Raised on the Radio is a new series at My Skewed View. As a music lover I have noticed a great difference between those Raised on The Radio, and those who are being raised on streaming music and audio-downloads. As I try to teach my son about the value of musicianship, I find it increasingly difficult to share music with the same feeling of excitement I had hearing a song for the first time on the radio. Hearing your favorite song on the radio was an act of serendipity, and if you needed to hear it that badly, you sat next to the radio all night with your finger on the record button of your cassette player – waiting to capture that perfect moment.  Gone are the days of album rock, this generation will probably never listen to a whole album first song to last, they will never understand B-Sides, they will never stare at an album cover as they listen to the music. This series is dedicated to all of the musicians who had to wait for that radio station to play their song, who had to wait to hear – the long way – if their song or record was #1, who had the pleasure of knowing that every song on their album was heard.

This series will be brought to you through guest posts, because we each seem to have something to share when it comes to our experiences with the radio.

This week our post is from Michael Mele over at The Insane Asylum and The Nerdy Side of Life. When I asked for guest writers for this series he was all about it. He shares some pretty vivid memories, using his own special brand of descriptive writing. Give him a little love over at his blogs when you’re done checking out his post:

 

“My Music Memories”

#1.

Some of the earliest music memories I can recall would have to be from, Bon freaking Jovi, the great band from Jersey. Not only did these guys rock, but we were also from the same state, so it was love from the start.

Growing up I loved these guys, heck I wanted to be these guys, I used to sing into my hairbrush…or um I mean Tonka truck, and pretend to jam out to an arena full of adoring fans and chicks who wanted my body.

I was swiftly brought back to reality when unbeknownst to me my older brother came into the room and started heckling me, embarrassed the heck out of me, and since then I have never partied on again.

I still loved Bon Jovi, but from that point forward I always sung the songs under my breath, and only head-banged when I was securely locked away behind closed doors.

I can also remember my aunt, with her raspy voice from smoking throughout the years, singing “You Give Love a Bad Name” when it came on the radio.

Boy did she sound bad, like a chainsaw on a chalkboard, but it was a lot of fun.

 

#2.

I was just getting into music, and came across the good old BMG/Columbia House ads where you could get a whole bunch of cassettes for only a penny. Needless to say, I took advantage of their kindness…many, many times over.

I always found it funny that they would keep sending all these tapes out to the same address, just under different names, but oh well their stupidity is my gain.

I had an abundance of music and had no idea who was who, so I just sat in my room and listened to the cassettes based on whether or not I liked the cover, because I figured judging a tape by its cover was the way to go.

After listening to some serious crap, and my fingers feeling numb from hitting the stop and play buttons on my cassette player numerous times, I came across a band called Poison and their album “Look What the Cat Dragged In”.

At first glance I thought to myself, hmmm chicks rocking let’s give it a try; it can’t be any worse than the men and all the crap they were spewing.

To my surprise they weren’t chicks at all, they just looked like they were, they were a bunch of party dudes who just wanted to have nothin’ but a good time.

After listening to the whole cassette I was hooked, went back to BMG/Columbia House, created a new alias, and got their other albums.

#3.

Back when MTV actually played music videos, there was this one video that used to get my blood pumping…and flowing to a certain area.

This video was Warrant’s “Cherry Pie”, and boy did I want a slice of Bobbie Brown’s after seeing this video… and I’m not talking about the “My Prerogative”, beat up Whitney Houston Bobby Brown either, but rather the hot blonde bombshell who was passed around 80s rock bands like a collection plate at a church.

The first time I saw this video I was wearing sweatpants, and when it was over, I was too embarrassed to stand up, for obvious reasons.

I used to watch MTV all day with the hopes that this video would come on, just so I could have some material for um…my book report for school, yeah that’s it.

 

#4.

My final memory would be sitting in front of the radio, with one finger on the play button and the other on record, waiting for a song I liked to be played.

Without fail, as soon as a song came on that I wanted to record, someone would come in the room and start talking up a storm.

I couldn’t tell you how many times I listened to songs and didn’t know if what I was hearing were actually lyrics or just one of my family members talking in the background.

Needless to say it was very frustrating, but looking back at it; I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

MJM

 

Michael J Mele is a Professional blogger by day…asleep by night… He’s got my vote because he likes Star Trek and Star Wars equally. Nuff said. Oh wait- fine, there’s more: He enjoys making people laugh and engaging in conversations/debates that might get him shot if you’re packing. His blogs are a collection of short stories, random thoughts and other forms of various insanities.
Besides his obvious love for video games, he writes about pretty much anything and everything, there is no method to his madness. He has a really off-the-wall sense of humor, which is not for everyone and will probably one day get him thrown into an insane asylum, but for now he’s enjoying it for what it’s worth.

Find the connections to his blog and all his social media over at MJM Home.

 

As always, please feel free to contact me about posting for Raised on the Radio, and go hug an album today.