The magic of music

OK, I love music. Always have and always will. From my first sony boombox at the age of 11 (1977--played cassettes) and my turntable that I got in high school a few years later, I was hooked. Plugging in to my tunes with my huge padded head phones was awesome--I was one with the music. Sing on Barry Manilow and Andy Gibb!

Then came college, 7 or 8 years later and I bought a sony walkman. I didn't miss my turntable (too many skips in the records) and my sony boom box was still going strong. My walkman (still cassette!) and I were best friends. Smaller headphones, same big tunes. Now it was Hall and Oates, Paul McCartney, Boston, the Beatles and Madonna I listened to.

Then, 1991 and I got my first CD player. Life as I knew it was changed forever. The sound was crisp and clear. I joined record clubs over and again to get my collection up to speed. Sadly, in 1992 my Sony boombox, friend of 15 years (middle school to college) died. I was too busy to use headphones, but still cranked out the tunes--Harry Connick Jr, Rod Stewart, bootleg Beatles, more Paul McCartney and anything that sounded cool on VH1

Well, here I am in 2007. I have moved from 8 track (my dad's hand me down player), to LP's, to cassettes, then CDs. What was left? MP3. For Christmas this year my fabulous husband bought me an MP3 player. My first listen took me back to the magical time of my first stereo, when my headphones gave me my favorite albums. The headphones are not the big old clunky padded puppies of the 70s or the smaller ones of the 80s. These are tiny ear buds and are way cool. I love having my private music request line at all times.

As I type this, Rod Stewart is singing to me. Rod and I go way back. One of the first songs I remember hearing on the Sony boombox radio was "You're In My Heart" by the man. I have seen him in concert three times. From disco, to rock, to pop and now standards his musical style has evolved with the times. As has my method of listening to Rod. So sing on, Mr Stewart, and I am sure we'll both be ready for the next big change.