Taking the Dice

Once upon a time, my taste in music was rather limited. My mother had a wide range of records that she played daily and I liked some of them. I also heard the latest hits at the roller rink or in the car. But my main source of music was my Disney records.

By the time I was in the fourth grade, I was becoming restless for something more than Disney, so I asked for a radio for my room so I can listen to different tunes at my leisure. With that magic little dial, I found myself a station that played elevator music. Yes, I listened to muzak. I liked listening to familiar tunes that weren't complicated with things like lyrics. Looking back, I wonder if that contributed to my learning disabilities... Or premature graying. Maybe even global warming.

When I was in the fifth grade, everyone in my class became enchanted by a strange creature by the name of Michael Jackson. They brought boom boxes to school to play songs from the "Thriller" album during recess. I had to admit that muzak paled in comparison. Sucked, actually. Taking a gamble that I might be wasting my time with something that I might end up hating, I left the security of the elevator station and turned the dial to KPLZ.

I was suddenly faced with a large jumble of unfamiliar songs and artists that seemed to come from outer space! However, it was exciting. Very exciting! I was determined to listen zealously and make my world a part of it; and possibly the other way around too.

Though I didn't have MTV at the time, there were some shows on the weekends that showed music videos. That was a tremendous help for my familiarizing with the latest hits. I could see the artists, their styles, and watch their cheesy attempts at acting.

So, there I was, listening to my radio and thinking I had it all down when... What was that? What the heck WAS that?!? It didn't sound like the other songs. Was I on the right station? Or perhaps connections were crossed and I was getting signals straight from heaven? Who was that? Would the radio do that again?

The stupid DJ from hell did not identify the artist or the song but went straight on to the next song, leaving me to wonder if what I heard really happened.

The next night, heaven sent signals to my radio again and this time sent an angel as a DJ to tell me that the song was by Duran Duran.

Duran Duran. I had heard of them before. I knew I have heard other songs from them on occasion, but perhaps I heard them before I could distinguish one artist from another? After learning this, I could identify the distinct sound of Duran. It wasn't just Simon's whine of passion, but there was definitely something unique about the way they put music together.

Childish pictures were removed from my walls to make room for posters of five guys who were the new wave in New Wave.

This has been the story of when I was reborn...