Among the many musical crimes Stevie Wonder committed in the 80's...

It was such a beautiful day (well, relatively anyway. It was over the freezing mark for a change) that I went for a walk on the back country roads around here and hoped I wouldn’t run into any wolves or cougars. (the real kinds, not the archetypes) Thanks to the fine fascists at Apple Incorporated I’ve had to live with the same 500 songs on my ipod for the last three months because I’m using a pc at the current time and I can’t change the playlist without having to reformat the machine and lose everything I’ve got. (Thanks for the cross-platform courtesy, Herr Jobs) It’s given me a lot of time to consider the music I listen to on a regular basis since I’m listening to the same songs over again.

One thing I’ve realized is that I’m a song junkie. Even though I’m stuck listening to the same ones, each one reminds me that I literally know thousands and thousands of other recordings. I’m always interested in hearing new stuff just to see what it’s about. Over the course of 47 years I’ve wound up accumulating an enormous amount of music knowledge. The other thing I’ve realized is that most of my favorite songs are pretty obscure non-hits or album tracks. One job I’ve always wanted was choosing music for films and tv shows. I can certainly do a lot better than just using the overplayed “Bad to the Bone” or “Oh yeah” for lack of something more original or appropriate. I’d love to be in a position to be able to take an obscure song and make the song popular and the artist rich, much like what David Chase did with Alabama 3’s “Woke up this morning.” That would make me very happy.

Years ago, I was working in a Hi-Fidelity type of record store where my role would have been played by Jack Black. Quick story. I was behind the counter one day and playing the album “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye. “Save the Children” came on and some guy in the store was making fun of Marvin wanting to, well, save the children. And so I did what Jack Black playing me would have done. I yelled, “Look, this is one of the greatest albums of all time and if you bought it you would come back tomorrow and apologize for what you just said.” He was pretty surprised at my reaction. I wasn’t. Anyway, that’s exactly what happened. He came back the next day, said I was right, and then I sold him the 8 disc Bear Family Louis Jordan box set. The guy turned out to be John Kapelos, who played the janitor in “The Breakfast Club.” I ran into him at a film festival party years later. He actually remembered me and still listens to the album. Again, I wasn’t surprised.

Even though I play guitar and piano and sing, have written 200 songs, have made my own records and produced many for others, when it comes right down to it, I just love music. It doesn’t have to be my own. It matters to me in a way that only the truly nutty could understand. I’m never casual about it. I can’t put on a record to be in the background because my ear is always paying attention. It used to drive me crazy when I lived in apartments where I would hear other people’s music because I would be trying to figure out what song it was from the bass line pulsating through the drywall. Even music I have total disdain for give me something, not just a headache. Someday the situation will present itself where I will be able to get back into music full time, but if it doesn’t, I will still always have the one thing that truly keeps me young, inside and out. I’m reminded of that great line from the movie “Almost Famous” when the reporter asks the guitarist what he loves about music.

“Well, to begin with… everything.”