The music and our spouses/family...

[jww]

This may have been discussed before, but here it goes (again). What does each of your "better half" think of our A&M obsession? My wife does not care for Herb or Sergio , which leads to me here, to my fellow obsessi (?) in the A&M fold. JWW ...with too much time on his hands, on 3rds...

 

[Mr Bill]

My wife thinks it'[s weird to collect a label. But she accepts it and has even taken an interest when I play music at her and make connections between them. She likes my A&M obsession more than my IRS Records obsession -- she can't get into punk and new wave at all. www.irscorner.com

Of all my "hobbies" she enjoys my LEGO fascination the most, pretends to appreciate my stamp collection, and makes fun of my Del Rey Books collection, never failing to remind me what a geek I was in high school with the Sci-Fi stuff. Dare I admit on the eve of my 42nd birthday that I was president of the High School Star Trek club?

--Mr Bill
who has to put up with the Mrs' country and Rick Springfield obsession...

 

[jww]

Oh, my wife will listen, but she doesn't "get" what the fuss is all about... At 36, I hear you on the Legos (although I usually only play with them with the kids now) and SciFi/Star Trek. Myself and two other friends in 6th grade were TrekNerds, and then StarWars with the film release in '77. My kids have picked where I left off (do you really every leave it?), making anything from cars with Lego Technics to planes, spaceships, etc... and they love all the Trek from original to Enterprise now. I am always partial to the original though...

JWW, on thirds (the captain has given me the "con" as it were)

 

[William]

Of all my "hobbies" she enjoys my LEGO fascination the most...

Wow, I didn't know that. I was an avid Lego collector until about a year ago. I managed to get a near-complete collection of Space sets that came out from 1990 through 2000--only missing a few foreign promo items. I decided to say goodbye to that hobby when my checkbook couldn't take being a jazz fanatic and a Lego fanatic at the same time. I derive a more profound enjoyment from music... so I longer invest in plastic building bricks. That was a damn hard decision to make, though. Only a few years ago, I swore to myself that I'd never give up Legos in favor of music, like my older brother did. Ah well, life happens.


In answer to jww's original question, I have no spouse or significant other to worry about, but when my older sister lived at home, she hated Brasil '66. She made fun of the "nonsense word" vocals, apparently not realizing that the group was singing in Portuguese.


- William

 

[LPJim]

My family tolerates my 'disease' fairly well, considering the basement is littered with albums, CDs and concert memorabilia. And my daughter continues to help me online, when her increasingly busy schedule allows.
A&M isn't totally foreign to them, as the kids listen to Sheryl Crow and Vanessa Carlton; the spouse likes Sting/Police and Joe Jackson -- and none of them understand why I have continued to collect A&M numerically but haven't sent me for obsessive-compulsive behavior therapy.
JB --- who doesn't want to be cured, online

 

[Captain Bacardi]

This may have been discussed before, but here it goes (again). What does each of your "better half" think of our A&M obsession?

I don't have a "better half" (after all, how could they possibly be better than me? ), but some of the women I've dated will hear some of my TJB stuff and ask "How do you dance to this stuff?". I have to keep reminding them that it's okay to just listen to music. Of course, I could always put on "Love Potion #9" or "Swinger From Seville" and ask them to dance for me...


Capt. Bacardi

 

[LPJim]

Ah, that sounds like the 'age thing.'
JB
NP: Steely Dan "Hey 19"-

.... no we can't dance at all .... (she thinks I'm crazy, but I'm just growing old!)

 

[Rudy]

I don't have a "better half" (after all, how could they possibly be better than me? ),

*groan*

but some of the women I've dated will hear some of my TJB stuff and ask "How do you dance to this stuff?".

Egads...evil reminder of a secretary we used to have many years ago. I had on some jazz tune in 6/8 time and she's in there trying to snap her fingers to it. "It's no good, how can you dance to it??" Wonder what she would have done with the last half of Genesis' "Robbery, Assault & Battery" (in 13/8), Pat Metheny Group's "5-5-7", or even Dave Brubeck's "Unsquare Dance"?

Sheesh.

Must say that the Mrs. and I are nearly polar opposites on music. She tolerates whatever spins, or I just throw on the classic rock station. She's always liked Herb, though, and we did see Basia a couple of times when she toured. And of course, Brian Setzer Orch. The only Mendes she knows is "Never Gonna Let You Go." And she does recognize the TV and movie themes from my Mancini box set.

-= N =-

 

[Mr Bill]

...My kids have picked where I left off (do you really every leave it?), making anything from cars with Lego Technics to planes, spaceships, etc...

Wow, I didn't know that. I was an avid Lego collector until about a year ago. I managed to get a near-complete collection of Space sets that came out from 1990 through 2000--only missing a few foreign promo items.

