Each year on December 8th, the world remembers John Lennon for his gift of music. It’s a gift that forever resonates and floats eternally across the universe. But what made this December 8th most special was the fact that I got to spend it in the city that John Lennon loved and called home– New York City. My father, a friend, and myself spent about 7 hours strolling through the city. We walked almost 8 miles when all was said and done. I would have walked ten.

Read Full Article…

John Lennon was murdered 27 years ago tonight. On December 8, 1980, I wasn’t old enough to appreciate the loss of such a gifted and talented artist. Some 27 years on, I am. Aside from Kurt Cobain, a puzzle piece of my generation, musically, there was no other person I admired more than John Lennon.

My only connection to John Lennon in the physical world is an autographed thank you card, signed by Yoko Ono, I received way back in high school. I sent a letter and some money for purchase of flowers in his memory. I received a thank you card, and I can’t remember if I received the money back. I am pretty sure she did send the money back. For some reason, the card was ripped, and all that is left is a portion of the card where she signed it.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

If anything on this Earth has been important to me my entire life, music would be up on top of that list pretty high. As far back as I can recall my earliest memory, I can recall music. It’s always been there.

I guess I can thank my father, who knows more about music than anyone I’ve ever known, and more about 60s music than most so-called experts who write books and give commentary on the subject. I guess I can thank him for the thousands of records he’s owned over the years, and the 1,200 or so music CDs I have sitting down in the “vault.”

Blood, Sweat & Tears

After having converted out entire CD collection to digital, in the form of MP3s, I now have almost 17,000 songs at my fingertips. No more searching ten minutes for a two minute song. Those days are over. The problem now is figuring out what song you want to hear.

Read Full Article…