Car Music

On the way home from work today I found the FirstWave station on the satellite radio. I enjoy listening to the 80's on 8 station at times, but I find it to be unfocused. There will be a New Wave song followed by an arena act followed by a pop song. For instance, this afternoon I heard the tail end of "Thriller" followed by a John Cougar song. Okay, that's not so far off— they're both pop songs. I guess I just don't care for John Cougar.

When I switched to FirstWave, I heard Duran Duran's "Wild Boys," Talk Talk's "It's My Life," and Oingo Boingo's "Weird Science." That's the 80's I want to listen to when I want to listen to the 80's. The station basically duplicates the sound KROQ was famous for in the 80's. In fact, they even have Richard Blade dj'ing in the afternoons. Richard Blade had some national gigs, but he was most famous for being an anchor dj of the KROQ sound. Of course, it only took a few minutes to figure out that Blade is just as annoying as ever! He loves to talk about himself. He's the New Wave version of Dusty Street, who namedrops on the Classic Vinyl station for hours at a time.

I don't put the 80's on frequently. The sound gets old fast if the mix isn't good. I usually listen to the 70's on 7, Classic Vinyl, or the Comedy Central station, punching between them whenever I get tired of the station I'm on. I used to like Deep Tracks quite a bit, but I find I have a hard time connecting to the songs they play. My other guilty pleasure when I don't feel up to music is that I have a CD full of "Drunks & Dragons" podcasts that I enjoy listening to. On my recent trip up to Ohio and back I listened to several hours of the Acquisitions Incorporated D & D podcasts. They were quite fun. Since I'm not actually playing  D & D these days, I get a charge from listening to others play. "Drunks & Dragons" is definitely not up to the standard set by the AI team, but it's enjoyable.

I would like to use my portable player in the car more often, but it's a bit unwieldy. It's better for extended periods in the car.

"Without music, life would be a mistake." — Friedrich Nietzsche