Air For Band

This takes me back to high school band, back in 1992. I joined band my Junior year, and I believe this may have been the first song I ever played with the concert band — in warm-ups. Air for Band was almost always next on the agenda after our brief and basic long-tone warm-up every day. (Music majors, please note that the clarinets are featured, *and* that the main melody is in the difficult “throat tones” of the instrument. Excellent warm-up… in retrospect.)

It got to the point where Mr. W. would just start right into Air for Band before we even got our music out, and we’d have to spend the first phrase or two shuffling papers with one hand and playing with the other. Eventually, I think I had the whole first page memorized; even now, fifteen (!) years later, I can still recall the fingering of the first phrase, and I haven’t even touched a clarinet in nigh on ten years. (I can still sing my part all the way through, though, of course.)

Hearing the North Texas Wind Symphony play it so perfectly is almost surreal. In my memory, I can still hear the saxophones (behind me and to my left) completely missing the key change. (One in particular, usually, although they had their days.) Jim would be on the snare in the back; and Jeff, Eileen, or Katie would have the cymbals.

During my Junior year, I was first chair clarinet (yep, my first year in band — it was more because of my attitude than my ability, IMO). That meant I got to sit next to my best friend, Melody, who was first chair flute. We had a vibe goin’ on, be it in Concert Band or Jazz Band or after school in the cafeteria. Anyway, I remember it was strange when Mel graduated and I had to spend my Senior year playing Air for Band (and everything else) next to Heather instead.

They weren’t the “best years of my life,” not by a long shot… but sometimes I forget that they did have their moments. Air for Band was always one of those moments.

Everybody Dance Now

Earlier this week, a co-worker got a song stuck in my head. Actually, just a chorus, since that’s all I could remember. The resulting resurgence of mid-to-late-80s hip-hop memories has been disturbing, on one hand, but a hell of a lot of fun on the other.

Last night, I fired up Ye Olde SoulSeek P2P client to see what I could find. Amongst other gems of non-hip-hop-ness, I gathered enough songs to combine with the few staples already in my library in order to start the following “Hip-Hop / Dance” playlist:

hip-hop playlist

Granted, the list is still small, and a couple of the songs are from the 2000’s, and one or two of them are more dance than hip-hop. I’m still working on it, though, and I need your assistance.

I’m working on locating I’ve downloaded “Pump Up The Jam” by Technotronic tonight — after that, though, I’ll need to sift through the Billboard Top 100 from 1986 to 1991 or so to find the songs I need. I’d rather have your suggestions first. I’m trying to focus on hip-hop and dance-pop music from 1986 or 1987 through 1991 or 1992. (That’s when I finally found friends who helped me hone my musical taste from the standard Top 40 to “progressive alternative,” like The Cure and Depeche Mode and their ilk.)

So, think back to the all-night skate, or the junior-high dance, Dance Party USA, or the clock-radio in your room, and hit me with some good hip-hop tunes that I’ll be almost embarrassed to admit that I used to totally love.

Drum Corps Withdrawal

Some years, I just don’t get “into” corps. I always go to the Toledo show in June — usually the first show of the season for most corps involved — but sometimes, I can’t really get excited about making two-hour drives to see other shows during the summer. This was one of those years.

Tonight, on ESPN2, I watched highlights from the DCI World Championship Finals. I recorded it on the PVR program on Aaron’s computer, and am currently burning it to DVD. In a few more minutes, I will have a DVD of the two-hour program I just watched, complete with chapter stops to skip the commercials. Tomorrow, this DVD may even have a fancy label printed right on the disc, if I get around to designing one.

Some years, I get “into” corps right about the time the highlights are broadcast on ESPN2 or PBS or whatever medium they’re in. I’m not sure if this is one of those years or not.

We’ll see tomorrow, after I listen to the On The 50 podcast that’s been sitting neglected on my iPod for weeks. If I bring my old DCI tapes downstairs and start digitizing them and burning them to DVD, that’s a sign.

Twilight Sheen

I ended up taking a brisk walk around the neighborhood this evening, just before dusk. I’d strapped on my iPod, and the first podcast I queued up was On The 50 (a weekly podcast of drum corps opinion), and I’m sure that affected my mood on some level.

As I finished my first lap around the neighborhood, I’d also finished the podcast. The sky was that particular shade of blue that means the sun has set, and that it’s going to be very dark in about five minutes. The stars had begun to come out, and a light breeze was cooling the sheen of sweat I’d managed to accumulate. Circles of light pooled under the streetlamps, spilling over curbs onto the street.

I queued up another podcast as I started my second lap, but my brain was still focused on a memory. Drum corps in the mid 90’s.
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