MY LIFE IN MUSIC

My first LP was Professor Ludwig von Drake which came out in 1961. Being it was my only album, I listened to it a lot. I think my favorite track was "All About Sound Recording" which, looking back, could have been a precursor to Todd Rundgren's "Sounds of the Studio."

It wasn't until after The Beatles' appearance on Ed Sullivan in February 1964 that I finally got my first "rock" album, a gift from my parents: The Chipmunks Sing the Beatles' Hits. Well, it wasn't quite a "rock" album, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, and discovered that by playing it on the record player at 16 speed, it sounded like real people singing slowly.

Eventually, I did get my first "real" album: Meet The Beatles. My mother really liked the song "Till There Was You" and I transcribed the lyrics for her by using that same "16" speed so I could write while listening.

I first heard Tommy in 1971, a bit behind the curve, but I listened to it over and over. I had heard the Who on the radio, and was blown away by their appearance in Woodstock, so I needed to see what it was all about. It was also one of the first books of album sheet music that I owned.

The song "Jesus Christ Superstar" seemed to be playing every Sunday morning on the radio, and I eventually got the 2 record set and the music book. I so wanted to perform this in church.

While on vacation in Southern California, a distant cousin of mine introduced me to Uriah Heep. We listened to record after record and I couldn't wait to get copies of my own. My first date with a certain Cecelia Bennett was a Uriah Heep concert. My evil plan was to kiss her during "July Morning." I didn't. But we ended up together anyway.

My friend Jeff was very influential in getting me out of AM radio and into actually good music. Probably the first artist he introduced me to was Deep Purple. I sought out all the back catalog and continued buying even after Gillan and Blackmore left the band.

I bought this album for 33 cents in a cutout bin at K-Mart. It was odd, but mystical. I sought out another album "Brighter Day" but didn't follow through after that. I recently discovered him again on MySpace and became his "friend."

My friend Jeff, so influential in my musical tastes, asked me to listen to "Black Maria" and I was hooked. I had heard some of the radio tracks from TR but until this listen, I had always confused Todd Rundgren with Jackson Browne.

I borrowed this from a friend back when it came out, and listened to it a lot. After returning it to him, I never did buy a copy. Maybe someday. Other than "Black Water" I haven't heard a track off this since 1974.