I started collecting music at a very young age.  I didn’t just collect everything because that would be impossible.  I have my musical likes and dislikes but as everyone else the music of my twenties and thirties holds the biggest attraction.  I collected first on eight tracks, then cassettes and later on CD’s which resulted in a collection of more than 400 albums of what are now called classic oldies.  Ten years ago I decided to make the move to digital and spent months with a software package called Audiograbber and converted all of my CD’s into MP3’s.  It was a massive job but it permitted me to take my entire collection and install it on my first 80 gig IPod.  It was one of my better purchases because I’m still using it today, 11 years later, on the original battery.

Most of my music is from the late 1950’s through the early 1970’s.  Only a few albums and artists have been added over the years because I only collect what I really like. I could sit here and attempt to razzle-dazzle you with song titles and artist’s names but what would be the point of that. We all love the music we love and some of us don’t like much of anything.  Some people only enjoy the music for its ability to create an atmosphere that will lead to social gatherings at bars and clubs, drinking, dancing, and the occasional bout of recreational sex.

I’m fairly eclectic in my music tastes and enjoy quite a variety which doesn’t include Hip Hop or Country & Western.  Only a very select few from those genres made the cut.  Salt & Pepa, En Vogue, Delbert McClinton, and Bonnie Raitt are just a few that did.

Every so often when I’m alone for a few hours or when I’m working on the computer I’ll crank up certain selections and rock the house down.  One day last week I decided to celebrate some of my favorite artists that had tons of musical talent and died before their time. I spent two hours listening first to my two favorite balladeers, Jim Croce and Harry Chapin.  Then I moved on to the Big Bopper, Richie Valens, and Buddy Holly.  I saved the best for last with Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, and ended the montage with Jim Morrison and Freddie Mercury.  Wow. . . it was more than just a little wonderful.  I’m still humming and singing those songs in my head and will be for quite some time. 

After two hours of that music I found myself extremely sad to have lost them before their time and could only imagine all of the fantastic music that died with them.  The only positive thing I can think of is that they and their music will outlive us all and be enjoyed by millions in future generations.  They found their immortality albeit in a most unpleasant fashion.

I look toward to many more special moments listening to their songs as I’ve enjoyed doing in the past.  With that:

R.I.P.