A Terrible Habit of Mine.

I've always been into music, and I do mean always. I can remember slight bits of being very young and begging my Mother to turn on my Dad's stereo so I could listen to music. I would sit on my little plastic chair in front of his home hi-fi system and listen to anything I could. This was all through olive green headphones from the 70s that barely stayed on my little noggin. From there I've always had a set of over-ear headphones and a way to listen to music. Even on a road trip from Indiana to Tennessee for my Grandma's funeral, I brought Match Box 20's Yourself or Someone Like You, and Yngwie Malmsteen's Fire and Ice with my CD player and headphones. I've never been far from music if I could help it.

One sad fact about music is the landscape changes so quickly. Who might be a top five hit maker today is a nobody tomorrow. Or even worse, who might be a top five hit maker today is deceased tomorrow. When I started playing guitar Randy Rhoads quickly became a major influence, but I knew I would never get the pleasure of seeing him play live in concert. After BBC America aired a whole Thin Lizzy live concert I fell deeper into their catalogue. I was familiar with Jailbreak and The Boys are Back in Town, as well as Southbound, but it caused me to dig deeper to the point I can't even listen to Jailbreak or The Boys anymore. They're not Thin Lizzy's greatest songs, they're just marketable. I find they're nowhere near as good as the rest of Thin Lizzy's catalogue.

Sometimes things sneak up on you, such as the passing of Dolores O'Riordan. I was familiar with The Cranberries' success with Zombie and Linger in the early 90s, but it wasn't something that stuck with me for all those years. After hearing Dreams in Derry Girls I dug a little deeper and later found I Can't Be With You and my all-time favorite When You're Gone. Those three songs were quickly added to my MP3 player, without question.

Then we come to a double whammy with The Outfield. Everyone is familiar with Your Love, it seems to be their trademark. But, just like with Thin Lizzy there are other songs that make it almost impossible for me to listen to that song. Since You've Been Gone, All The Love, and No Surrender are such great songs! I already knew John Spinks passed away, and that I would never see The Outfield play their hits live. John Spinks is the reason why I want a telecaster style guitar. His red PT style telecaster looked fucking awesome!

After finding the three songs I mentioned above I decided to do some searching to see if they were ever performed live. This yielded videos of Tony Lewis playing their hits live in Mexico in 2019 (I think). The beauty of the city, the passion of the crowd and how they sang the lyrics back to him to perfection spoke to my heart. TE AMO MEXICO! TE AMO! Tienes mi corazon! Sadly, Tony Lewis passed away in 2020, leaving behind a legacy of songs that truly deserve more attention than just Your Love, which is still a good song, it's just not their best.

I don't like finding some of my favorite songs only after their artists have passed on, but it seems to turn out that way. There are a lot of bands I listen to who are all alive and well, currently, but it just seems, for some reason, I only get the urge to dig deeper into a band's music once I can no longer see them perform those songs live. It takes time to go through any artist's catalogue, although the internet makes it much easier these days, so naturally I can't find them all. I'm terribly regretful that they're gone, first of all, but I'm also very grateful that they wrote and performed these songs. These songs have all inspired me to write music of my own, regardless of whether it will ever see the light of day or not. Music is, and always has been very deeply meaningful to myself, and I'm sure many others. Flesh shall one day return to the Earth, but music carries on from ear to ear, heart to heart, and soul to soul.