I’m stuck in the 70’s. When I look at the music on my iPod, it mostly consists of oldies from my days of youth. I just love listening to the old songs, even though music afficionados don’t give the 70’s very high marks.
I also have a healthy dose of instrumentals I love by Secret Garden, Adagio Trio, David Arkenstone and others. And I primarily listen to the instrumentals playing on my computer in the study as I spent large portions of my day there. When I write, I find it distracting to have words of songs running through my head, so I stick with instrumentals.
I also have a collection of Broadway musical soundtracks and several contemporary Christian cds.
I have a handful of more up-to-date cds that my kids have introduced me to over the years, Imogene Heap and Cold Play come to mind.
My husband went on a Celtic music binge a several years ago. So we have a collection of that too.
But mostly I’m stuck in the 70’s with Dan Fogelberg, Bread, Boz Scaggs, BeeGees, America, Cher, Carpenters, Harry Chapin, and please don’t gag, Barry Manilow. You get the idea. This is the music I loved when I was young and it still brings back a good feeling when I play it now.
Once I started having children, I stopped keeping up with the new music.
How about you? Were you able to keep up? Do you have favorites from every decade that you’ve lived? Do you have a huge collection of music that just keeps growing? Or do you rely on the songs you loved from the past? If so, where do you find the new music? The radio? MTV? How do you keep up?
I’d like to know.
Christine M. Grote 
I’m stuck musically in time as well! How can we not be when the music was so great?
I’m with you.
Ambrosia, Joni Mitchell, the Beach Boys, Steely Dan, CSN, Genesis. Anyone for the Alan Parsons Project? Chris Cross? Michael Franks?
How could I forget Ambrosia and Genesis? What about Styx? I liked Chris Cross. Not sure about the others. Steely Dan was good.
I saw the Beach Boys in concert in college. That was fun.
Love Joni Mitchell. Did I mention Joan Baez?
I need to get some more music from iTunes.
I listen to a lot of different genres, from classical to jazz, blues to rock, soundtracks, folk, Celtic, and the list goes on.
I’ve found very little in the 60s and 70s era that appeals to me personally. I know, that’s going to get me clobbered by Elvis, Beatles, and ABBA fans.
At the moment, I’m much more likely to find music through word of mouth or similar types through computer networking. I’ve found radio in the last few years to be tedious, with too much chatter, and an emphasis on top forty hip-hop and pop (hip hop, rap, and metal are the only genres I can’t listen to). I find acts like Christina Aguilera, Lady Ga Ga, and the Evil One (BIeber) annoying anyway, so I’ve taken to avoiding the radio.
As rock goes, for me it’s Sarah McLachlan, U2, Great Big Sea, Sarah Slean, Sheryl Crow, and a lot of acts along those lines.
I’m glad you said that about the radio. I gave up on the radio a long time ago. I know of all the acts you mention, but I never caught on to them. I think they were about that time I was knee deep in diapers.
I listen to all kinds of music — but I usually only listen in the car — and then (sad to say) it’s either NPR or whatever is on the top 10 radio station! True confession, can’t believe I’m OFFERING this, I do have a real love of Barry White and, like you, the BeeGees!
Barry White is good. I have to listen to the BeeGees and some of these other groups when I’m alone. Mark doesn’t tolerate it well.
I listen to ALL kinds with the exception of country. Not a big country fan though I do have some Taylor Swift and Rasal Flatts in my music library. I usually get new artists I like through my sons—they are very good at giving me names of new artists that they like that they think I would like also. The oldest always goes to Austin City Limits and other big music festivals and I get to reap the benefits of his trips by getting hooked on new groups. When I make long drives I usually put XM on 70’s on 7 or 80”s on 8!!!!
I like Taylor Swift, too. But her songs all song pretty much the same to me. My sons have given me the few new artists also. But they’ve kind of stopped doing that.
