Confession time: I still listen to the radio. With the iPod, iTouch, mp3’s, Pandora, and Sirius radio options, not to mention the soon to be outdated CD’s, it’s possible these days to never listen to the radio. Even my Dad, who now claims he’s in the 20th century with his iPhone, and don’t get me started on the hours of hilarity this has provided, even my Dad is listening to Pandora.
But it dawned on me in the car the other day what I would miss if I stopped listening to the radio. As a kid I spent plenty of time in the car. Whether we were moving across country or driving to see family hundreds of miles away, the radio was always on. Looking back on it, my parents listened to a lot of music, some good some not so good, but it was always on.
The radio has become a roulette wheel of sorts, a “what song connects to a childhood memory” adventure down memory lane. Is it Blondie’s Heart of Glass and driving to the swap meet when I was nine and we lived in the god-forsaken desert? The Fleetwood Mac song that was on the radio when traipsing to the Coors beer waterfall with my aunts? Or is it that Joe Jackson song that was on the radio when we drove to my aunt’s wedding in a snow storm? Not to mention the Saturday Night Fever album that they played relentlessly, which I now blame for my love of disco.
These are memories are unintentionally buried some where under my to-do list, what I need to get at the grocery store and the constant reminder that I still need to make my dental appointment. Memories that are sweet, mostly, and remind me of all of the experiences that have culminated to today, as I listen to the radio.
AMBER GEORGE 
November 12, 2011 at 12:22 pm
a nice reminder 🙂
November 12, 2011 at 1:01 pm
I still listen to the radio a lot. How else would I ever hear anything else but oldies…. and I might even be your dad’s age. Some people our ages do all the tech stuff and some don’t have a clue.
November 13, 2011 at 9:06 am
I too am a radiophile. I love the variety, and being introduced to new music. We are blessed with some excellent stations here in Santa Fe that search for and play fabulous jazz, world music, blues, off-beat new stuff that I would not find stuck in my own taste-bubble. When I travel, I look for local stations and get a feel for the culture–rockabilly, cajun, Texanos… And there are some places where there is nothing to listen to, so fortunately I have cd’s.
Ok, the truth is also that I’m a news junkie too. I listen to liberal talk radio, and when I travel, I listen to as much of the other stuff as I can stand–good to know how they think, or don’t. Then there is Public Radio that has some amazing, informative shows. One local station carries Clark Howard who is the most knowledgeable financial adviser and knows the best of everything from travel to investments, to- -you name it!
However, when I’m wanting to get in the flow of making art, nothing beats putting on my own favorite music (usually world music with a beat, or David Byrne) and rockin to the vibes.