Thank You, Britney Spears

CMM Day 1: a favorite song
I guess I can’t put it off any longer- it is time that I, Chad, take part in this fantastical journey down memory lane. I hope that it is at least half as beneficial as those that have started before me. Y’all have been an inspiration… Let’s begin!

What first came to mind when I read this topic was “what, favorite song today? Last week?” How limiting… I can’t boil my life’s love of music down to one. I guess I could cheat and look at the play count in the iPod; but I think it is too biased to the present. I think I will ramble a bit; and then insert the influential bands and songs in brackets as I go. Songs with an Asterisk* are ‘finalists’. Z and R- this is not comprehensive; check whatever our current music collection database is. So here goes a scattershot answer:

STARTING OUT
My earliest popular music memory was ‘Elvira” by the Oak Ridge Boys and “Lucille” by Kenny Rogers. Not necessarily of my choosing; but they were played so much around me that I couldn’t help but sing along. Living in a small town put a limit on what I was exposed to. I know my parents had cooler stuff (In-a-gadda-da-vida, baby!) but it didn’t trickle down to me just yet.

Somehow, we all talked our parents into buying ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson; and then we all promptly held MJ cassette destructions when the popular train ran out. Being resourceful, I just recorded over mine…

MTV was just being born. When we went into town, I would find ways to take advantage of people that had cable. We would stay up and watch Friday Night Videos [Mr. Mister, Pet Shop Boys, Genesis, Bon Jovi, The Lost Boys Soundtrack, Peter Gabriel, INXS]; that was our only source out in the sticks. I still don’t know how I convinced Mom to buy Van Halen’s Jump; it was pretty racy for elementary school. One that didn’t survive was Wang Chung. Mom made me take it back to Target because the last tract contained every bad word and phrase in the Mom manual. Too bad for her I was already using most of them.

And then there was Dad. His musical influence was very subtle; very sneaky. From forcing us to listen to Evita* and “In the Hall of the Mountain King” on road trips to making Marty Robbins mix tapes [gunfighter ballads era] on the newfangled stereo, he laid a broad foundation that would help me appreciate a wider breadth of music. My favorite contribution of his is Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture* as performed by the London Philharmonic. If we ever got to our destination early, we would sit in the car to let it finish. It didn’t matter if we got weird looks. It was worth it.

Growing up on the edge of the desert had a way of limiting what we were exposed to. County music was ever present; I’d be lying if I said I ignored it. In fact, my first CD was Garth Brooks Ropin the Wind. I spent many a wedding dance in St. Ambrose Hall two-stepping to George, Garth, Randy, and Brooks and Dunn. Out of all of this rose one of my all time favorites: Garth Brook’s "The Dance"*. I’d like for it to be played at my funeral as it expresses my life’s philosophy. Sometimes it is better to leave it up to chance- to allow yourself to get lost, to risk a little… you’ll never know what was around that corner if you don’t. Almost always, it is well worth it. Someday that risk may bring my end; but I bet it was doing something worthwhile.

There was one (count it: 1) radio station in town that didn’t play country. Turns out that KIXY strictly filtered what they played to only the Top Pop. Really? Is that all there is? Time for rebellion! Thanks to Thomas Davis and his mix tapes, I discovered there was a lot more out there [Depeche Mode, New Order, Front 242]. A few occasionally made it through KIXY’s censors: bands such as Information Society, The Farm ["Altogether Now"], Crowded House, “Back to Life” by SoulIISoul, and a little song called "Edelweiss".

Even though Mrs. Ratliff over used him in theater class, the new age music of Ray Lynch stuck with me. His music creates worlds to explore…

I can’t finish the High school years without mentioning "Stand by Me"* by B.B. King. It bound our group of misfits together at the Shake Hands with Your Future camp at TTU. May Bud and the Smokers puff forever more… or just as long as the recording studios remain in malls. Oh. Wait-

COLLEGE
Finally in college, I DID discover that the hometown radio station was limiting. What everyone called old school retro was brand new to me. I could finally dump the mainstream for something interesting. My first roommate was heavily into random music, so that helped whet my appetite. [Toad the Wet Sprocket, The Church, Live (pre-stardom), Wire Train, Romeo+Juliet soundtrack, ] Being in college for the birth of grunge was awesome timing. It felt like we owned it! [NIN, Pearl Jam, Filter, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, misc Grunge] I luckily plugged into KTXT, Tech’s college radio, just before they pulled the plug on its soul. Back then, the DJ’s went out of their way to find the obscure and inventive so that they could blast it from the bell towers.

