the way music made me feel. That feeling has never left me. Music has always provided a hook to core memories. Hearing a song tied to one of those memories can take me right back to that moment and I'm suddenly seeing and feeling exactly as that moment was.
I remember laying on the carpet of our house in Torrington, WY listening to Casey Kasem and his radio show American Top 40 on Saturday mornings. I was listening to his show when Down Under by Men at Work debuted at #40. He told a story about some record executive going into a conference room with a ladder and hammer (or something) trying to promote the band. I'm probably remembering it completely wrong, but I don't care. I can't hear that song and not think of it. One of my sisters gave me a 45 of Who Can It Be Now? that I listened to incessently. The B-side had a song not available on any streaming platform: "Anyone for tennis?" - not a cover of the Cream song. Maybe once I get my record player working, I'll find that vinyl again.
As a classically trained "Child of the 80s", I developed a love of 'alternative music' while working as a bus boy at The Ogden Hilton / Ogden Park Hotel / Ogden Marriott. There was a strong contingent of music lovers and if we weren't listening to a cassette of whatever someone had recently purchased, we were listening to the local radio station, KJQ. I fell in love with The Cure, The Stone Roses, Peter Schilling, Bucks Fizz, O.M.D., The Dream Academy, Men Without Hats, etc.
While growing up, I learned to play a few instruments - the piano, french horn, and much later, the guitar. I sang in choir at Roy High and was a proud member of the Chamber Choir my junior and senior years. Sterling Morris, the choir director and absolute saint of a man, put up with a lot of crap from a mouthy, irreverent, and lazy younger me. In college, I toyed briefly with the idea of becoming a choir teacher and took a few music theory classes. Ultimately, I decided that computer science is where my professional life would take me but my love of music remains.
I've always enjoyed writing (not sure I'm good at it, but I'm no good at music either) so this site is a chance for me to blend both of those. I don't expect anyone but me to care, but this is an attempt to capture some of my memories through the lens of music. Enjoy!