I used to have a massive collection of CD's, but then I bought my first iPod. I spent weeks uploading all of my music from my CD's to the computer, then got rid of most of the CD's (gave a ton to friends, sold a few, held on to a small number for various reasons). It's been pretty much 10 years to the month since I got the first iPod, and I've obviously picked up some more music since then as well. Currently, there's in excess of 20,000 tracks in my iTunes. I've got a 160GB iPod now, as well as an iPhone, so I've got access to everything pretty much at all times.
That's not necessarily a good thing.
When I uploaded all that music to my computer, with very few exceptions, I just put everything on. I didn't bother to get rid of tracks I was less than fond of...just too time consuming. Since I tend to keep everything in shuffle mode most of the time, I'm at the mercy of what my iWhatever is going to throw at me. I'll skip things if I just don't feel like listening to them at the moment, but occasionally something comes on that I don't even recognize, or I feel like trying just out of a sense of adventure, and I let it play mostly out of curiosity.
Curiosity killed the cat...and sometimes, my eardrums.
I really like a lot of music by the band Blondie. They had 5 albums in the late 1970's and early 1980's that have a lot of songs I really enjoy. But today, I actually sat thru a track I normally skip over, and now I know why I normally skip over it. Their first album was a mostly punk effort with a lot of rapid fire, 3 minute pseudo-pop tunes well worth listening to. "X Offender" (which is really called "Sex Offender" except they toned down the title for a major label release...this was in a very different era, kids...), "Rip Her To Shreds", "Rifle Range" and "Kung Fu Girls" are all excellent tracks.
Today, I actually listened to "In The Flesh". I just checked my iTunes, and, prior to today, I have never actually played that song. It starts out slow and drippy...and never deviates from this. Was it punk simply because it WASN'T a fast track, like most punk songs of the era? Because technically, punk is about the attitude, and not merely how fast and crude the songs could be. The definition of punk has been a bone of contention over the ensuing decades...and I'm not going to get into that now. What I will say is...
...I guarantee you I will never listen to that song again.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go delete it from my iTunes right now. I don't make idle threats.
That's not necessarily a good thing.
When I uploaded all that music to my computer, with very few exceptions, I just put everything on. I didn't bother to get rid of tracks I was less than fond of...just too time consuming. Since I tend to keep everything in shuffle mode most of the time, I'm at the mercy of what my iWhatever is going to throw at me. I'll skip things if I just don't feel like listening to them at the moment, but occasionally something comes on that I don't even recognize, or I feel like trying just out of a sense of adventure, and I let it play mostly out of curiosity.
Curiosity killed the cat...and sometimes, my eardrums.
I really like a lot of music by the band Blondie. They had 5 albums in the late 1970's and early 1980's that have a lot of songs I really enjoy. But today, I actually sat thru a track I normally skip over, and now I know why I normally skip over it. Their first album was a mostly punk effort with a lot of rapid fire, 3 minute pseudo-pop tunes well worth listening to. "X Offender" (which is really called "Sex Offender" except they toned down the title for a major label release...this was in a very different era, kids...), "Rip Her To Shreds", "Rifle Range" and "Kung Fu Girls" are all excellent tracks.
Today, I actually listened to "In The Flesh". I just checked my iTunes, and, prior to today, I have never actually played that song. It starts out slow and drippy...and never deviates from this. Was it punk simply because it WASN'T a fast track, like most punk songs of the era? Because technically, punk is about the attitude, and not merely how fast and crude the songs could be. The definition of punk has been a bone of contention over the ensuing decades...and I'm not going to get into that now. What I will say is...
...I guarantee you I will never listen to that song again.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go delete it from my iTunes right now. I don't make idle threats.
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