Walkman, My Childhood Friend

Growing up, I often immersed myself in nature and human/social experiences.  But my technology of choice — and distraction — was the Walkman. 

Often nature coincided with the technology, on long summer vacation road trips.  What music would you consume while gazing at big sky country in Montana?  For me, it was something as vast musically as that sky.

However in terms of human/social experiences, the Walkman stood as a welcome, isolating barrier.  A place where my Grandmother’s Tennessean drawl of local deaths from DuPont Chemical Cancers was substituted with the sweet, sweet thunder of “In the Air Tonight” drums.

Understandable then, that the yellow lump stayed hitched to my side.  And the yellow ears, a fixture on my head.  It’s apt to describe using a lyric from one oft-listened song at that time:  Walkman was an “aural contraceptive aborting pregnant conversation”. 

So, How Did This Walkman Thing Work?

Today, your entire music catalogue is available on one power-gobbling device.  The Walkman had only one thing in common with today’s technology: an insatiable power hunger. 

Step 1 was preparing a small, plastic tote bag that held all the gear.  A bag emblazoned with lively 80’s-style rainbows and music notes.

Most notably, extra batteries filled the bag.  Vacations took about 10 AA’s.  Rechargeable batteries never worked as well – quickly jettisoned in favor of fresh Eveready’s. 

The tapes, and music, would slow down to bizarre levels as batteries wore out.  The hairs would start standing up on your neck, as if you were listening to Ozzy backwards, expecting to hear “666” somewhere. 

But when it got unbearably slow, the fix was easy: just pop in new batteries and you’re back in business. (That’s one advantage over today’s technology, where anxiety takes over when you’re down to 10% with no plug-in in sight.)

Step 2 was dealing with the amazing portable multitude of cassette tapes.  On long road trips, 2 full padded carrying cases accompanied me.  Prior to music, I brought 5-7 paperbacks to pass the time.  However the Walkman offered a mercy of poetic entertainment, replacing carsick reading as endless cornfields zipped past my window.

Walkman’s Significance

Walkman was the start of what would forever remain an intensely personal and private experience for me:  the consumption of music.

I listened to things most “normal” people would not.  (Consider the challenging and evocative Kate Bush album “The Dreaming”.)

Things that in public settings, friends would “turn off” and replace with Paula Abdul or the like.  (I kid you not – this did happen when I played a prog rock deep cut at a gathering with my 7^th grade friends.  Clearly, Paula was much more suitable to pre-teen girl tastes. Bad on me: I was just too oblivious to really understand and serve the musical needs of others back then!)

So I learned to close down, keeping my Private Walkman Secret World to myself.  Allowing it to speak to me directly… a profound conversation between artist and interpreter.

Not to say that I don’t enjoy “normal” music.  It’s wonderful fun now to create a party playlist that lifts and elevates a crowd. 

But the transcendental still lurks and inspires on my periphery.

The early technology of Walkman translated to musical solitude and reverie.  I only see now that text, social media and endless other tech distractions just continued the trend of communication and relationship dilution (and sometimes destruction).

Destroy for some, but for me — blocking out the world with Walkman ends happily.  I was not to know or even imagine this as a youngster, but if not for music, I would never have met my husband.  Arguably the greatest relationship of my life.  

So maybe my Walkman journey “was meant to be”. Or perhaps I just took my yellow ears off long enough to find him!

As always, I hope you enjoyed this and it brightened your day.

Please share if it did!  And post your comments: did you have a similar musical experience, as fostered by early technology?  And was Walkman just one more step toward the forthcoming Digital Deliria?

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• Category: Early Tech