Revisiting 1982

I have not been meeting my reflections on 1982 quota lately and I'm running out of time. This song by Fleetwood Mac remains embedded in my storyboard of 1982 along with a few other choice tunes.

 It was the year I paid attention to music. Thriller, by Michael Jackson was released. A new wave of British Rock arrived with The Cure and Flock of Seagulls and Duran Duran. The River by Bruce Springsteen, a double album that I wouldn't fully appreciate for 20 more years was released in 1981. American and British rock was mostly dance music, fun and upbeat. Disco was no longer a white kid's music as Donna Summer kept the flame burning. The closest I got to Motown was Def Jam records' Run DMC.

1982 is a landmark year in popular music as MTV gained full power of music videos. I'd watched music videos on Channel 56 out of Boston but MTV had a format that was more pleasing and budgets such as Thriller mini-movie started demanding more and more respect. But I like to put things in perspective and if I had been forced to listen to Rosemary Clooney when I was 11 years old it would be absolutely no different than letting an 11 year old listen to Jack & Diane by John Cougar Mellencamp today. I basically did not listen to music from 1952 when the year was 1982. 1952 was such a dusty concept that it was outside of my realm. Even 1962 was pre-Beatles. 1952 was 30 years before 1982 and 1982 is 30 years ago now. This sort of blows my mind. But now I love music from 1952 and consider pre-rock and roll to be the most pleasing ever recorded. Pink Floyd is still my favorite but only because it appeals to my philosophy of anti-corporate activism and philosophical contemplation through minor pentatonic scales. But give me Patti Page and I drift into an ideal sleep. Percy Faith is Xanax for my brain.