Monty Gets Musical

28th post for #bloganuary (a WordPress event)

The Prompt: What is on your music playlist right now?

Oh, we really seem to be ending this blogging challenge with a whimper. But ok, I’ll play along.

First of all, Spotify has been nice enough to classify me as a ‘young listener’.  Once in a while I’ll go back and listen to some classics from my youth, but most often I just listen to the current top pop song lists or songs/artists that are recommended to me by my “kids” (the quotes are because they already in their twenties so not really kids anymore).  Also, because I do live in China and it’s a required social activity, I also listen to potential karaoke songs, but most often these overlap with above.

Let’s digress a little. My personal music choices were quite limited growing up in rural Vermont due to limited radio reception. When we were lucky, we would get the top 40 countdown on the weekend without too much static and could record songs onto blank cassettes. The first time I spent some money (most have been birthday money or perhaps Christmas money), I believe I bought J. Guiles Band and Bryan Adams. Ah, the 80’s. Simpler times.  I went through a brief heavy metal phase with Ratt and Twisted Sister as the primary headliners during middle school. During high school I went backward toward The Beatle, The Doors, and The Rolling Stones (The Stones were the first band I ever saw in concert – we thought at the time that it might be their last tour but man they just keep going and going and going). During college I kept my high school preferences, but absorbed the music of my roommate and girlfriend like a sponge which included more pop (Boys 2 Men, Michael Jackson) and rap.

After college I took a break from music. It wasn’t an intentional break. My entire music collection was stolen from my car while in New Orleans during a cross-country road trip. A city with so much amazing music and they pilfered my sorry collection. I took solace in the fact that they were probably severely disappointed with their catch. They got my radio too, though so it was a long quite ride the rest of the way.   The next phase of my life was in Japan and China and my music exposure was limited to movie soundtracks (Titanic) and Karaoke (my go to was The Beatles Yesterday and Hey Jude).  Then the kids arrived and I still have some PTSD from Kid’s Bop playing on repeat.  Eventually, I got myself an iPod and I started trying to rebuild my lost collection, but I didn’t find as much pleasure from the old tunes. There was a period when American Idle was the primary source of new songs coming into my awareness.

Then we come to my current phase. My favorite band is Twenty-One Pilots, which my daughter introduced to me while I was driving her up to college her first year (already over 6 years ago!). I listen to Ed Sheeran’s “Bad Habits”, which I think is fun and (if watching the video) totally ridiculous. My son and I spend hours on video calls sometimes where he introduces various songs and artists to me (often the same ones which he forgot he already showed me). A couple of years ago I asked him for a playlist for Christmas. My favorite song on that list is “Cigarettes On Patios” by BabyJake.

For Karaoke, the last time I went I sang songs by Twenty-One Pilots (Car Radio), Avicii (Waiting For Love), Bruno Mars (Grenade), Jason Mraz (I’m Yours), and John Legend (Stay).

So there you have it. A little spin around my life in music. Overall, I would say I like music that makes me feel happy and upbeat but also anything that reminds me of a loved one (either because of the song itself of because they recommended it to me).

Now get out of here and listen to your own playlist.

Be well,

Monty

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