Music Appreciation 101

Every parent has fears. Crazy neuroses regarding how they are raising their child and what sort of person they are helping them to become.

I wonder if Liam will appreciate the wonder of The Beatles and the divinity of Donna Summer.

I like music. A lot. I grew up in a house that was constantly filled with music. My parents, especially my dad, always had the radio on while doing odd jobs around the house. Which meant pretty much every weekend of my childhood, my house hummed with the sounds of The Beatles, Joe Cocker, CCR, or The Rolling Stones. Other times it was more R&B with Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Four Tops and Ray Charles. Hearing this music reminds me of my childhood. A full sensory experience, where I can almost feel the front steps beneath my feet or the kitchen table underneath my fingertips.

I was lucky to have older brothers and a sister who also loved music. Jackson Brown, Bob Seger, and Springsteen. Aerosmith, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin. My brother, Gerry, probably had the most musical influence on me next to my father. His bedroom in the basement was like a dark oasis where he let me use his expensive stereo equipment and spin his records. I can remember when we would sing into the bedposts and hairbrushes. From him I gained love for rock, heavy metal, hair bands and new country. Yes, I'm pretty well rounded.

But Liam doesn't have the benefit of older siblings to share classic music with him. I know he'll find out about pop on his own and through tv and the radio. But I'm concerned about his historical reference. How will he know about this great music?

So I've decided that travel time in the car and/or lunch time would be Music Appreciation 101. Sometimes I pick out cds or playlists on my iPod. Othertimes I hope for something good on the radio. Today he heard The Beatles' Golden Slumber for the first time. At lunch last Friday we played my iPod Funkytown playlist which includes Donna Summer, ABBA, and CeCe Peniston. I'm pretty sure it was my dancing that was making him laugh.

So I'm not sure he is really getting anything out of it now, and I know at some point he'll say he doesn't want to listen to Mum's old music. But for now it puts a little more love in my heart when I see his head whip around when he hears the Buick commercials featuring Areosmith.

Dream on, dream on, dream until your dream comes true...