Lefty Side of the Dial

It's been a while, so for a refresher in this ongoing series of posts, you can read the first part here.

Goin' Out West: The 80's

In 1980, my family moved from Texas to the California Bay Area. Blondie's "Call Me" was a big hit, and I had just started fifth grade. At this time, the only music I listened to was pop music. MTV had just reached our local cable, and I fell in love with music videos. Michael Jackson was indeed the King of Pop, and Madonna ruled as his Queen.

In 1985, I had reached middle school. It was a time to assimilate into the heard, so to speak. It was time to declare my allegiance to a clique, which meant a certain type of music. Even though I was a complete dork in middle school, I earned some cred when I mentioned to a thug of some importance, that I liked metal. I had to back-up my claim by naming a song by Ratt, Judas Priest, and Twisted Sister. I summoned all my MTV knowledge and passed the test. By truth be told, I knew these bands more by their t-shirts seen passing in the halls than by their music. In seventh grade, I used some babysitting money to pick up my first cassette, which was Survivor's Vital Signs. I remember I was in 7th grade biology when I first hear that The Police had just broken up, and then wondering who the hell they were.

My musical upbringing was also tempered by my parent's taste in music. My mom remained in some contact with some of the pop music, I guess what would now be considered adult contemporary. However my folks had started listening to country music. My family did a lot of activities together. We spent a lot of time at a man-made lake near Napa, called Lake Berryessa. During this lazy summer days with the family, I heard a lot of Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, and other country stars. I still have a special fondness for Willie, part of which is because of those idyllic times spent with my parents and siblings.

By the time I reached high school I had became an impulsive music buyer. I bought a lot of my records and cassettes at yard sales, so my music collection ranged from The Beatles to Chicago to Wham! I remember buying a lot of soundtracks, which offered many more artists for me to sample. It’s important to note that while my musical collection was growing, my musical tastes had not necessarily improved. However it was in my freshman year I discovered a musical genre that I would be captivated with for years to come (and even to this very day)....

(How's that for a cliffhanger)

Stay tuned for Part 3: Lefty is Hungry Like the Wolf....