I was recently given a Facebook challenge by a friend to “Choose ten albums that greatly influenced my taste in music. One album per day for ten consecutive days. No explanations, no reviews, just album covers.” Normally I don’t like these kinds of Facebook challenges, and honestly, I’m not a huge fan of Facebook to begin with. Perhaps it’s my cynical nature but I find it to be a place where people express their self-importance and falsely boast about how wonderful they are. This particular challenge, however, did intrigue me.
I came of age in the late 70’s early 80’s and I’ve often described this time as “being woken up musically.” The Rock/New Wave/Punk music that came out during those years is to this day regularly played on my personal playlists. As a music lover, the challenge I was given seemed like something in my wheelhouse and perhaps something I might want to participate in. It wasn’t a challenge to show your favorite pet photo or a challenge to show your silliest baby picture. It was my chance to…well…show the world my amazing taste in music and to show how important & wonderful I am! I started going through my vinyl immediately.
My record collection still resides in my house. Although it’s in the junk room behind boxes of old books and photo albums, I haven’t gotten rid of it. I haven’t relegated it to the backyard shed, or worse yet put it in the garbage. Once I got everything cleared away and was able to see my collection in all its glory, (cue the golden rays of light and the angel chorus) I was immediately taken back to that time in my life when the music was fresh and new. I was taken back to my first Elvis Costello & the Attractions concert. The time when I bought my first cassette player for my car. The time that the class clown crossed out the local band on the Sadie Hawkins dance poster and wrote in Aerosmith. Which caused much excitement and disappointment when we found out Aerosmith wasn’t really coming. The time that my friends and I started a garage band and rocked the neighborhood!
It wasn’t easy selecting only ten albums to include in the challenge, but it was so much fun remembering all the great music. Surprisingly, it was also a great Facebook experience. Facebook did what it does best. Through comments and likes, it put me back in touch with friends I haven’t talked to since high school.
We all have music that has influenced the soundtrack to our lives. As the producer of SDPB’s No Cover, No Minimum music series, I’m always fascinated by the amazing talent we have here in South Dakota and around the region. It’s always great to see what music has influenced these artists.
No Cover No Minimum Airs Saturday Nights on SDPB television at 10:00 PM ct/9:00 mt.
For archive episodes click here https://www.sdpb.org/tv/nocovernominimum/