What the hell kind of music lover am I?

One thing in my life I have always prided myself on is my taste in and appreciation for music.  I can differientate good music versus run-of-the-mill junk from a mile away.  I think it comes off as snobbery to some people, and it's a fine line between ignorance and pretentiousness when I say I don't listen to Top 40 or know who certain A-Listers are.  I'm sorry I didn't know who Justin Bieber was for a long time.  I'm sorry I thought Lady Gaga was just Christina Aguilera going by a different name. 

So anyway, I love music. LOVE it.  I have it on all the time. I love going to concerts and buying records and CDs as opposed to downloading music.  I'd spend hours in a record store if I could.  A big thrill for me is getting these artifacts signed by the musicians at concerts, and since the music I like is generally under the radar, it is pretty easy to meet the bands becuase the venues are small.  I always want to raise awareness to everyone that there is WAY better stuff out there than what you are hearing on the radio.  One thing I really long for is more friends who love music like I do and want to go to concerts and talk about awesome bands.  But I don't think most people care about it as much as I do.

So on to the point.  As much as I love music, I have always been a big hater of the 80s culture and most 80s music.  However, one CRAZY pregnancy craving (not really, but maybe!) I had a week or two ago was to hear "Don't You (Forget About Me)" by Simple Minds - 80s to the core.  I wanted to listen to it so bad I thought I'd burst.  So I went on Pandora and typed in The Clash (why didn't I just type in Simple Minds?  Who knows, but it's good I didn't). 

OH HOLY SHA-MOLY!  Have my ears been up my ass all this time?!?!  I knew The Ramones and the Clash and The Cure and The Pixie were good bands and I've always appreciated them more or less from afar, I just never gave them the time of day to really listen to them because I didn't want to hear 80s music.  Boy have I been missing out all this time!  And I have been listening to it almost non-stop lately, like I am trying to make up for lost time.  I'm kind of embarrassed that I wasn't into this stuff all along.  I feel like the people who "discover" bands years after people like me had already been listening to them (basically, the whole world) (and that's usually about the time I stop listening to those bands, sadly. I don't know why. It's stupid.)

I feel that my loverage of music is now completely legitimized.  It has even renewed my vigor for some of the music that has kind of become dusty in my collection, like Modest Mouse and T-Rex and the Doves.

Dear 80s music, I love you*

 *restrictions apply