It seems each of my college friends had their own musical influence on me. My biggest debt is to Jeromy; he brought so much ‘out there’ stuff to me [Ten Hands, The Juliet Letters, Tank Girl Soundtrack, respect for Talking Heads, beginnings of ska and rockabilly]. Steve gave his Electronica, the beat line of Madonna’s “Justify My love”, and Bjork. Jett brought homespun do-it-yourself heavily influenced by Live and Radiohead. Somehow I stumbled into Cake and Dave Matthews Band from the frat boy trio; as much as I hate to admit it, they did benefit me after all.

Les Miserables came to Lubbock; I was instantly hooked. The movement and the spirit still haunt me to this day. If any of my friends happen to check out early, I think I would play “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” at the wake. Morbid? Perhaps. But with feeling…

Toward the end of college around 1996, Wheez, Dave, Greg, and I decided to hang out on the deck at the river-front bar in San Angelo. There was this new band playing that was fresh back from Nashville for a new start. The lead man was a bit annoying, but you could tell he was proud of what his boys could do. He finally stepped out of the way and let them shine. As we listened, we were amazed at the depth of talent. When Henry started his instrumental of “Little Wing”, I knew we had stumbled onto something great. Los Lonely Boys was born.

GRADUATION INTO THE WORKING WORLD
After College, I could finally afford the CD’s and concerts that I wanted. I spent a lot of time and money going to Dave Matthews Band concerts. Too bad DMB eventually sold out… Lucky for MK and me, it wasn’t before they released ‘Crush.’ Music was one of the initial binders of MK and I; we need to re-discover that as it brought so much joy to our dating.

I can’t say that I fell into any musical movement during this time, except maybe to resist the mainstreaming of Alternative. So I set out to find something different. [Neil Finn/Finn Brothers, Keane, Nada Surf, Thriftstore Cowboys: "Dirtied Your Knees", "Beneath the Shoes"; Matisyahu: "King Without a Crown" Live, Linkin Park (guilty pleasure), Postal Service, Blue October, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World"]. I think J.Lo had a career around then, I’m not certain.

I got the chance to see Rent- it was an incredible experience for me. It’s expression of pure emotion and commentary on the times resonated deeply with me. Well done.

While I was desperately trying to avoid the mainstream, too often it came to me. MK and I are fans of Josh Groban. “The Prayer” in particular always stirs me. It was a revelation for what I was looking for- it is okay to like something in the mainstream IF the performer has bona fide talent. Lest I forget: The Dixie Chicks… another guilty pleasure that I gained from MK. Thank you, dear…

KIDS
Being a parent, my kids are just a big of an influence on me as I to them. Out of all of their kids shows, I find myself humming "Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch theme", the weekly Phineas and Ferb tune, and anything from Sandra Boynton’s Philadelphia Chickens. The rest are the spawn of the devil. I shall not give them or their purple dinosaur any air time!

RELIGIOUS
Lately- I have come to admit the place that religious music has always played in my life. I am much better for having some in the mix. It has a way of centering me; getting me back on my path.

My fondest memories from Wall include how the St. Ambrose Men’s choir sang “Behold the Lamb of God” on Easter Sundays in the early ‘90’s [arr. Father Bob Dufford, S.J., Univ. of Dayton]. They also introduced me to“Lord, When you Came to the Seashore” and “On Eagles Wings”. I pause for both whenever and wherever they are played.

The Narayan family kept me in church during my early college years with how they sang “One Bread, One Body” in the small church at St. Elizabeth’s in the mid ‘90’s. [Michelle and Britta- is that right?!] I was so sad to see them go…

Raider Awakening brought me Jars of Clay ["World’s Apart"*] , "Love Remains" by Collin Raye, and “Just Wait*” by Blues Traveller. I rediscovered "Pie Jesu"* from Requiem. The CRHP community gave me Casting Crowns ["Lifesong"*, "And now my Lifesong Sings"*, "East to West"] and Third Day ["Revelation"*, "Born Again"]. I can’t think of a better tune for Lent than “Carry my Cross” by Third Day for cleansing and understanding what my Lord went through for me.

Singing O Holy Night. Yep- vanity moment here. Christmas is more special to me when I can perform this song. I love to sing; but I don’t have a consistent voice in order to do it often. Somehow, I rise to the challenge for this song. My favorite memory of this song is from Christmas 2003. MK had miscarried just a day before; so that put us in a funk as we drove to Kansas City. There was a cloud over Christmas that year… until we gathered around Carol and her piano Christmas night to sing carols. There was something healing about singing O Holy Night that night. It didn’t matter if I was out of tune; it was the best it ever sounded to me.


So- my favorite song is every one that ever moved me… the ones that touched my soul and told it to pause and listen… the ones that stood out as a work of art… the ones that were not processed for mass consumption. This brings me to Britney. To Britney Spears and all of the other crappy Pop princes and princesses: thank you for Pop music. Your work made me rebel to find something worth listening to.