Might As Well Face It, I'm Addicted to Music

I've always enjoyed listening to music. In fact, I would call it more a passion, like the Red Sox, The Twilight Zone and Monty Python are to me. I can't remember the last day in my life when I didn't listen some kind of music.

My tastes are quite varied. Rock 'n' Roll is of course, at the top of my list, and the Beatles are on top of the rock list for me. (I've always laughed at that moniker people referred to the Rolling Stones as "The Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World" or whatever it was. They only hijacked that title after the Beatles broke up in 1970. I like and respect the Stones very much, but the Beatles are still head and shoulders above them in my book.)

I enjoy most types of music. I worked at Tower Records for more than 6 years, and the subsequent jobs I had for nearly 13 years had me around music all the time. I can't say I've ever taken any kind of a liking to rap music, to be honest. I've never owned one rap song in my life, and I leave it that. Following rock, my other favorites are jazz, classical and vocals. I also have to admit I've loved pop music, but pop of a different era. Today's pop I have no use for at all. (I own few songs made during the 21st century. Call me an old fossil if you'd like. I don't mind it at all.)

I had a Walkman for many years because I wouldn't be without music if I traveled anywhere. I kept the Walkman for years after the iPod was first introduced in 2001, and I held out until 2008. I finally got an iPod, and now I can't imagine not having one. I got immediately hooked on it, and I got an IPod nano 8 GB as my first. It was terrific, and I filled it up with nearly 1800 songs. (I use the iPod strictly for music, and don't put in any videos.) But unfortunately, there were so many more songs I wanted to put in, and I'd have to remove many songs just to fit them in.

This past January I upgraded iPods, and got a 16 GB Red nano. It's even better, with many features the other didn't have, including listening to the radio if I so desired. So far, I have over 2500 songs in my new iPod, and I still have over 2 1/2 GB left. I have music from over 700 albums in it. (I figure I can still put another 500-600 songs in it before I run out of room.) I was able to put some deeper tracks from my albums, and even discovered a few CDs I missed from my first iPod.

Recently, I was thinking about the most popular artists I have on my iPod, and looked up on it to see who my Top 25 were. The Beatles are tops with 177 songs in my iPod, or about 7% of all songs. Dave Brubeck is a distant second, with 63. The four artists tied for 24th all have 18 songs. So, here it is, and it should give you a good idea of my musical tastes:

1. The Beatles
2. Dave Brubeck
3. Steely Dan
4. Elvis Presley
5. Bill Evans
6. Sade
7. Down to the Bone
8. Dire Straits
9. Bruce Springsteen
10. Rolling Stones
11. Billy Joel
12. The Doors
13. (tie) John Lennon
(tie) Pink Floyd
15. (tie) The Who
(tie) Vince Guaraldi
17. Creedence Clearwater Revival
18. Frank Sinatra
19. The Police
20. Led Zeppelin
21. Phil Collins
22. Steve Winwood
23. AC/DC
24. (tie) Booker T & The MGs
(tie) Talking Heads
(tie) James Brown
(tie) Paul McCartney

BTW, I haven't included "A Charlie Brown Christmas" album that Vince Guaraldi did. I currently have that out of the iPod, but when Christmas rolls around, he will jump to number 9.

Yep, I'm basically a classic rock guy. And quite proud of that, thank you.

And thanks also to the inventors of the iPod. One of man's greatest inventions, in my humble opinion.