The Journey on Record
With streaming constantly on the rise, and a massive plethora of music worldwide at our fingertips over the internet, it's only a matter of time before young people become exposed to old music.
Many times I've had to make space on my over crowded iPhone to take new pictures, and often I end up deleting infrequently used apps. But one app that never gets considered in the cull is shazzam!
I can recall countless times sitting over a green tea latte (almond milk of course) and hearing a song that caught my imagination. Naturally the instinct is to want to know who's singing the song, and the song title. That's where I grab for my tired iPhone, and press the listen button, on the shazzam app!
There is a lot to be said about the status of our the entertainment world right now, especially considering its full circle towards the reemergence of vinyl records! I believe was around 9 or 10 at one particular Christmas when my Father pulled me into the living room and handed me my first vinyl..
The name of the artist was Musical Youth.. The title of the song was 'Pass the Dutchie'!
This was a vibrant mid tempo summer track, fusing reggae, soul and 'RnB' seamlessly. The record contained a natural ebb and flow, that I would later effortlessly identify with, as it also oozed from one of my all time favourite artists - Lauryn Hill, who's debut record was masterfully produced by Commissioner Gordon.
I played that Musical Youth record to death, and went on to develop a casual love affair with my Dads collection, and then eventually started working on building my own record collection! Records I grew to become incredibly fond of, include Stevie Wonder, (Hotter than July) Marvin Gaye (What’s going on) and of course one of my musical heroes, George Benson (The world is a ghetto).
To be honest, CDs had become the main medium then, but I was far more fascinated by looking at the names on the back of the record sleeves, which were written in slightly bigger print, meanwhile watching the record spin around the player!
Nevertheless my Dad had also started building up a CD collection too, including hits from Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder (songs in the key of life) and even Quincy Jones (A Soulful Celebration - Quincy's' incredible take on Handles Messiah). They also got constant rotation, by me mainly, but also by my younger sisters Emily and Grace, with whom I often had the opportunity to vocally experiment with, creating dynamic three part harmonies in the living room with the cd!!
Those childhood days were exciting, liberating and sometimes exhausting, as I and the girls would sometimes end up prancing around on the sofa to uptempo hits such as 'Smooth Criminal' (Michael Jackson).
It can not be denied, people are consuming and coming into contact with music in so many different ways now. But the truth is, classic music is classic for a reason..It will always stand up through the test of time.
To the greats of yesteryear, I salute you, thanks for the music, and thanks for the journey!
