Mrs. Owens appreciation thread
FYBS
271 Posts
This is gonna seem really random, but Mrs. Owens was my elementary school music teacher, and apart from being generally amazing and spawning the musical interests of countless young minds, there was one thing in particular that she used to do that I really loved. One week a year, we had "Record and Tape week" (later re-named "Tape and CD week" when the school upgraded the technology - much to soul strut's dismay, I'm sure). This was an opportunity for the kids to bring in music that they liked. Mrs. Owens would go around the room and let each kid play one track from their favorite album. We'd then talk about what the message of the song was, what the lyrics were, what instruments were present on the song, etc. It was really amazing to have an opportunity like that when I was a kid. Put me on to some pretty horrible music, in hindsight, but then again we were just little tykes. What did we know. Kinda reminds me of what Soul Strut is every day. So thanks to Mrs. Owens for encouraging the discussion of music. And thanks to all the SS big dudes for being my replacement e-Mrs. Owens. Curious if anybody else had any sort of similar experiences in school, or if any current teachers have any sort of similar practices. Who / what other than your parents first turned you onto music? I have a feeling this will be page 2 material in about four hours, but oh well.
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I gotta say, outside of my pops, my uncle Phillip (pop's 2nd to youngest brother) had a HUUUUUUUUGE influence on my music appreciation. The irony is that my uncle lived in this speck on the map called Elizabethtown, NC, yet he had all kinds of different genres of music. Dude hipped me to reggae, rock stuff like Steve Miller Band, all kids of disco I'd never heard of, even went as far as giving me ALL of his disco 12's when he closed down his disco (with one of his older brothers). We're talking nearly 1,000 12"s I was bequeathed at the tender age of 10. So, I broaden my musical horizons thanks to my uncle (and pops too, of course). I also had great band teachers in school (Mr. Smith, Mr. Alsup, and Mr. Morrow), all of whom nurtured my musical education and appreciation in jazz band and orchestra courses in Jr. and Sr. High.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
Everyone took chorus and even joined whatever plays were being produced. Remember this was NYC Fame era where a gang of high school kids saw performance as a viable career.
One day my boy Terry played him a local Black Exp Rapp tape he dubbed from his boys. We lied to Mr. Lawrence as said this was us rappin on this mad echoed homeade tape. He listened to it w/ an open ear - dude had a crazy stereo system in his classroom - but he wasnt fased. Plus he really had no idea what the fuck what was being done. Back In 1980 many folks never even heard a Rap song or even dudes freestylin over beats. Ill never forget his cool response.
He was the first dude i met who didnt own a TV. I almost admired that "fuck the world" attitude, comin from a straight laced middle aged white cat.Im glad to have been showed somethin' at an early age that was outside my local steez.