My Journey With Music Part 2
Disappointed that my exploration of the vinyl cupboard had ended abruptly, I wanted to explore all of it, not just a tiny part. I wanted to hear what I had seen. I wanted to know why the records were so vital to my dad that he had forbidden me to even look at them. Eventually, he agreed to let me access his collection, but there was one problem. My parents didn't own a record player. The all-familiar feelings of disappointment and frustration returned. But as luck would have it, those feelings were short-lived, as my grandparent were getting rid of their HIFI system, which had a turntable.
I was one record away from the day music became my passion. I had noticed turntables in stores and on TV commercials. Still, I only paid a little attention to them once I delved into my dad's record collection. I was full of curiosity as my dad pulled into the driveway of my grandparents' house. Leaping out of the car, I went straight in, greeted by my gran, who, sensing my excitement, stood in the hallway with a smile and said it was in the living room. In a rush, I entered the living room, and there before me was a glass unit with 4 shelves, each displaying audio equipment that resembled something from a spaceship. A turntable stood proudly at the top of the glass cabinet on the first shelf.
The journey home seemed to take forever. Eventually, we arrived home, and Dad started to set up the HIFI unit. It seemed to take forever. I was so impatient I just wanted to play records. Eventually, my dad finished setting up the unit, and he told me to go and grab some records, and he would show me how to use the turntable. I run down the stairs, smashing through the living room door and sliding to a halt in front of the unit that housed my dad's record collection. But where do I start? There were so many to choose from. I randomly picked a few records and rushed back to my dad. Little did I know that one of those records was about to introduce me to the band that would become a lifelong favorite. First, my dad showed me how to handle the record, how to place it on the turntable, and how to lower the tone arm to the grooves of the record.
Making the first choice of what to play caused overwhelming emotions. However, that feeling of being overwhelmed was replaced with excitement, which was more significant than the worry of making the wrong choice. There was one record that caught my eye. It was blue with white lettering and had four guys on a pouch looking down with smiles. I took the record out of its cover, holding it correctly. I placed the record on the turntable and pressed play. The record spun to life, turning around and around, but there was no sound. I looked at my dad with a somewhat confused expression, then realised I hadn't lowered the tone arm onto the record. As the needle hit the record grove, a sound of cracks and pops filled the room, followed by an instrument I had never heard before, the Melatron.
The Album I am talking about is the Beatles album 1967 to 1970, and the songs were Strawberry Fields forever. When I played this, I didn't realise how significant this moment would be, Nor did I know that a 4-minute song would have such a lasting impact on me. Discovering the Beatles changed everything for me, and they quickly became my favourite band. For the next few months, I would come home from school, go to my room, put a Beatles record on, lay on my bed, and lose myself in their music. Their albums became a sanctuary for me when I had a bad day at school or faced challenging times at home, and their music was always there to cheer me up and still does to this day. I am still a massive fan of their music. Their timeless music has an exceptional quality that has lasted to this day. Despite countless changes in music and society and the deaths of John and George, their music is still as relevant today as it was when it was first released.
