So as you can probably imagine if you watched the video clip in the previous post, B-Boying and everything that went with it completely took over my life for a solid 3 years...most of it has stayed with me to this day.
Now...I dont exactly know HOW I found these radio stations that played these (then VERY foreign) DJ mixes, (WBMX, WGCI and a VERY fuzzy WNUR) but I knew that that's all I wanted all day, every day, and couldnt wait until the 12 o'clock lunch mix, or, better yet, Friday and Saturday night!
If memory serves me correctly...there was quite a bit of uptempo hip hop being played (early standouts include Its Like That by Run DMC among others)...and then the DJ's would play these REALLY stripped down instrumental tracks...well...not really instrumental...because they were just tracks of drum patterns....which were some of the earliest House tracks....i HATED those tracks because they essentially didnt do anything except repeat the same beat for 3 or 4 minutes...BOOOORIIIING (back then of course, because i was pretty much a straight Hip Hop head at the time)
Around 1984 / 85, I, along with my partner in crime Tom Bustos, began to venture out going to parties at the local community center in our area here, and a place called Kristof's that held a "teen night" at their nightclub.
I had been listening to the DJ's on the radio for about a year or so, but could never exactly understand how they mixed songs together, until I started attending these parties and teen nights...yeah, we would go to hang out...check out the girlies and whatnot....but I increasingly found myself sitting near the DJ booth and watching the DJ...like...at a certain point, when we would walk in, I went straight to the booth, and didnt really move for the rest of the night.
One of the DJ's that played at the teen night, also DJ'ed our school dances...I remember sitting in Mr. Gibson's 7th grade classroom one Friday afternoon...the day of a dance...and saw a couple guys bringing in the DJ equipment to get set up...i asked a friend of mine who sat near the door if they were "scratch dj's"...meaning....did they have turntables....with an affirmative nod, my heart started beating a little faster.
Again...I was still a B Boy, so when it came time for the dance to start, it was straight to the middle of the circle to do our thing. (now that i REALLY think about it....me and my crew were really the only ones doing any type of dancing...weird)
So that whole scene, the community center parties, the teen club and the school dances was my life until 1986.
Now, as you may, or may not remember...back then, to most of rural America, Breaking was just a fad...and when a fad dies, or isnt deemed "cool" anymore, you dont really have a choice but to find something else to do...being that you just dont want to be made fun of....if I only knew then what I know now...
So my crew and I were left with a dilemma in 1986...the last year of grade school...."what now"? Someone had the idea of starting a rap group....cool....whos going to do what? Everyone wanted to rap....but not me.
I said.."ill be the DJ"...and to this day, im the only one who stuck with the original plan.
Next post, 8th grade graduation, and my first DJ Battle (before I actually had my own equipment)
Friday, June 29, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Roots Continued
Roots (70's to the early 80's Part 2)
Other than my parents always having some sort of music playing in our house, and ive been thinking about this...
my brother had a HUGE impact on me musically as a kid.
My brother is a rocker (although he listens to country too...i wont hold it against him)...he introduced me to now CLASSIC albums such as "Diver Down" by Van Halen, "Dirty Deeds" by AC/DC, and most notably, "Destroyer" by KISS....and I vividly remember him listening to "Beth" over and over to learn the words....dont know if he was dating someone named Beth, of if he just really liked the song.
**side note**
Last year my wife and I saw KISS in concert (my first REAL rock concert...) and when they played Beth, everyone was on their feet singing along...including me...but I had to stop and sit down to compose myself, because hearing it brought me back to those early days of me and my brother sitting in his bedroom together listening to it, and i actually started getting emotional thinking about it.....even now while i type this and recall that memory, im getting a little choked up...what can I say...im sensitive. :)
so back to the story...1981....we had just gotten cable TV (WOW...30 channels!!!)...and i was MANUALLY turning the dial to see what I could find (no remote controls mind you)....MTV...ooh...whats this? (yes kiddies, MTV originally played nothing but music videos...can you believe it?)
