Growing Up With A Soundtrack Of My Life

Growing up in the 80s, music from the "New Romantic Era" and Synth-Pop British New Wave, MORocking Americas and Hip J-Pop - were a jolt and likened to a discovery of a brand "new" world beyond our island Singapore, who had our very own Dick Lee added to the mix, were especially mind/eardrum-blowing to a growing Asian Kid … those were the days when we ASPIRE to pop stars, and even breakdancers when the break-beat beckoned!


The transitioning from 80s to 90s, for me personally, was marked by tunes which soothed our aches and pains from military training and the grueling two and a half years of being a conscript, and a penniless boy-soldier - who boogied to Roxette and her friends - cradling our M16s like dance partner / duets … "it must have been love, but it's over now…" echoing into the new generation of being a working adult…


The indie and glam rock anthems in the 90s served as out sell-out concerts in karaokes and live-band spots like Hard Rock Cafe … We Could Have Been Stars Then … WE WERE ROCK STARS! Wishfulfilment at the click of a karaoke-song choice, coupled with buying power from a by-then working adult. We had the booze and smokes, we had our band-buddies we sang along with, headbanged with, lived our teenage dreams out with … and funnily, we "grew up" and falsettos turned to harmonies, when we became boybands and girlbands, manufactured and tuned into the masses. "I've got a picture of you in my mind, never knew it could be so wrong…"


By the millennium, our ears had tuned to the downtempo D&B that flooded our senses in clubs, surrounded by strangers who were mesmerized by the same song(s) … the same buying power of a working adult, fueled the rampage of post-youth clammering for teenhood.

The neon life flashing by as quick but left an empty stomach hungry for sustenance, that consisted a iPod list of forgettable strangers who made tunes … The world has become too small, we needed to see/hear more of the world! The vacuum void was but somehow filled up with jazz, boss nova, and guitar-jangled folksongs - genres experimented with in the late-90s, now back in the soundscape bosom.


For the past decade, music has turned indoors, experience between the ears within headphones, staring at the screen with anime and youtubed music videos parading our pasts.

My lifestyles has changed and I was in perpetual hibernation, so out comes the old CDs from previous years as well, and "Old" is "New" again, and classic 80s songs we grew up with gets a new lift and tuck, with "Glee" and "Pitch Perfect" mixing it up - like re-fried cold rice but with a new sauce … even being "Rick-Rolled" was to be a nice jaunt-down-memory lane once and a while! LOL


Watched Rock of Ages twice on cable yesterday/today, and unsurprisingly knew the lyrics to most of the songs, no doubt from my Rock God-days of performing to sold out arenas in my own headspace. Whomever said "re-fried cold rice" obviously haven't tasted the memories of glorious dreams :)

Cheers
Andy


P/S: Head a jazzed-version of Bon Jovi's "Living On a Prayer" last week at school, and HAD to work in the song here LOL