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My newfound love for easy listening music is almost more of an obsession
than a hobby or a pastime. It just plain suits my lifestyle, excluding the fact
that I sit around in shorts and flip flops and not in a tux.
It all started, believe it or not, with punk rock music. I was a short, fat, pissed-
off teenager trying to find the fastest and most distorted tunes that I could
find. Most of these older wankers that I listened (and still listen) to were
playing a lot of older songs and just speeding them up and using more
distortion. That’s how I found Johnny Cash.
The classics just seem more fitting because they can be good up-beat
songs or lull-me-to-sleep ballads. There are songs for all occasions either
way, and you can actually understand what they are saying in the lyrics.
Don’t get me wrong, from time to time I still love a good heavy guitar and
some idiot screaming at the top of his lungs, but that’s another day, another
ramble. This ramble is about how easy it is to go from loud, annoying (to a
lot of people) music to laid back swingin’, singin’ tunes that just make you
want to sit back, sip a drink, and have a smoke. It not only has that affect
but it helps if you’re like me and already enjoy these things.
I got to know and love the classics of country like Cash and Hank, Sr. Then,
suddenly I found myself buying Dean Martin CDs and then albums for my
new turntable. I was hanging out drinking beer listening to the Misfits; I
blinked my eyes and I’m relaxing listing to Sinatra with a scotch in one hand,
a Dino album in the other, smoke floating up making my eyes water, and a
shit-eating smile on my face. It’s better than liquid valium shot straight into
the heart and brain.
The big band scene was shot down dead a long time ago, and it was done
by people like me that wanted a little more. We wanted music just a little
faster and a little louder until we wake up and the next thing we know is that
we don’t need that speed and distortion as much anymore. And when we
find this easy listening music it’s too late. Now all we have is recordings and
memories. It’s not exactly easy to just go to the nearest bar and hear the
next Sammy Davis Jr. on stage but there is hope. There are people out
there like Michael Buble that are trying to bring the scene back, but it will
never be mainstream again.
So, listen to your favorites. Listen to Dion, and Nine Inch Nails; listen to
Rush and Pantera; listen to Zeppelin and Guns and Roses, but when you’ve
had a really bad day, or a really good one, go home, sit back, relax, have a
smoke if that’s your thing, put on some Dino and sip a martini.
Jeremy Tyson
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