Saturday, September 22, 2012

Other Passions

Have you got passions that others know little about?  Or that family members know of yet friends don't.  I have a passion for classical music that family members know of and yet my friends know so little about that when it comes into a conversation, I surprise them with how much I know.

In particular Mozart.

I have had a passion for W.A Mozart since I was very young and so has my Grandpa.  He collected together a scroll of photocopied information which I was given when he passed away.
But well before he did pass on, I was beginning to collect Mozart vinyl and cds.  There was something about his music that was brilliant and showed that he had a type of genius about him.  I enjoy listening to his music and can usually pick it out in stores and - annoyingly - movies that use it as background music.

However, I surprised myself at just how much of Mozart's works I have on vinyl and how much of it is hard to find now compared to around 6 or 7 years ago.  I've been looking around at Rockaway and The Record Market in the city and it's becoming harder and harder to find good quality Mozart vinyls that don't have that many scratches on them - let alone ones that just have play scratches on them.  
Play scratches are those that you don't make yourself; the stylus does it due to you playing the vinyl over and over.  This is something you see on a vinyl from a radio station and these are harmless scratches which spiral from the centre of the record outward; and you can only see them in very good light.  You don't hear them during the playing of the record and it's just through use that these scratches occur.  However, I have seen some pretty bad damage to vinyls; and wondered why the people who had them didn't take better care of them.

Along with Mozart records and cds I have also collected a couple of books on the man.  There was one titled 'Mozart: His Character, His Work' by Alfred Einstein.  It's been translated by Arthur Mendel and Nathan Broder and it's a first edition; printed in 1946.  This book is not only rare but out of print.  I found is little beauty in The Book Barn in MullumBimby along with another book - which was sitting underneath it - titled 'Mozart: A Cultural Biography' by Robert W Gutman.  This one was published in 2000 and covers ever other aspect of Mozart's life.  
The funny thing is, whenever I'm listening to a show on the radio or watching a research show on Mozart, people come back time and again to Alfred Einstein's book.  This has caused me to want to read it; not because I own it, but because of their references to his notes of this great composer.

But there are other types of music I do love besides classical.  For example, I remember my first 3 vinyls and who they were by... and I still have them in near-new condition and have had one of them signed! 
My first vinyl was 'Be Yourself Tonight' by The Eurythmics.  I got it when I was on holidays with my family at Caloundra on my 12th birthday.  I still play it and love it as it still plays just the same as it did when I first got it - and the stylus still skips in 'Adrian' because of a manufacturing fault on the vinyl. Funny how that kind of thing happens in vinyls and yet we never worried about it.
Then, my next vinyl was Madonna's 'True Blue'.  I bought that out of my own money and I loved it!  At that point in her career, Madonna was very popular and all the songs on her vinyl were being played on the radio... very cool.  I sometimes play this vinyl, but it's more or less a museum piece now.
My third vinyl was one where I was looking for a classical mentor for my own needs.  I had picked up the flute and needed somebody to look up to; somebody to emulate, and that somebody was James Galway (I didn't put 'Sir' on his name as he hadn't been Knighted when I first found out about him).  I bought 'The James Galway Collection' and in the same year - after driving my family nuts with his music - Mum took me to see him in concert in 1986.  I met the man and he was inspirational!  Twenty-four years later, in 2010, he came back to Brisbane for a one-night-only performance.  And this time, I took along my 'James Galway Collection' for him to sign and a book as well as a photo which I had with me where Mum took of us when I was 13 years old in 1986.  When he saw it, he was so please I had come back to see him and delighted that I had also kept my original flute after all these years!  He was also very happy to see somebody with a vinyl - and told me he made cds.  I said I knew but music always sounds better on vinyl; at which he agreed and he pulled out his pen and signed not only my vinyl but the book he had written titled 'Flute'. 

I have other vinyls in my music collection - which keeps growing all the time.  I love to play Santana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, INXS, U2, AC/DC and other great bands... and I also have comedians on vinyl too like Wes Harrison and Bill Cosby.
 So, what are your other passions that not many people know about?  Do you keep yours secret?  Or have you let people know your passions and astounded your family and friends?  Do they like your passions?  Or are you the kind of person who likes to surprise people?  Until my next post, take care, keep safe and warm and remember, I'm always here.

3 comments:

  1. is currently working on BOM albums for my kids to keep. That is when they will learn more about my passions from the past.

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    1. Sounds like a good plan. Mum and Dad have always kinda pushed Gabe and me to listen to their music since we were young so we know what kind of music they love... now, they know what we like too and we both appreciate each other's music together. :D

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  2. never really had the same taste music as my parents while I was growing up. But since I am getting older my music taste is starting to change abit.

    Seen a man and woman entertaining with a variety of music styles at the club yesterday morning. They were really good! Most of it was reggae style which I am starting to enjoy more now.

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