Music

90% of the background noise in my life is talk radio of one type or another. Very little music. For those rare times I listen to music its stuff on my iPod, which is also loaded up with visualization stuff.

Which is strange because I absolutely dominate on mainstream music trivia. I play 'name that band' a lot with friends at work and they never stand a chance.

There is one album that I had completely forgotten about but for several years was played non-stop in my car and in my room- Operation Mind Crime by Queenryche, a magnum opus in music. I saw it today at iTunes and had to download it. I became hooked on this band and this album very early on. How early? I saw them record it in the studio thanks to a co-worker who knew the lead singer. It helped that my brother dated the bass player's little sister in school, that led me to the lead singers 30th birthday blow out when Mind Crime was on the charts.

The first time I heard Sir Mix-A-Lot he was signing four feet from me at a garage party. The only time I saw Pearl Jam they were Mookie Blaylock and playing a college bar playing their soon to be released album Ten. I met Alice in Chains in studio cutting their first album; Layne Staley the lead singer, he and I lived in the same city as kids. He told me he was only cutting the album so he could make some money for his heroin addiction. He OD'd about ten years later. I was pretty opinionated about drug use back then and refused to see Nirvana but had many chances. Still glad about that.

The Posies, Soundgarden, MudHoney, The Presidents of The United States of America, I saw them all. Given all that, my favorite band was a folk/grunge band called Inflatable Soule. I probably saw them a dozen times, all in little venues or grass concerts. They never made it big out of Seattle but when three members of the band are related to Chris Cornell from Soundgarden you know its pretty good. Also that they worked they all worked at a bar down the street when they weren't playing didn't hurt either.

Well all that and $1.84 will get me a cup of coffee at Starbucks today but being in Seattle back then was something. Coffee was getting big. Microbrews were gaining popularity. I was in and out of active duty. I was thinking for myself for the first time in my life.

I might never listen to a lot of music again, preferring the stimulus of talk radio but for a time I watched greatness unfold and it was glorious.