Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company

Some people may recognize 97X when it was name-dropped in Rain Man. I remember it as one of the radio stations I listened to in my youth. I listened to it before I even saw Rain Man (on TV).

My musical listening choices are debatable, according to some. My parents listened to Big Band and crooners like Frank Sinatra, so I got to know that music as a child. I went through phases where I listened primarily to soft rock, then oldies. The first album I ever bought was a cassette of Billy Joel's Piano Man. It wasn't until the beginning of the '90s that I really got into '80s music, probably because my family didn't have cable (and, therefore, MTV) before then. I tried classical music, but I didn't really have the desire or money to throw myself into amassing the standard works of the genre. There was one summer where I watched a lot of music videos on GAC. More recently, I've been interested in music that is fun to sing. And I still listen to radio.

I've pretty much bounced around the musical spectrum in terms of what I am willing to listen to and I will entertain a variety of moods. But I generally prefer music that has lyrics. I don't like excessively hard rock. And I think there's a place for songs that are angry, bitter, or depressed, but I don't want everything I hear to be a downer.

97X gave me a nice mix of interesting stuff, from guitar-driven alternative to alterna-pop. It and a modern rock station, 107.1 Channel Z (since changed to an urban format), were what I often listened to driving to and from school.

I'm on dial-up, so internet radio is not for me right now, but if I had broadband, I'd be listening to the 97X netcast right now for old time's same.