{"id":1968,"date":"2012-08-22T22:31:29","date_gmt":"2012-08-23T02:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.westwoodvalley.com\/?p=1968"},"modified":"2012-08-22T22:31:29","modified_gmt":"2012-08-23T02:31:29","slug":"my-musical-evolution-part-238-roach-days-revisited-call-my-answering-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wrharrison.com\/musicalevolution\/2012\/08\/22\/my-musical-evolution-part-238-roach-days-revisited-call-my-answering-machine\/","title":{"rendered":"My Musical Evolution – Part 238 Roach Days Revisited Call My Answering Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MoreLiving at The Roach Motel with Aric was a blast. I couldn’t have asked for a better house mate. I hope I was as courteous and supportive to him as he was to me. I almost said that I was at the perfect age again but that really doesn’t cover it. It was a great time to be living on my own. The work was easy, the parties were epic and the women were abundant.\u00a0 The middle 80’s were a turning point of sorts. The glitz and glamour of the early 80’s [as depicted here ->] had slid into Madonna’s shabby chic and was working its way out again toward a more home grown<\/em> sensibility. The transformation was gradual.<\/p>\n

The music followed the same sort of arc. The Out There<\/em> type stuff like Safety Dance <\/em> and Culture Club<\/em> got overshadowed by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Steve Winwood<\/em> and John Mellencamp<\/em>. The bubble gum, new wave, electronic cycled down a bit and the return of regular guitars and traditional rock songs cycled up.<\/p>\n

Along the way I discovered an excellent way to meet girls. Back in the\u00a0days before mobile phones, an answering machine was essential because we weren’t home to answer the phone too much.\u00a0 Typically, people have trouble summoning the courage to give somebody their number or to call the number they have been given.\u00a0 The method I developed eased those nerves. First, I’d create an unusual 30 second answering machine message.\u00a0 30 seconds was all that our old dual cassette type machine could handle. I found that I could use my Sears dual cassette enabled stereo to ovedub from Tape 1 to Tape 2. Repeating this procedure allowed me to make these multilayered 30 second pieces that featured soundtrack, background sounds, sound effects and dialogue.<\/p>\n

Next I’d approach girls in groups of two or more. I’d give them my number then tell them to call my answering machine and check it out. It was easy to approach girls and ask them to call because i wasn’t asking them to call me, just my machine. On top of that I had acquired what Mike Damone called the Attitiude.<\/em><\/p>\n

Giving the number to a girl who was by herself was not as successful as giving to the group. If you give it to the group, they will encourage each other to call it. Calling a machine also put them at ease. They know that they have the option to just listen\u00a0and hang up or to leave a message of their own. Again girls in groups would often be brave enough to to say something.<\/p>\n

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Sade – Smooth Operator<\/em>
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