I have my mom to thank for my early exposure to music. To my dad, music was just an incidental part of the ambient environment. He had some opinions about it, but not strong ones. My mom, on the other hand, would sing in the car and play music at home. I was a toddler when I began to butcher “How Long” by the Pointer Sisters. I couldn’t master the articulation of, “Betcha got a chick on the side, sure you got a chick, I know you got a chick on the side.” I could only sing, “Chicka chicka chicka chicka side,” but you have to admit that I had decent improvisational skills.
I remember getting excited whenever I heard a talking guitar on, “Do You Feel,” by Peter Frampton. Go ahead and scoff, but some novelties are cooler than others, and a talking guitar (or smoking guitar a la Ace Frehley, or talking keyboard a la Roger Troutman) is blow-your-mind cool to a little kid. I want my son to have that same excitement about music, but Peter Frampton isn’t necessarily what gets his head bobbing. He is, however, impressed with the robotic voice of Devo’s “Watch Us Work It.” He also like the pitch change in Bruno Mars’s “Money Make Her Smile.” He calls it, “Money, Money,” so I’m relatively sure that he doesn’t know that the song is about a stripper.
Lyrical content aside, it makes me happy to see a sense of wonder for music in my son that I remember having when I was his age. As a parent of a five-year-old, only child, I’m still learning how to avoid drawing attention to the themes of songs (how did I not know what “Plaster Caster” was about?). He is only five, after all, and I desperately hope that he always finds excitement in sound. Even if those sounds may be cheesy novelties, I appreciate the sense of appreciation. That sense never left me, and I went on to think songs like Hellwitch’s “Mordirivial Dissemination” were scary cool. I like having common interests, so the prospect of having a kid who always likes thrash appeals to me, but I will be always be happy knowing that my son has more than a passing interest in and opinion of music of any kind. If it happens to be a novel effect that ignites or fans the flame of interest, so be it. Thanks be to the vocoder.
Links to songs are provided below.
Have a good day!
Otto Scungy
How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side) by Pointer Sisters
Do You Feel Like We Do by Peter Frampton
https://youtu.be/vcBFqf01E-8?t=5m23s
Watch Us Work It by Devo
Money Make Her Smile by Bruno Mars
Mordirivial Dissemination by Hellwitch
