My Musical Journey So Far

Hi there!

I'm Ricky and I'm the guy behind New Records Daily. 

I built this online store to share my deep love for music with everyone. Music definitely comes from a higher power and it is one of the purest forms of energy in this life.

It has the power to bring you back in time and evoke such strong memories. It can also change your mood in a heartbeat. If you're feeling down, a good song can snap you out of it better than any elixir that man has invented. 

In the words of Bob Marley, "One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain. So hit me with music!"

I wanted to walk you through my journey with music and in doing so, I hope I inspire you to do the same.

The Early Years

As a young boy, I would always hear my mother listening to The Carpenters on the radio. To this day, hearing "Top of the World", "We've Only Just Begun", and "Rainy Days and Mondays" gets me all sentimental.

Together with The Carpenters, Engelbert Humperdink and Tony Orlando were on heavy rotation in our household. Imagine my horror when I was much older and discovering that "Knock Three Times" is actually a booty call song! 

My childhood was then turned upside down when Michael Jackson exploded with "Thriller". I remember family gatherings where the kids were asked to dance to "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and of course, "Thriller". 

The 80s were in full throttle and my older cousins started listening to Duran Duran, Culture Club, Depeche Mode and Tears for Fears. I remember hits like Nena's "99 Luft Balloons", Twister Sister's "Cum On Feel the Noize", The Knack's "My Sharona", Taco's "Puttin' on the Ritz", and The Flirts' "Don't Put Another Dime in the Jukebox" from that era as well.

The Age of New Wave

I had received a red Fox BMX bike as a gift and this allowed me to wander and explore my neighborhood more and I started hanging out with teenagers who were much older than I was. It was during this time that I got exposed to what is now labeled as New Wave music. These kids would organize parties on the street, in empty houses, or in the neighborhood recreation center or clubhouse and we would slam dance to Joy Division, Flock of Seagulls, Orchestral Maneouvres in the Dark, Aztec Camera, and many more. I remember always being the youngest kid in those parties and I loved it!

Those were arguably the best years for me in terms of music and even now, my desert island music would be New Wave music. When I want to reminisce about my "wonder years", I just play some The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, some Siouxsie and the Banshees and all is well in my world. 

The Grunge Era

High school and the 1990's came around and glam rock became really popular. My classmates and I were listening to Motley Crue, Guns 'N' Roses, Warrant, Skid Row, Poison and Mr. Big. It was right around this time that I also started having girlfriends.

I remember a particular girlfriend really fondly because her mother would be playing The Beatles in their house when we would hang out there during the weekends. She had the Fab Four's "Help" album constantly playing and that's when my love for The Beatles started. Since then, I've read a lot of books, watched a lot of documentaries about them and most importantly, listened to their albums many times over. 

Of course, discussing the 1990's would not be complete without talking about grunge music. We were right smack in our teens when Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains took over the airwaves. The other popular bands were Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, Radiohead, Blind Melon, The Lemonheads, and Gin Blossoms. These bands and their music helped us in that all too important transition into college life. 

College and Post Grunge

They say that "your generation's music" ends after college but I made a conscious decision to not allow this to happen to me. I kept tabs on music from the post-grunge era and remember listening to tunes from Third Eye Blind, Matchbox Twenty, Dave Matthews Band, Collective Soul, Bare Naked Ladies, Semisonic, The Goo Goo Dolls and many more. I got into this whole "Rage Against The Machine" phase as well and I would easily include that album in my Top 10 Albums of All Time any time. 

The 2000's were looming with all that uncertainty and I must say that this is when my musical taste also started diverging. I remember getting into The Descendents and They Might Be Giants during this period. 

Adulting and All That

Which brings us to the present time. There are easily two solid decades between the time after college and today. In those twenty years, jobs have come and gone, relationships have blossomed and ended but the music remains.

Life has happened and continues to happen but in between, I remember memorable songs from many artists. I no longer remember them chronologically and welcome them when they appear in bursts and bouts like fireworks in the night sky.

Sixpence None The Richer, Simply Red, Tenacious D, Seal, Sting, Sofi Tukker, Maggie Rogers, Jessie Ware, Lana Del Rey, The National, Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, Weezer, The xx, Cat Power, Garbage, Tracy Chapman, The Shins, and so much more. 

Oh god, there's so much more. 

I will continue to add to this as I remember them but I do encourage you to write out the musical tapestry that is your life as well. I would love to hear it! Send it to me via email at ricky@newrecordsdaily.com and let's post them here in the site if you would allow me to.

What an exhilarating ride it has been so far and the tunes definitely help us remember the good times. They have served as reminders that we were all young, beautiful and free once. 

They journey continues. What shall we listen to next?