I also have accounts of my "run-ins" with Johnny & Sid in January '78 at their San Antonio, TX Sex Pistols show, my 2 weeks spent with the New York Dolls in '73, and meeting Iggy Pop in '78! You and your SAW fam are welcome, anytime, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE! Thanks for the space, Michael....and, we'd welcome your links if/when you visit FR&B!
It's all so true right? How music marks time. How we can all hear a song and conjure up a memory at the same time. The day KFOG went silent was a sad day indeed. My age (59) takes me from records to cassettes to cds to iPods and now back to records. My husband, who has followed music his whole life (68) has a huge collection. He's introduced to me to so many artists fr meatloaf to Ella Fitzgerald. (No punk & no disco however) We still play records almost everyday.
Your best newsletter yet Michael, I'm going to put it in a special little file so I won't accidentally delete it. Your musical journey really resonated with me; we've all got one, but you stated yours so beautifully.
I always find it so fascinating how our musical tastes evolve throughout life, but some part of me thinks it's less about changing tastes and more about changing needs. My playlist is like my musical medicine chest...
Another example of how much we have in common—and also differ.
The brilliantly space-rending dark charge of the Misfits! I Turned Into a Martian!
the UK fucking SUBS!!! Emotional Blackmail! Party in Paris. I Live in a Car.
AC/DC. Television. Agent Orange. Sabbath. Motorhead. So many more.
And yet, I would never, could never, ever, ever, ever begin an essay with a paragraph including the Counting Crows. Of all the terrible, regrettable, shameful things. Fer fuck’s sake mate!
Apr 22, 2023·edited Apr 22, 2023Liked by Sincere American Writing
Quite an extensive and eclectic list, Michael.
Interesting piece. It seems different forms of music were the soundtracks to your life as you lived it. That's not surprising. Music marks time and makes an indelible imprint on us, probably because it moves us emotionally.
Obviously it has had that effect on you. Me, too.
I'm older (67) and haven't made the evolutionary musical journey as you have. I am a child of the 60s and 70s. That period of rock-to-folk-to-pop-to-class rock was permanently injected into my DNA. Though I've expanded into classical in my senior years, classic rock still defines me.
Want to know the power of music? I can recite lyrics verbatim from songs released 50 years ago ... even the weird but wonderful Procol Harum track "Whiter Shade of Pale." (1967) Know why? It was the song to which I had my first slow dance with a girl.
Nice peek into your punk-riddled life thru the decades, Michael! You and your readers might enjoy my account of my night in The Ramones' Houston hotel room in 1978: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/keyless-entry-my-night-in-the-ramones
It's free!
I also have accounts of my "run-ins" with Johnny & Sid in January '78 at their San Antonio, TX Sex Pistols show, my 2 weeks spent with the New York Dolls in '73, and meeting Iggy Pop in '78! You and your SAW fam are welcome, anytime, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE! Thanks for the space, Michael....and, we'd welcome your links if/when you visit FR&B!
Love love love this raw glimpse into you and your life through the decades and the music you listened to!
It's all so true right? How music marks time. How we can all hear a song and conjure up a memory at the same time. The day KFOG went silent was a sad day indeed. My age (59) takes me from records to cassettes to cds to iPods and now back to records. My husband, who has followed music his whole life (68) has a huge collection. He's introduced to me to so many artists fr meatloaf to Ella Fitzgerald. (No punk & no disco however) We still play records almost everyday.
Your best newsletter yet Michael, I'm going to put it in a special little file so I won't accidentally delete it. Your musical journey really resonated with me; we've all got one, but you stated yours so beautifully.
Helen, N.Z.
I always find it so fascinating how our musical tastes evolve throughout life, but some part of me thinks it's less about changing tastes and more about changing needs. My playlist is like my musical medicine chest...
This is a kind of assignment I have suggested students write. You have given me a model!
Another example of how much we have in common—and also differ.
The brilliantly space-rending dark charge of the Misfits! I Turned Into a Martian!
the UK fucking SUBS!!! Emotional Blackmail! Party in Paris. I Live in a Car.
AC/DC. Television. Agent Orange. Sabbath. Motorhead. So many more.
And yet, I would never, could never, ever, ever, ever begin an essay with a paragraph including the Counting Crows. Of all the terrible, regrettable, shameful things. Fer fuck’s sake mate!
;)
Love this piece, nicely done.
You wrote a musical diary.
Funny, I just started reading a book called "This is what it sounds like:what the music you love says about you. https://www.thisiswhatitsoundslike.com/
Getting to understand another through a musical list is genius! Thank you for sharing. I wish I had such a list!
To me, the 9th encapsulates the soul and the trauma into eventual freedom.
Quite an extensive and eclectic list, Michael.
Interesting piece. It seems different forms of music were the soundtracks to your life as you lived it. That's not surprising. Music marks time and makes an indelible imprint on us, probably because it moves us emotionally.
Obviously it has had that effect on you. Me, too.
I'm older (67) and haven't made the evolutionary musical journey as you have. I am a child of the 60s and 70s. That period of rock-to-folk-to-pop-to-class rock was permanently injected into my DNA. Though I've expanded into classical in my senior years, classic rock still defines me.
Want to know the power of music? I can recite lyrics verbatim from songs released 50 years ago ... even the weird but wonderful Procol Harum track "Whiter Shade of Pale." (1967) Know why? It was the song to which I had my first slow dance with a girl.
Anyway, great piece.
I read this with great fascination. Sub punk for grunge, and our musical memoir syncs. Sun Cali for Colorado and our childhood syncs.
Though I’ve never shot heroin, I’ve use it, and though I’ve never smoked meth I’ve chased amphetamines.
I’m not sober still, but like my musical tastes, I gave up hard drugs for Kava, Kratom, and the occasional psychedelic.
And I can’t help but wonder, do you feel nostalgic for shit-coffee like I do, because every AA meeting serves it in giant metal percolator pots?
Music is life