Why Do We Like "Our" Music?

The first time I remember hearing the name Billy Joel was in eighth grade - my friend and next door neighbor had bought "The Stranger" album and was playing it on his new stereo system.  (For those of you under the age of 25 you might want to Google album and stereo system to understand.)

I liked the music and as it turned the album had four songs in Billboards Top 100.

Since then Billy Joel has been one of my favorite artists.  All of this came to me recently when I saw Billy Joel was going to have his own channel on XM Satellite Radio to celebrate 50 years in the music industry!

That day comes for each of us - when "our" music from our youth is what hear on the soft-rock and easy listening stations!  I just didn't think it would have already arrived.

Andy also liked Fleetwood Mac, I liked them too - especially the song on their Tusk album that included the USC Marching Band.

Why did I like them?

That's a great question, most of the music I really listened to up to that point I heard on the local AM station, WCLO (where I later worked during high school).  The station played a lot of country, some adult contemporary, and Golden Oldies (50s and 60s) on weekends.  The station also aired the Badgers, Brewers, Bucks, Packers, and Warriors plus Craig and Parker High School games... which is at least partially responsible for my love of sports.

I think a big reason I liked (and still like) Fleetwood Mac and Billy Joel is because my friend Andy liked them.  We walked to school together virtually everyday from third grade through high school, played hoops and threw the baseball around in our driveways and backyards and played touch and tackle football with his siblings joining in.  If Andy liked it, that had to mean something.

Very likely, there is someone like Andy in your life.  Or, you might have that influence on someone else without realizing it.  Of course, I also liked Devo, Stray Cats, Johnny Cash, the B-52s, and Barry Manilow (which one of these doesn't belong?).

It was around those days I listened to recordings of the Beatles and liked their music, but since they no longer were recording it wasn't the same kind of thing.

Today, I like individual songs more than artists and at my age there aren't a lot of new artists that grab my attention.  Michael Buble' and some of the Ska and modern Swing/Big Band sounds capture my interest.

Good music stands the test of time - and as a kid I wasn't sure how much of what I heard was great music - but listening now to the music from back in the day it's still rock and roll to me.