Okay, guys... who wants to sell their Lego collections to me?

Seriously, though, I work with two other guys who secretly have the Lego bug. One even built a 12 foot long Titanic! PLus it's great to have Legoland just a half hour away! Relating to LPJim's obsessive/compulsive comments I'll even add that I keep all my components sorted in those little plastic drawers by size and color: white 2x2, red 2x2, yellow 2x4, etc...

Maybe we should start a LEGO forum here! (just kidding, Neil)

--Mr Bill
hoping for the Lego Millenium Falcon today for his birthday (and the happy merging of two hobbies: Star Wars and Lego)!!!

 

[Rudy]

Seriously, though, I work with two other guys who secretly have the Lego bug. One even built a 12 foot long Titanic! PLus it's great to have Legoland just a half hour away!

The only big Lego assemblage I've seen was at the Mall of Americas, which had a small-scale Legoland. They had a huge contraption hanging from the ceiling (don't recall what it was, but IIRC, it was either a space shuttle or satellite made out of Lego blocks), and a play area on the main floor where kids could just come over, sit down, and play with the blocks.

Never got into it much myself, but I did have a big grey "base" on which I built a few things. The ones I remember most were the "antique car" construction sets, which were cool.

Maybe we should start a LEGO forum here! (just kidding, Neil)

Just tell me which category to put it in, and yer on!

Hmmm...has anyone ever tried to reconstruct the A&M logo using Lego? (IF anyone tries...send a photo!! )

-= N =-
...Lego R Us...

 

[Mr Bill]

Just tell me which category to put it in, and yer on!

Under discussions, call it Mr Bill interlocking brick forum (since you can't legally use the word "Lego" on a title of a page or forum).

Hmmm...has anyone ever tried to reconstruct the A&M logo using Lego? (IF anyone tries...send a photo!! )

Just waiting for ochre (rhymes with poker) bricks! Actually I did try one long ago with yellow substituting for the ochre... But it sucked. Not enough bricks to make it big enough to "resolve detail"...

--Mr Bill
off to make an IRS Logo in Legos...

 

[Rudy]

Under discussions, call it Mr Bill interlocking brick forum (since you can't legally use the word "Lego" on a title of a page or forum).

Was that a dare??

Just waiting for ochre (rhymes with poker) bricks! Actually I did try one long ago with yellow substituting for the ochre... But it sucked. Not enough bricks to make it big enough to "resolve detail"...

Can't we just paint some? Heck, even a tan or light brown would probably be close enough. (Or for that matter, do it in yellow, and I'll color-shift it in Photoshop. )

-= N =-
...bwa-hahahahaaaaa....

 

[cakeicer]

This may have been discussed before, but here it goes (again). What does each of your "better half" think of our A&M obsession? My wife does not care for Herb or Sergio , which leads to me here, to my fellow obsessi (?) in the A&M fold. JWW ...with too much time on his hands, on 3rds...

My better half is listening to music with someone else now, however she isn't a fan of our A&M favorites so I got custody of all the LPs. I rather think I got the better part of that deal!

 

[DAN BOLTON]

This can be a relly touchy subject, here....My ex used to insist that every time I put something on the stereo, it HAD to be vocal...she just didn't get instrumental music at all, which means that the vast majority of the TJB/BMB repretoire was beyond her ken, and her Barbie, for that matter...

As a writer when I was in school, I needed tone poems to listen to to come up with a concept for a theme...and the TJB was always there on the stereo...it didn't work so well in seminary, though...not a lot of mariachi or ameriachi lends itself to theological thought...


I've always liked music I could use my imagination with to establish a "Personal Music Video" to...and a lot of vocal music doesn't really allow one to do that. I like artists who lyricise in the abstract, like Dylan or Paul Simon...because it's easier to mentally edit a video to their work than some others, there are more choices for imagery...sometimes I don't quite know just what the heck they might be trying to say, but those are the chances you take...


I think that the best music is the type that says more than one thing...it can be interpreted in many ways and still sound fresh. Vocal music is hard to do that with, and the gospel music of today, which I'm just now getting into, is even harder...so much of it depends on the lyrics to get a message across...and that seems to be the real reason for the genre. I am finding this to be rather stifiling...most gospel music sounds the same to me, and it seems like the artists aren't having that much fun singing and performing it...I want to tune it out...there's much more passion and artistry in secular music...more money, too; I guess...I just don't get it...there is nothing more personal, more moving and more exciting than a religious experience...real, gut-wrenching, raw emotion...and yet so many of the songs are so bland, I can't tell when one is done and another begins...AND SO MUCH OF IT IS VOCAL!


Dan

 

[Dave]

OK, the Dream Combining of MY Collection with SOMEONE ELSE'S still has yet to materialize.

