About a week or so ago, I was driving to the store, listening to the same few hundred song playlist on Spotify that I always listen to, bored out of my mind. I’ve been bored by this solitary playlist for quite some time, but usually the feeling is fleeting. I’m your typical, busy, middle aged dad, and in keeping with the cliché, it’s been a long time since music has been a particularly vital part of my life.

This time, for whatever reason, the boredom stuck with me. The notion that music was a missing piece of my day to day experience resonated and moved me to do something about it.

Immediately, I realized that defining “something” was going to be a challenge. When I was younger and music was critical to me, I never really discovered much on my own. Instead, I picked up albums and artists from whatever hit the mainstream, or from what my more in touch friends would surface for me. Then, once I found something I liked, I stuck with it ad nauseum.

So, I decided that “something” had to be a better idea than just dumping whatever albums I remember liking as a kid onto a new playlist. That’s basically how I got the boring playlist in the first place. Instead, I came up with a plan to grow, really engage with music and discover new things to connect with.

That plan is to set off on a musical journey through all of modern pop history, listening to anything and everything that might appeal to me, starting in 1962 and working my way year by year chronologically from then up to today and documenting what I find in this blog. I expect to listen to a few dozen albums per year, and, assuming I stick with it, expect this endeavor to take the better part of a decade.

Although I’ll be taking a trip through music history, this project isn’t intended to be a historical documentation. Rather, I’m taking this path because it seems like the most efficient way to find artists and their work. Also, this blog isn’t intended as a critique, though I’m sure I’ll criticize quite a bit along the way.

Instead, this project is an entirely self-indulgent exercise, where I will cherry pick as I see fit, celebrate what I connect with and dump on the rest. I’ll share what I think about as I navigate my way through time.

As befitting any odyssey, I expect the journey to be long, winding and uncertain, but that the destination is a worthy one. I hope you enjoy the trip with me.

About a week or so ago, I was driving to the store, listening to the same few hundred song playlist on Spotify that I always listen to, bored out of my mind. I’ve been bored by this solitary playlist for quite some time, but usually the feeling is fleeting. I’m your typical, busy, middle aged dad, and in keeping with the cliché, it’s been a long time since music has been a particularly vital part of my life.

This time, for whatever reason, the boredom stuck with me. The notion that music was a missing piece of my day to day experience resonated and moved me to do something about it.

Immediately, I realized that defining “something” was going to be a challenge. When I was younger and music was critical to me, I never really discovered much on my own. Instead, I picked up albums and artists from whatever hit the mainstream, or from what my more in touch friends would surface for me. Then, once I found something I liked, I stuck with it ad nauseum.

So, I decided that “something” had to be a better idea than just dumping whatever albums I remember liking as a kid onto a new playlist. That’s basically how I got the boring playlist in the first place. Instead, I came up with a plan to grow, really engage with music and discover new things to connect with.

That plan is to set off on a musical journey through all of modern pop history, listening to anything and everything that might appeal to me, starting in 1962 and working my way year by year chronologically from then up to today and documenting what I find in this blog. I expect to listen to a few dozen albums per year, and, assuming I stick with it, expect this endeavor to take the better part of a decade.

Although I’ll be taking a trip through music history, this project isn’t intended to be a historical documentation. Rather, I’m taking this path because it seems like the most efficient way to find artists and their work. Also, this blog isn’t intended as a critique, though I’m sure I’ll criticize quite a bit along the way.

Instead, this project is an entirely self-indulgent exercise, where I will cherry pick as I see fit, celebrate what I connect with and dump on the rest. I’ll share what I think about as I navigate my way through time.

As befitting any odyssey, I expect the journey to be long, winding and uncertain, but that the destination is a worthy one. I hope you enjoy the trip with me.