Feb 6
Object 1 -The Walkman
Inspired by Northern Planner I've been thinking of myself in 100 objects. Since the seven or so weeks since he started posted his first I've been daydreaming about my objects. This is the first.
One Christmas I got a Walkman. Technically it was a Personal Stereo as it wasn't a Sony but it was, to all intents and purposes, a Walkman. And it never worked. I had a whole range of tapes of Top 40 singles recorded from the Top 40 show on a Sunday ready to be mainlined into my head at a click of a button. But it wasn't to be, it was broken.
Gutted, it meant I had to wait an extra four weeks until I got a replacement (I think. It seemed like an age, an age being around 4 weeks when your 12). It was an incredibly huge, yellow, ugly cumbersome thing with only a play, stop and a fast forward function. You wanted a pause, you hit "stop". I think made by Alba or someone equally as pish. But it did have a Chrome tape setting. And it was opened and closed via a huge clampy-hinge type thing. Unique. But not in a good way.
I got it early morning just as we where heading out to go to the local park (the Orry). It had been snowing and we where off sledging. I was still fumbling with the HP7's (AA's now kids) but was told not to listen to it in the car.
We arrived and headed out. It was freezing, it was snow all around and it was still. I was quite happy to place the headphones on for the first time, not just to get music but to misguidedly use the foam as an ear muff.
Then, for the first time ever, I hit Play.
OH MY BABY JEBUS.
Everywhere, music. Everywhere. I looked to the left, music, to the right, music. Up, down, Music. Load, crisp, pure, better than I ever heard, music. I was in a film. I can't remember what I was listening to, I just know that I was enveloped by it. I looked at everyone, I could hear this over powering, wonderful, expansive noise but no one else could. But I couldn't understand why. It was so much.
I took of the headphones and listened. I could hear the world again but not remotely understand why the headphones sounded so feeble, yet on my ears they sounded like they took over the universe. I put them on again.
Everything became surreal again. Every sense felt amplified, the cold, my breathing, my sight became bigger, like everything was trying to compete with the one sense that was being overwhelmed. For the next 60 minutes I sat, listening while all around me couldn't hear my world.
I loved my yellow monster. Of course over time I upgraded, I bought an actual Walkman (I'm a brand whore) mainly because it could REWIND AS WELL AS FAST FORWARD.
I've had Discman's, both CD and MiniDisc (I loved my MiniDisc player). I've had iPods, I've had digital Walkman's. I actually like the constraints that those formats give you. I still don't have my iPhone maxed out with music, I find that I'm a sucker for the paradox of choice.
Since those early days I've always had some kind of music device, exactly to get that feeling which I can still get. The feeling that the world can be bigger with music surrounded by it, like I'm in my own movie. I've had around 10-15 devices to play music and I still get blown away at times by the effect. I recently bought a pair of Bose headphones for my iPhone which have totally reinvigorated my listening experience and reminded my very much of that first time in the snow. Still chasing...
