Music Is Life

My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary. - Martin Luther.

At the different stages of your life, you are bound to be captivated by some moments of nolstagia, a special moment, a "Massa" moment, an embarassing moment, a time when you were in love, anger, happy, sad, winning, losing or simply just in pensive mood.

You whipped out your photo albums and started to go through the pictures and fond memories filled all your thoughts. Your eyes may all well up as you walk down memory lane and haven't you noticed that in all those old pix, the standard pose was one where everyone stood ramrock straight. I still have very old black and white pictures of my grandparents and their children a couple that of my parents and my siblings which by now are classics and are priceless. Now what is missing here?

Music my friends. Music and songs to define those moments.

Rhythm of The Falling Rain, Knock Three Times, Can't Buy Me Love and Under The Boardwalk and many more were often heard when I was much younger. Then later I would have distinct memory of Lobo, Carpenters, Eagles, Rod Stewart, England Dan & John Ford Coley, etc. If they had the game show of remembering the lyrics, songs, name of the singers and bands, etc. I could have been a potential winner.

The cassette tapes of the time cost much less but they could not be stored for long as they would gather mould or would break off due to poorer durability. So, for some personal favourites, I would save up for a vinyl but putting stylus to grooves was not only an expensive hobby but the upkeep wasn't easy either. The advent of CDs was like the best thing to happened after slice bread eventhough they cost a bomb at $30 plus a disc back then since they were so easy to maintain and to store. However, purists would swear by the turntable and I agree with them.

I would usually have gone to Sembawang Music Centre at Sembawang Shopping Centre and look for replacement of my favourites previously on cassette tapes or vinyls. SMC has only this one shop back then and it was the boss himself Dave Boo who would serve me personally. It was Dave who introduced me to New Age music with labels from Narada, Windham Hill, Higher Octave Music and soon to follow Jazz. I would also patiently look for songs or music that I had wanted but could not find them somehow. I could be looking for a particular song, music, album or artist and sometimes like chasing after a butterfly, they just eludes you. Then when you just gently sat down to rest, like a butterfly they came to you resting on your shoulders.

I was looking for Hawaii 5-0 for ages, found a few but not to my perfect liking until a day when I got the best one in an album "Kojak and Baretta". This was a signature tune for our school stage band which were performed last and never failed to draw the encores. Another was an Agnes Chan album which even all the big stores could not locate even with overseas assistance then one day I found it at Tampines Metro. Ditto for the song Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks. You can probably find all the other oldies but none has this song. So these are all precious in the personal archives where once lost or damaged may never be found or replaced. I have found pieces like Baby Elephant Walk, Spanish Flea, Apache, Theme from S.W.A.T. and even Sousa's Marches.

Some people thought I was mad as my CD collection would enable me to go around a few years if I were to play one CD per day before coming full circle. This is just a passion as I have unique pieces of audiophile recordings for vocals, brass, guitars, piano, sax, etc. for even the more discerning.

For all your passion, you have your limits such as storage problems plus you may have other priorities. So I slowed down to a trickle or almost zilch, nada.

Now the wifey and children has caught on.

Oh deary me. Be careful what you start.

P.S. What you see above are part of my CD collection and the mounting on the main wall of my entertainment hall.