The way I perceived music would be forever changed now that I can actually WATCH bands play rather than just listen.
I dont know how or why, but a couple weeks ago I was talking to my mom about my days as a drummer (more on that in a bit)
she told me, that as far back as she can remember, I would take 2 pencils and tap on the arm of our couch along with whatever song was playing, or what video was on at the time...
My mom loved her garage / yard sales..one saturday afternoon, I was with my mom on one of her excursions (seriously....she would have a map of our town and plan a route for as many sales as she could manage to get to) and at this particular house, there was this toy drum set...SUPER cheap made...the "heads" of the drums were paper for christ's sake...and I just sat there and just NEEDED to have it....well, she didnt have enough money to get it...and I was SUPER bummed...my dad was at his usual saturday watering hole, so we stopped in for a coke.
I told my dad what I had found, and that my mom didnt have enough money to get it...at first, he said no, but after some coaxing (ok...more begging / whining about it) he gave my mom the money and a drummer was born!!
I played the living hell out of those things and eventually got a hold of a REAL set...metallic brown Ludwig drums with some BEAT UP hi hats..no cymbals...no stand for the snare...I eventually enrolled in the marching band at my grade school, and my parents got me a decent cymbal, hi hats and a snare stand...YES!...and I played those drums dam near EVERY DAY for 3 years. (5th grade - 8th grade)
I had this little record player set up behind my drums so I could play along with stuff...ill have to find a picture (pre snare stand and all that)...i know there is one.
the stuff I was playing along with was stuff like "Run To The Hills" by Iron Maiden, the surf rock song "Wipeout" and a bunch more that I cant recall right now
I never expected what would come next..
Other than my parents always having some sort of music playing in our house, and ive been thinking about this...
my brother had a HUGE impact on me musically as a kid.
My brother is a rocker (although he listens to country too...i wont hold it against him)...he introduced me to now CLASSIC albums such as "Diver Down" by Van Halen, "Dirty Deeds" by AC/DC, and most notably, "Destroyer" by KISS....and I vividly remember him listening to "Beth" over and over to learn the words....dont know if he was dating someone named Beth, of if he just really liked the song.
**side note**
Last year my wife and I saw KISS in concert (my first REAL rock concert...) and when they played Beth, everyone was on their feet singing along...including me...but I had to stop and sit down to compose myself, because hearing it brought me back to those early days of me and my brother sitting in his bedroom together listening to it, and i actually started getting emotional thinking about it.....even now while i type this and recall that memory, im getting a little choked up...what can I say...im sensitive. :)
so back to the story...1981....we had just gotten cable TV (WOW...30 channels!!!)...and i was MANUALLY turning the dial to see what I could find (no remote controls mind you)....MTV...ooh...whats this? (yes kiddies, MTV originally played nothing but music videos...can you believe it?)
The way I perceived music would be forever changed now that I can actually WATCH bands play rather than just listen.
I dont know how or why, but a couple weeks ago I was talking to my mom about my days as a drummer (more on that in a bit)
she told me, that as far back as she can remember, I would take 2 pencils and tap on the arm of our couch along with whatever song was playing, or what video was on at the time...
My mom loved her garage / yard sales..one saturday afternoon, I was with my mom on one of her excursions (seriously....she would have a map of our town and plan a route for as many sales as she could manage to get to) and at this particular house, there was this toy drum set...SUPER cheap made...the "heads" of the drums were paper for christ's sake...and I just sat there and just NEEDED to have it....well, she didnt have enough money to get it...and I was SUPER bummed...my dad was at his usual saturday watering hole, so we stopped in for a coke.
I told my dad what I had found, and that my mom didnt have enough money to get it...at first, he said no, but after some coaxing (ok...more begging / whining about it) he gave my mom the money and a drummer was born!!