I have favorites from the 70’s (Aerosmith, Boston, Grateful Dead, Fogelberg, Bread, Boz Scaggs, America, Cher, Seals & Crofts, Dave Mason), 80’s (Bruce Hornsby, Joan Armortrading, Tracy Chapman), 90’s (Dave Matthews, Matchbox 20, Sarah McLachlan, Enya, Yanni), and a few more recent performers (Natasha Beddingfield, Patchouli, Anna Nalick, and Michael Franti & Spearhead).
Like you, I don’t like lyrics competing for my attention when writing. I choose silence or classical music, jazz, or the blues.
I liked Seals and Crofts too. I love Tracy Chapman, but otherwise I’m not very familiar with the 80s artists you mentioned. I have a lot of Enya and Yanni. I don’t know any of the recent ones you mention.
I just think the evolution of music in our lives or lack of is an interesting concept.
I’d rather they pour molten lead in my ears than listen to Barry Manilow. Beatles, Led Zep, Doors, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Carol King and James Taylor. Simon and Garfunkel too.
Ouch. Yeah. I know people hate Barry Manilow. I can live with that. I hope you mean you like the others you mention? Since Led Zep is in there I think it is a safe bet. I like everybody you mention. Most of these artists are poets. I love Carole King’s “You hold me in your hands like a bunch of flowers,”. . .
Gosh, I hope you didn’t mean you didn’t like them.
I love them and go to Jango and set up to play for hours as I do my drawings. I like that whole anti war, anti Vietnam protest stuff too. Dylan and Baez were our prophets.
What do you think of Peter, Paul and Mary?
Hi Christine – I can indeed relate to this …This is the music I loved when I was young and it still brings back a good feeling when I play it now.
The ones I enjoyed the most were the romantic ones and Anne Murray was my favourite but one of her songs I just couldn’t get out of my mind it was… You needed me … I didn’t understand all the words until I became a Christian but somehow it comforted me greatly, later I realised the words were talking about Jesus choosing to need us, not that He does need us like we need Him because He is complete in The Godhead but it is a sign of His greatness shown in Love, He knows we need to be needed, He created us that way.
Thanks for sharing Christine it brought back some beautiful memories.
Christian Love Anne.
Anne Murray’s “You Needed Me,” was big indeed.
I think there can be a lot of interpretations to that song. I’m glad you found one you that brought you comfort.
But you’re right. We all do need to be needed. Good point. Thanks for commenting.
I love all kinds of music..jazz, blues, 70’s rock and country. We listen to satelite radio…a specific genre and minimal chatter. Its the best!
I’ve never listened to satelite radio, sometimes I listen to the radio on one of our cable TV channels, but usually I choose one that plays 70s, so I don’t learn anything new there.
At home I listen to K-love on the radio, or iTunes on my computer; in the car, it’s XM–The Message mostly, but I scan 50s, 60s, 70, 80s, 90s, and Love. I didn’t care much for the 90s music my daughter listened to as a teen, but one day, I heard a Guns N Roses song I liked! LOL I told her I was reverting to childhood, but it was HER childhood! I buy songs I hear and like from iTunes usually.
Thanks, Patti. I have started buying songs I hear and like from iTunes as well, although often they are instrumentals because I listen to a Pandora station based on Secret Garden and that’s what I hear there.
I have so many song lyrics in my head from a large selection of decades. I listen to all sorts of music (including some real oldies such as big band music, old jazz, and classical), although some oldies from the 60s, 70s, and 80s are starting to grate on my nerves as there are times when it seems like all we can pick up are oldies stations on the radio (and my husband sometimes gets into a classic rock listening rut).
I do not own an MP3 player of any kind, but do have a large selection of vinyl, tapes (we did finally get rid of the 8-tracks…lol!), and CDs. We’re pretty current around here as both my husband and I enjoy listening to music on the internet (I like Radio Paradise and XPN.org). The CDs are mostly for car trips now (and we tend to take a lot of those).
I should get my vinyls back out, if they’re not completely warped. I don’t have a record player anymore, so I would have to get one of those too, and then find an available surface to put it on.
Probably will stick with my iPod and computer.
I’ll have to try Radio Paradise.
Thanks for playing.