Air Supply – Now and Forever (1982) We Need to Own Our Pre-Coming-of-Age Tastes
Welcome to WEEK 195 of 4T! (Video Episode #21) Air Supply – Now and Forever (1982)
We Need to Own Our Pre-Coming-of-Age Tastes
I never understood people who only listen to one or two kinds of music. Life is way more intricate and interesting than that. I believe your emotional maturity and openness are directly reflected in the type of music you listen to (and in other art you consume). I love punk. I love heavy metal. I love hip-hop. I love funk. I love grunge. I love about 35-400 other genres and subgenres, many of which are hard core, kick-ass, in your face. But I don’t play. I don’t front. I don’t posture. I love any music that’s good (subjective, whatever, if you don’t know what I mean then send me a comment!). That includes music that is way NOT in your face. Such as this week’s selection.
Musical taste is as nature/nurture as everything else. We’re born with certain proclivities, and then we are exposed to music through our family & friends, which further influences our tastes. BUT I think there’s a point in everyone’s life when they take charge. When they set aside nature/nurture and decide for themselves what music they want to get into. They were choosing and shaping as young’uns too, but this is different. It’s an active, conscious decision to potentially throw out (or more certainly reembrace) everything you learned about music in favor of things that become “exclusively” yours – those passion bands and artists that speak to you and “only you”. The music that makes your tastes distinct from those of your parents or older siblings or other influencers. For me that was around age 15. For others it’s way later or way earlier.
Air Supply came to me just before my musical coming-of-age. Y’all know I love songcraft. And these guys had it, or knew it when they heard it. PLUS sometimes you just need to mellow out. To feel the sunset in your ears. To actually see the heartstrings being pulled. That’s what Air Supply is for. Not to mention, there is NO BETTER NAME for a band that provides (yes, present tense – they’re still out there and in fact never stopped) a cool, refreshing breeze of music? Nope.
Yes, shortly after their heyday my tastes shifted drastically. But I never let music like this go. And to this day you can hear that in some of what I do. Especially including this song:
“Up All Day” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWrcNj3bwBw
A quick side note: Air Supply is from Australia. Like INXS. Like Silverchair. Like AC/DC. I’m convinced that bands from Australia and Canada have a way of distilling American-style music into its essential parts, and coming up with versions that are often tighter and more on the nose than what American acts do. Too many examples from both countries to get into here. I’ll discuss this more in my video version.
Do you remember/like/hate these guys? Do they qualify as yacht rock? Do you have mellow-out music you prefer? What are some artists or songs from your pre-awakening period that you still dig? Discuss dammit!
