Stash It or Cash It?

My love of music grew exponentially after high school. It’s kind of a story.

I was on the yearbook staff just so I could load up on extra-curriculars in the 11th hour of my high school career. I was truly useless to the staff–no car, no connections, etc. Anyway each committee had to provide their input for the big end of year slide show in the way of classmate photos and incidental slide music. My problem? I had no great tunes to contribute as my musical diet consisted of compulsory contempo Christian jams…and the Spice Girls.

So I submitted the Spice Girls’ first CD and ear-marked “SayYou’ll Be There” for the show. Also I submitted tracks from my sister’s CD of Whitney Houston remixes. I overheard some kid named Adam rifling, unimpressed, through my selections, lamenting “Clubs [my yearbook committee] is gonna be lame.” That stung. A lot. No one wants to believe that they have shitty taste in music–even if it’s true. So I was on a mission after that comment (and an equally disgusted gasp of  “What is this music?” from a kid whose name I can’t remember but who had the chiseled features of a Movie of the Week serial rapist).

I had to get some good music. I had to learn what was cool. I began thumbing through my brother’s hard rock, classic rock and electronica library. I started listening to radio and, when my family had cable, watching MTV, back when it still stood for “Music Television”. I joined Columbia House and BMG and was soon the completely stoked owner of 24 CDs that only cost me a dollar or something. Savage Garden! Ace of Base! So So Def All-stars Vol. whatever! Mariah Carey! Puff Daddy and The Family! Robyn! La Bouche! You get the idea.

I was still fucking clueless. But as time wore on and I kept my ears open I really began to, you know, develop some taste–and to accumulate an obscene amount of CDs. Many of them have long since been cashed in for lunch money or laundry change. But several I still have–I’m sure I’ve still got Savage Garden somewhere–and could definitely stand to let go of. But which ones?

That, alas, is the point of this whole big preamble I’ve just written. This blog is gonna (hopefully) help me sift through my jewel cases, the annotated-in-glitter-pen liner notes and the discs that may or may not be in their proper cases. Hopefully in this blog I’ll be able to measure which of my albums should cherished and which should be sold off for the odd 5-spot here or there.

Also I hope these posts will be enjoyable to you the reader. Please don’t hesitate to comment. Let’s stash it or cash it together, shall we?