A blast from the past

I was sad to hear of the passing of hip-hop singer Nate Dog in LA overnight.  I was never a huge fan or anything.  In fact I only think I know one song of his -- but man, I really did love that one song.  I remember waiting to tape it off the radio and trying to learn the rap.  I'm sure I was too old for that behaviour but whatever.  I was into music and I had a lot of time on my hands and homework to avoid.

I guess I could have gone and bought the cassingle (ha!) or the CD but where was the fun in that?  I had a massive gettoblaster with those heavy buttons that you'd press to literally smash down on a cassette to tape your new favourite song within seconds as it came on the radio. And then you could make a mix tape. Sweetness.

I'm guessing kids don't have that these days. Now you can just download a song or an album off a torrent or iTunes, google for lyrics or watch videos on YouTube.  Kinda takes the fun out of it all really. I used to love buying a CD and taking my time listening to songs, leafing through the cover art and song lyrics. Playing stuff over and over and over.  Really getting obsessed with albums and knowing every damn lyric. This week, Jon Bon Jovi even blamed Steve Jobs personally for killing the music business. He definitely has a point.  But is it Steve Jobs or is it us?

These days, everything's just so accessible. There's no biding your time on anything. It's all about instant gratification. Don't get me wrong. I love it.  Particularly as I'm a pop culture freak and modern technology allows me to live a million miles away but still keep up to date with friends, family, news, music, TV and gossip from all over the world.  I want it and I want it now.  But is it information overload?  Probably.  Do I miss those days chained to the gettoblaster ?  Absolutely. Although now it's all about downloading and playlists.

So here's my memory for today.  Nate Dog being a regulator and me reminiscing about my teenage mixtapes on a blog from my new home in China.  It's a brave new world.