yes yes y'all. The Fisher Price Music Box Record Player. this joint was awesome. it came with several records. you could move the arm to/from the record. it wound in the front. there was a spot in the top of the player for you to store the lps. and it was PORTABLE. (cue echo again)
(props to the other bloggers and folks for taking these pics)
so here i am, bumping to the classics as a sound selector. and i would even try to scratch the records. this essentially was me moving the records faster or slower to see what it sounded like... now of course through travel and wear and tear this bad boy had given us service and had to be retired, plus i was much older. so eventually, i had to cop this..
most heads i know and talk to, can totally share stories of owning this beauty. the first plate i put on was Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, straight out of mom's collection. i played a few records from time to time. i have a He-Man storybook that came with a record you could play and read along to. i miss those types of books. as a matter of fact, i still have the player.
with the advent of music videos and such, times were a changing. and lo and behold again, i was blessed with probably one of my favorite possessions:
this magnificent device obviously gave me the control of cassettes and the power to record myself being goofy but most importantly... you could launch it down a flight of stairs and not blink. this durable summbich was built for me. it knew that wherever we were going, it had to be ready for it. this led to me collecting cassettes. anything i could get my hands on. which of course all leads to this...
my baby. at the time for me, if there was a device that made me feel cool, this was it. water resistant, auto reverse (no taking it out to flip it over?!?!?!?!), again - durable. (there's another theme here, lol) this device allowed me to hear the Chili Peppers in 89 (see Sexy Mexican Maid and Pretty Little Ditty), Living Colour, and Songs From the Big Chair. i played Shout until it actually wore out the tape. Enjoy the Silence, also. side note: i miss maxi singles and all that remix gloriousness.
this led to a series of bigger and better....actually, smaller and better players until cds started doing their thing. i share all of that to say this, music has and will always be more than just music to me. it has played a part in my life that is difficult to wrap up in just a few sentences. it's why i'm a music snob bc i have heard some of the best of what vibrations have to offer and will not allow bullshit to just be glossed over and accepted as music. what i didn't realize is how my parents, Fisher Price and technology have made me the man i am today. and before i could get into what music has influenced me...i had to remember how it came to be to me.
