My Premarital Music Years

It’s Andy here today. Ann is over in OurLittleCorner getting all worked up about a “musical” vegetable while trying to remain as calm as a cucumber.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about music. What got me started was a NYTimes article entitled Why People Make Music by Carl Zimmer. In the article Zimmer reports on current research findings that suggest that music may be “something that is universal to all humans that cannot simply be explained by culture.” Related to this I came across a piece on the NIH web site that points out that Darwin believed that “musicality evolved by sexual selection, functioning as a courtship display in reproductive partner choice.” Additionally, a number of sources claim that shared musical preferences can actually make or break a romantic relationship.

This prompted me to ask myself if unbeknownst to us, Ann and I were drawn together by our inborn musical proclivities. As a (now retired) sociologist, I’m highly skeptical of claims that innate human characteristics can explain social behavior. However, because research suggesting an evolutionary function of music in romantic relationships is intriguing, in the name of science I’ve decided to share my personal prenuptial music preferences to explore the possibility that music had something to do with Ann finding me to be a suitable reproductive partner choice.

To give you some insight into the evolution of my musical development, I’ve created a brief autobiographical video. In it I identify four distinct phases in the development of my musical preferences that defined the musicality (to borrow Darwin’s term) that I brought to that blind date back in 1966 when I first met Ann.

For want of a better term, I’ll call the first phase of my musical journey my “Cowboy Wannabe Years.” It is the earliest time I can recall being enamored with a particular type of music. Not only did I constantly pack a cap gun and don a cowboy hat, I loved the music by such folks as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Tex Ritter recorded my favorite song, There Was Blood on the Saddle. I’ve included it in my video, but be advised that if you are squeamish you may want to skip that part.

The second phase in my musical development was my “Wacky Music Phase.” Spike Jones was the epitome of this genre (if it can be called that) and I watched his TV show religiously. I loved all of the squeeze horns and silly musical antics. You’ll get a glimpse of his show on my video.

Then came my “Tween Big Band” phase. While other kids were tuned in to rock and roll hits of the era I was listening to my parents’ 78 rpm albums of Glen Miller. I still get a nostalgic charge listening to his American Patrol.

The final stage of my prenuptial musical development occurred while in college. I discovered jazz. My first jazz album, Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis, remains my all-time favorite. The selection included in the video still brings goosebumps every time I hear it.

So, without further adieu here is a video depiction of the development of my premarital musicality.

Now that we’ve seen the video, let’s revisit the question of whether or not Ann and I were “drawn together by our shared musical proclivities.” I have to conclude that the answer is a resounding NO. Ann was never a fan of blood-in-the-saddle kinds of cowboy songs – which is understandable; she thinks that the likes of Spike Jones are just plain weird (to borrow a current political term); she never liked the Glen Miller-ish big band sounds; and she definitely is not a jazz fan. This leads me to believe that my “courtship display in reproductive partner choice” had more to do with my good looks, charm, and quick wit than with my musical preferences. Sorry Darwin.