I’m not sure I could go a day without listening to music. I don’t just mean a song or two, but hours of music. What kind of music, you ask? Name it — I probably have it on my playlist.
Growing up, my mom and dad constantly had music playing in the house. Their favorite band was The Beach Boys, and I can still recite the entire Pet Sounds album by heart. My brother and I would hear a lot of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Who as well.
That was usually during the winter months. When the summer came, the tempo of the music sped up. The Beach Boys were a staple, but “The Boss,” Bruce Springsteen, was my mom’s absolute favorite. I think she truly believed Bruce was talking about her when he released “Jersey Girl.” I’m not sure she realized it was a Tom Waits cover, but let’s let her have her moment.
My dad loved Motown, so The Temptations, The Spinners, and The Drifters were in heavy rotation on the record player. My grandparents lived directly across the street from us, and my grandma was 100% Italian, so you know Sinatra was playing throughout her house. Sprinkle in some Dean Martin, Frankie Valli, Perry Como, and, of course, Andrea Bocelli.
My grandfather was Irish, and he respected his wife’s Italian roots, but he was a country boy at heart. Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, and Glen Campbell were his go-tos. My grandparents’ music interests seemed very different, but together they listened to the same radio station all day long. It was an AM station called WBUD, based out of Ewing, and it played “Great Gold Radio.” This is where I was introduced to two of my favorite artists: Sam Cooke and Otis Redding.
Let’s go back across the street to my parents’ house. Theresa Street was a cut-through street between Pennington Road and Lower Ferry Road, so let’s look both ways while we cross together.
In 1991, I was 6 years old and my brother was 10, and he started to listen to his own music. A very thin wall separated our rooms, and he happened to get a boombox for Christmas. He blasted Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Naughty by Nature, and Rakim throughout the house. My parents didn’t care, as long as the cassette case didn’t have the sticker on the bottom that said “Explicit Lyrics.”
From that point on, hip-hop was it for me.
A few years passed, and I had a sleepover at my best friend Karl’s house. He put me onto these rock bands that he loved called Nirvana, Metallica, and Stone Temple Pilots. It was a sound I’d never heard before, and I was hooked.
Fast forward to a few years later — probably about 1996. My brother just got a girlfriend, so he was never home, but I was, and so were my parents. I was watching TGIF and wanted to jam out to music, but I only had a Walkman. I would sneak into my brother’s room to listen to his stereo system.
My parents finally got me a stereo system, but the one I got was a little different. This one could record my voice onto a cassette tape.
Plot twist!
I loved listening to the DJs on Q102 and PST when they broadcast from clubs, played dance music, and interacted with the patrons. So, at 11 years old, I started recording songs from the radio onto a blank cassette tape. I sat in my room, acted like a radio DJ, and intro’d each song while giving away fake concert tickets to callers.
The callers to my fake radio station were me and my soccer teammate Shawn, disguising our voices so we could create a cool radio show. Our show consisted of a lot of ’90s hip-hop like Mase, Total, SWV, and 112.
My music taste has been a roller coaster in my lifetime.
In high school, my music taste became even more eclectic, listening to not only rap and R&B but also punk rock and reggaeton. I moved on to college in Delaware and made friends with a bunch of guys who only listened to country. We rented a house together, and for three years, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, and Kenny Chesney were all I heard for six semesters — and I hated it.
Post-college, one of my good buddies, Chris Messick, schooled me in country music and showed me artists he thought I would like. Well, it worked. Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, and Eric Church were just a couple of his choices.
Around the same time, I met my now-wife, Michelle, and she furthered my love for country music.
From The Beach Boys to Bruce to Boyz II Men to Bob Marley to Luke Bryan — I love this thing they call music.
Donnie Black was born and grew up in Ewing Township. He currently works at radio station XTU in Philadelphia as a producer, on air personality and promotions director.
