Recent events have reminded me of my musical past. It all started at a very young age with my little record player that played 45's and had detachable speakers. Back then we had story books that came with the little vinyl discs that fascinated me. I remember setting up the speakers pointing out my bedroom window facing the park behind our house and blasting songs from Winnie The Pooh, singing along at the top of my lungs thinking that this was just too good not to share with the world.

My Mom's boyfriend had an 8-track cassette player in the car, another piece of musical technology that fascinated me. We had a huge wooden stereo console that was a thing of beauty in itself. You lifted the lid to gain access to the radio controls and the record player. The sides of this beautiful piece of furniture had huge speakers hidden inside. You opened the front doors and stacked inside was a plethora of music at your finger tips and by that I mean something you could actually tangibly flip through and hold in your hands. The artwork was so beautiful, the lyrics I spent hours pouring over were inside, sometimes they even came with a poster. I had to learn every word, every note until I could sing it exactly the same as the original.

I grew up listening to the likes of Cat Stevens, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Janis Ian, Phoebe Snow, and Joni Mitchell, just to name a few that stand out in my mind. I may be ageing myself but I don't care. I feel honoured and privileged to have lived in a time where each decade was so much more definitive. The continued social uprising in the 60's where people protested, sometimes peacefully and sometimes not just for racial and gender equality. This carried over into the hippie days of the 70's where people refused to no longer be repressed, more women got out of the kitchen and into the working world. Peace and love were becoming the norm and war was no longer accepted and tolerated as just a way of life. People spoke up instead of keeping their mouths shut. As well as the Woodstock generation carrying over into the 70's there was also disco music. Then the 80's were known for heavy metal and hair bands. The 90's came out with Grunge music. Beyond that, the decades have kind of blurred. They haven't been so clearly defined by the music and fashion of the previous decades. Anyone born after the year 2000 will never really experience these things in their lifetime as I have been so fortunate to do.

I remember when cassette tapes came out. If they didn't come with lyrics I spent hours stopping and starting the tape so I could transcribe it word for word. I had pages and pages of songs written down, other people's songs because I could never come up with something original. If you couldn't rewind them you'd use a pencil and twirl them around until you got back to the beginning. Then there was CD's, almost as good as vinyl records but holding the little booklet insert just wasn't the same as sitting cross legged and having an album cover sprawled across your lap. Sure they were better sound quality, didn't get scratched as easily, harder to break and more portable. I remember having a Sony Walkman and having to hold it away from my body as I walked so the CD wouldn't skip.

I think my past with music has made it difficult for me to move past CD's. If I buy one and there's no lyrics, I feel ripped off. I just can't get beyond the tangible and get into the downloads and hollow sounding MP3's. I need something visual to go along with the audible. I need something I can hold in my hands. Sadly I no longer have my records or record player. Now I wish I still did.