Such a difference in Personal Taste always came between me and my "Potential Mates", whether it was NOT going to the same Concerts together, being in different sections of a Record Store (And sometimes we're talking places that sell RECORDS--not your NEW places ) or having our radios on different stations (which gave ME quite a shock, when I got my car back that SHE borrowed and the Volume seemed to have been increased to as LOUD level in proportion to what was on--that rather LIFELESS and SOULLESS Reindition of "Emotion" by Destiny's Child )

But nevertheless, these days I AM turning on SOME people to the CLASSIC A&M Sounds as well as those on other labels, I like. As long as I have blank tapes I can put certain stuff on or to anyone with a Turntable , say "Wouldja like to Borrow This??" .

Dave

Gioccho Adesso: Evie Sands "Until It's Time For You To Go" ANY WAY THAT YOU WANT ME A&M SP 4239

...But it's how Compatible we are in OTHER ways, that keeps us Together! ...Until...

 

[Mike Blakesley]

My wife and my mom-in-law both like the TJB. I'm slowly getting Lynn (my wife) indoctrinated into Sergio Mendes music. I told her I am going to make her a compilation entitled "USER FRIENDLY" which would contain the more "pop" side of Mendes, and all in English, to help her sink her teeth into it. Then start sneaking the Portuguese stuff in a little at a time. The biggest problem is, she's not into female vocals much. She tends to like '70s rock more...Steve Miller, BTO, Phil Collins, Fleetwood Mac kind of stuff. (Not that that's bad!) But, bottom line is that she just tolerates what I play and when she's with me, I keep the volume down to a more human level.

 

[Harry]

On our recent car trip down I-95 to Disney World, I brought along a mix of music CDs. Most abundant was the Disney Classics discs with all og their "hits"over the years. (We brought along an 8-year-old neighbor with us.) During my driving times, I dug out my countdown-of-TJB-hits-CD, and my wife commented that she recognized virtually everything on it. The payoff was that on the way back, she requested that I put that disc on after the "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boos" started getting to her! I also caught her singing along to a Mendes hits disc.

Harry
...who doesn't force his music on anyone, online...

 

[Rudy]

I bought a couple of extra magazines for our CD changer in the CR-V, and I usually load it up with compilations whenever we travel. I also fill up a couple of my CD wallets so I can switch out compilations if needed. Usually classic rock is what we end up taking--ZZ Top, Styx, Journey, Stray Cats (and Brian Setzer Orch.), etc. I throw in a couple of her favorites (Night Ranger, Def Leppard, etc.) She's not big on Rolling Stones , Stevie Ray , or the earlier Trick Of The Tail-era Genesis I've been listening to lately . Peter Gabriel--she likes "Sledgehammer" and nothing else (where I like all of the older tunes). Quiter music we usually take is Natalie Cole's Unforgettable (and/or the follow-up), maybe one of the older Harry Connick CDs, and a couple of others. Not sure if she's keen on the Diana Krall CD--I haven't received any dark looks over it yet. I can throw in a TJB or Alpert CD, but that's the extent of it. I could probably get away with a Carpenters CD (like A Song For You) as long as it doesn't have a lot of "sleepy" songs on it.

The ZZ Top Greatest Hits is one favorite we used to cruise Jefferson Ave. in for many years. It was better when I had the subwoofer cranked, since it could nail those synthesized 32Hz tones and bass drum beats.

-= N =-

 

[Captaindave]

Being that my wife and I are nearly the same age(I'm a little over a year older than her)we both have a common musical background. In other words, we pretty much grew up listening to the same things. I graduated from high school in 1969 and she in 1971. We were both in the band, but I came from a much more serious musical background - my father being a music teacher and high school band director. I was a serious trumpet player with private training - she,on the other hand,played clarinet and became a majorette when she was a senior.
I was heavily influenced by instrumental music -Al Hirt; Herb Alpert especially.She liked more of the soft pop of the sixties - the Association,the Classics IV, etc. I liked that stuff also and grew up listening to the radio all the time like most teenagers of those days. There was a lot of interesting stuff in those days - rock and pop music was really fun,melodious, and even innocent - songs had identifiable melodies that you could actually sing along with,sensible and musical chord progressions,verses and choruses, etc. - no rap,etc....I will say we were not psychedelic fans, though. My interest was in trumpet, not guitar.She was a soft rock fan.
Today,I still listen to Herb Alpert.She is OK on that,but prefers Barry Manilow and Frank Sinatra, I also like Sinatra. She also likes certain movie soundtracks.
I also like trumpet players like Chris Botti and Rick Braun. My wife doesn't seem to care much for that stuff because she was never really serious about playing an instrument.
But we pretty much share the same interests...I can listen to what she likes and she is willing to listen to what I like - although she sometimes says that she has been hearing some of the Herb Alpert for what seems like forever