When I started this blog, I warned you that it would be a place where I can share about whatever comes to mind. Some of it will inevitably be pretty mundane and pedestrian. This is one of those times. What I’m about to relate will be of mild interest to approximately two (2) people, and if you’re not one of those, feel free to move on to whatever else you might be doing with your time that will be more productive.
I started taking piano lessons when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I never got very good at all — I’m a hack, and a poor one at that, if I’m being honest. Probably because I never practiced.
But in about 1982 NBC debuted the television show Fame, based on the 1980 movie of the same name, and it sucked me in immediately. Bruno Martelli was the songwriter/keyboardist of the show, and I didn’t just want to be like Bruno, I wanted to be Bruno. (Apparently, Lee Curreri, the actor who played Bruno, wanted to be Lalo Schifrin, the guy who wrote the Mission: Impossible theme. Do we all aspire to be somebody else, at least a little bit?) But Bruno had this extensive setup of keyboards in his (television) basement: electric pianos, synthesizers, string machines, sequencers, the works. I couldn’t afford any of that, and neither could my parents. I was in a few bands in high school, but I could only play at places that already had a piano I could use. That was a bit limiting, to say the least.
Fast forward a few years to about 1986 or ’87. I was attending Montreat-Anderson College (now Montreat College). One weekend some friends and I drove from the college (near Asheville, North Carolina) down to Greenville, South Carolina to visit a buddy. For some reason this guy had a slightly used synthesizer, a DX21, for sale. I bought it. I don’t remember how much I paid for it — at the time they were selling new for about $800, so I’m guessing I probably paid about $500, which I didn’t have. I used money that was supposed to be used for school. Somehow I made it work — got the synth, and didn’t get kicked out of college. Didn’t tell my parents though.
Sidebar: The Yamaha DX series utterly revolutionized the synthesizer industry. It was the first successful digital synth (prior to that, synths were analog), and one of the best selling synths in history. It also revolutionized the ’80s pop music scene — artists such as A-ha, Kenny Loggins, Kool & the Gang, Whitney Houston, Chicago, Phil Collins, Luther Vandross, and Billy Ocean all used DX7s. The DX21 is the DX7’s little brother — not as fancy, flashy, or widely used. But it was still a “pro” board, and used by such artists as Hardfloor, Level 42, Brother Beyond, Xiu Xiu, Astral Projection, Technotronic, Vangelis, and Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim). End sidebar.
About a year later I graduated from Montreat with an associate’s degree, and transferred down to Auburn University to complete my bachelor’s. As soon as I got to Auburn I joined a Christian rock band called Steadfast, and the DX21 was my primary instrument. (I later supplemented with a Korg DW8000.) That lasted for a couple of years, but life happens and I left Steadfast. After that I had to sell both keyboards to . . . you know: eat. Survive. But for the past many, many years I have often wished I had that DX back. It was small and had some real limitations, especially compared to today’s keyboards, but it has a special place in my heart. Maybe it’s because it was my first keyboard. Maybe it’s something more than that. I don’t know.
Recently I saw on a Facebook page (yes, I’m old and still use Facebook) that a guy in Nashville was selling a DX21 for a very, very reasonable price. So after a quick trip to the bank and a roadtrip, I am now, again, the proud owner of a DX21. Functionally it can’t hold a candle to any of my other keyboards, but it is still the jewel in the constellation of my music setup.
Now I’m on the hunt to replace my old Peavey DPM3, if anyone knows someone . . . .
That is all.
