The Rhythms of Me

As a young boy, I'll usually get to listen to RJ 100, an adult contemporary--that's the genre of the music they're playing--radio station in the Philippines. Also, I'll listen to songs from CDs containing mostly 80s music. And as I grew up, my interest in old school music went on.

As a freshman, I listened to such stations like 99.5 RT, Magic 89.9, 96.3 Easy Rock and 105.1 Crossover for nice old school music. I listened and searched for music from bands like Men Without Hats, Fra Lippo Lippi, V.S.T and Co., Bee Gees, Naked Eyes, Eurythmics, Industry, JoBoxers, The Go Go's, Nena, Toto, Huey Lewis and The News, Hall and Oates; and artists like Rick Astley, Phil Collins, and Michael Jackson on the Internet.

But most of all, my interest for old school music grew during this recent summer and as a sophomore.

As I spent my sweet summer before I went on 2nd year in high school, I learned about Tears for Fears, China Crisis,Level 42,our very own bands here like The Dawn,The Youth,The Jerks, and so much more.

Then came my sophomore life. I discovered The Human League,The Cure,Men At Work, Simple Minds,Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Kraftwerk, R.E.M., Johnny Hates Jazz, Modern English, Belinda Carlisle, Howard Jones, Al Corley, Go West, New Order, The Bangles, The Pretenders, The Buggles, The Jukebox, Identity Crisis, Ethnic Faces,Violent Playground, and a lot, lot more....They're so many of them.

It's my routine to listen to these songs on my computer, on Magic 89.9 every Friday, and on 99.5 RT every Saturday. I even sang songs like these last Friday on the karaoke during our Christmas party in school.

All these things made me appreciate and love New Wave, Synthpop, Gothic Rock, Alternative Rock, Mainstream Pop, Remixes.

Old school music became my own rhythm, my own music.
                                                                  
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I've been so blessed that God gave me this interest, to have this taste for this kind of music that is now mostly underrated and abandoned.

People who lived during these times when big headlines came like Martial Law, People Power Revolution, The Clash of U.S.S.R., Breaking of Berlin Wall, and many more would never forget the music that had been a part of their lives. As I listen to old school songs on YouTube, I'll encounter comments saying that good music like those are not that present anymore today. I do agree on that. I'll even see comments saying that they like to go back to the past. Back to the 80s.

It's really true. Children of today miss some nice tunes and good rhythms that they'll always say "It's oldies!", or in Filipino "Makaluma naman yan!". But not all. I have fellow friends who appreciate them.

Going back to our Christmas party in school, I sang old school songs like Mad World, I Melt With You, and Everybody Wants To Rule The World. I remembered some classmates saying that they can't relate to my songs. There I began to be sort of sad that people don't really appreciate it anymore.

Anyway, it's my music. The t-shirt that I wore that time had these words: Discover Your Music. I've already discovered it. I'm proud of it.