I played the living hell out of those things and eventually got a hold of a REAL set...metallic brown Ludwig drums with some BEAT UP hi hats..no cymbals...no stand for the snare...I eventually enrolled in the marching band at my grade school, and my parents got me a decent cymbal, hi hats and a snare stand...YES!...and I played those drums dam near EVERY DAY for 3 years. (5th grade - 8th grade)
I had this little record player set up behind my drums so I could play along with stuff...ill have to find a picture (pre snare stand and all that)...i know there is one.
the stuff I was playing along with was stuff like "Run To The Hills" by Iron Maiden, the surf rock song "Wipeout" and a bunch more that I cant recall right now
I never expected what would come next..
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Roots
Ok, i'm early with the post...ive been thinking about things, and rather than go to work and forget, ill just knock it out now.
Roots (70's to the early 80's) PART 1
As far back as I can remember, there has always been music playing in my parents house.
Earliest memories include...
laying on my parents bed in the middle of summer and hearing "The Tide Is High" by Blondie
riding in their light blue Ford station wagon and listening to "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge
going to see stock car races in Wisconsin with my dad and singing along with "Louisiana Saturday Night" by Mel McDaniel (had to Google that one)
whenever my dad would have to go to the hardware store on a saturday, I would always tag along...mind you..at this point in time, I was probably 8...maybe 9 years old TOPS, so my interest in records wont be for another 4 or 5 years yet....but back to the story.
on the usual saturday outing, after we ran the errands of the day, we would always stop off at a tavern so my dad could knock back a few cold ones, and shoot the shit with his buddies....I wasnt allowed to sit at the bar so my dad would give me a bunch of quarters to play games....and I did....until i discovered the jukebox.
This was Northern Illinois, so the selections were country, top 40, and some randoms like Elvis and whatnot.
I remember...6 plays for 1.00...and i STUDIED the selections to choose from, so I could play the BEST stuff that not only I liked, but what i saw some of the other people in the tavern liked too....(holy shit...i was playing dj...setting the mood in the room...and I knew NOTHING of "DJ'ing"...mind = blown)
This is about the time, where I think my interest in music really started....probably late 78...early 79...80
Tune back in tomorrow for part 2, where I get into drumming.
Roots (70's to the early 80's) PART 1
As far back as I can remember, there has always been music playing in my parents house.
Earliest memories include...
laying on my parents bed in the middle of summer and hearing "The Tide Is High" by Blondie
riding in their light blue Ford station wagon and listening to "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge
going to see stock car races in Wisconsin with my dad and singing along with "Louisiana Saturday Night" by Mel McDaniel (had to Google that one)
whenever my dad would have to go to the hardware store on a saturday, I would always tag along...mind you..at this point in time, I was probably 8...maybe 9 years old TOPS, so my interest in records wont be for another 4 or 5 years yet....but back to the story.
on the usual saturday outing, after we ran the errands of the day, we would always stop off at a tavern so my dad could knock back a few cold ones, and shoot the shit with his buddies....I wasnt allowed to sit at the bar so my dad would give me a bunch of quarters to play games....and I did....until i discovered the jukebox.
This was Northern Illinois, so the selections were country, top 40, and some randoms like Elvis and whatnot.
I remember...6 plays for 1.00...and i STUDIED the selections to choose from, so I could play the BEST stuff that not only I liked, but what i saw some of the other people in the tavern liked too....(holy shit...i was playing dj...setting the mood in the room...and I knew NOTHING of "DJ'ing"...mind = blown)
This is about the time, where I think my interest in music really started....probably late 78...early 79...80
Tune back in tomorrow for part 2, where I get into drumming.
Introduction
Lately i've been feeling the need to document my musical background and history...I have no idea why...maybe it will interest some of you that know of me, but dont "know" me...you know?
Forgive me if things get a tad long winded, im going to try to keep them relatively short and hopefully somewhat interesting. (probably not the latter though)
1st real post tomorrow, titled Roots.
Forgive me if things get a tad long winded, im going to try to keep them relatively short and hopefully somewhat interesting. (probably not the latter though)
1st real post tomorrow, titled Roots.
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