Saturday, April 19, 2014

Sonos to Change Direction of Streaming Music in the Home

Sonos is beta testing some new software that eliminates their hardware and uses Wifi and a smart phone to shoot music throughout your home or business. They have a program that may allow you to become a beta tester if you qualify.  Could be very cool.  Apply here.


Here is a little bit of a look back at my musical journey: (this is what I sent to Sonos)
First, I am a music lover.  I started listening to my parents music as a boy in the early 60's.  Frank Sinatra, Brazil 66, show tunes, etc.  Then my older sisters started listening to The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel and the rock and roll of the 60's.  My life totally changed when FM radio arrived in the early 70's.  I graduated HS in the mid 70's and began my journey into progressive rock. In college, I discovered Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The Grateful Dead, Ambrosia, Yes, Jethro Tull, and many more.  In the 80's I started taking over the turn table at parties.  Hearts of Space has been a big influence on my life as well as all types of jazz and meditative music.  By 1991, I had my first paying DJ gig at a corporate party in Napa.  I have done over 500 gigs and have become an accomplished DJ/MC for corporate events in the Silicon Valley.  As well, I have over 100,000 songs on my hard drive.  Wifi and LTE has allowed me to download from iTunes during my gigs if there is a request I do not have, which is HUGE.  In my house, I have Airplay in all the rooms using Airport Expresses or Apple TV's.  Music is always on during the day and most of the evening.  Drives my wife nuts, but I play stuff she can enjoy too.  Have access to Sirius, Rdio, and Hearts of Space as far as paid subscriptions. My favorite radio program is 10@10 with Dave Morey which is broadcast on KFOG.  Dave has retired and they still play it every weekday at 10am and 10pm.  If you own a digital radio tuner, you can hear it 24/7 and commercial free with Dave at the helm on KFOG-2.

I am a bit of a nostalgic person and these songs bring me back to the day of whatever year they play. Analisa hosts the show now and is a good DJ and she plays some great songs but the original show with Dave as host was the best.  He even grew up in my area of the east coast (DE/PA) and is the same age as me.  We have similar tastes in music and very similar musical influences (back then it was AM and FM radio mostly).

Here is a nice sample of 10@10 from 1975.  10 great songs from one great year.
1. Jigsaw - Sky High
2. Ambrosia - Holdin' on to Yesterday
3. Nils Lofgren - Going Back
   (Tv: Starsky & Hutch)
4. Wings - Venus & Mars/Rock Show
   (News: The Pet Rock)
5. KISS - Rock and Roll All Night
   (News: Elton John)
6. Elton John - Captain Fantastic and
   the Brown Dirt Cowboy
   (Movie: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
7. Willie Nelson - Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
8. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
   (News: Jimmy Hoffa goes missing)
9. Linda Ronstadt - You're No Good
   (News: Nixon Subpoena)
10. J. Geils Band - Love Itis


No comments: