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Music Is My LIfe - Part 2
"Wayne's Gift""

When I left primary school at the end of 1982, I was well versed in classical music thanks to Mrs Brangwin. I was obsessed by the Beatles thanks to my father and I was getting better and better at the drums thanks to my drum teacher Iva.

When I started high school the next year, I also had music class. By coincidence Mrs Brangwin moved to Jamison High School the same year I did and she continued to be my music teacher, at least for the first couple of years of high school. It was in my first year of high school that I met my next music teacher; I didn’t meet him in the music classroom but in the Library.

Wayne Lord was one of the chief library monitors. I first met Wayne after he caught me running in the library, I was playing chasings with some other kids one lunchtime and he caught me. From memory I think I got off with a warning. Wayne was one year ahead of me in school and it wasn’t common for older kids to hang out with younger ones but Wayne and I soon became the best of friends. Wayne also liked listening to music. He liked the Beatles but was really more interested in 70’s and 80’s music.
    
 I used to ride my bike (a yellow speed king dragster) from my house to Wayne’s house. His parents had converted part of the garage into a bedroom, and he had moved in. Wayne’s room may have been small but he had huge stereo speakers. Living in the garage away from the house meant he could have his stereo turned up very loud and Wayne would frequently turn it up really loud. The garage room also allowed Wayne to store his large collection of car magazines.
   
Whenever I went over, normally the first stop was to get snacks the kitchen, usually a glass of Coke and some cheese. We’d then go to his room and play music for hours while we talked. Wayne played me a variety of music from different artists and groups. He seemed to listen to anyone and everyone; he had a great music collection. I heard artists and bands like The Rolling Stones, The Moody Blues, Cold Chisel, Peter Gabriel, The Dyvinals, Australian Crawl, John Lennon, Do Ray Me, Midnight Oil, Pet Shop Boys and lots and lots of 70’s rock and disco.
   
Wayne had taken away my musical blinkers, shattering the illusion that the Beatles were the only great band in the world. I was now interested in listening to many different artists apart from the Beatles and Abba . Within a couple of years I’d seriously started building my music collection. I started listening to people like Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Split Enz and Sting. Some of what I was listening to was due to Wayne while other things I was discovering for myself.
   
I particularly liked Phil Collins, not only was he a great singer but a terrific drummer. I bought his first album “Face Value”, which featured the song "In The Air Tonight", later also buying his second album “Hello I Must Be Going”. Then like the Beatles, Phil Collins became one of my favourites to listen to. I tried to emulate him on the drums with little success, but had fun trying. I also started to pay more attention to music that I heard on the radio and saw on TV shows like Countdown and Sounds.
   
Wayne and I started going to the city now and then. Travelling into Sydney by train was something I’d never done before so it was exciting. When we got into town we’d go to second hand book and record shops. We’d also go to record stores like Brashes. I remember one such trip when I bought a Billy Joel album called “The Bridge”. I already owned his greatest hists and innocent man albums. During another trip I bought an album called “Invisible Touch” by a band called Genesis. I liked Genesis because Phil Collins was both lead singer and drummer. I also bought an album called “So” by Peter Gabriel around the same time.
   
 Up to this point my music collection was on vinyl records or cassette tapes. The Compact Disc player was the new kid on the block though. Wayne got one and the sound from it was absolutely superb. It didn’t have the scratches and pops associated with vinyl and didn’t have the hissing sound common on cassettes. Soon after my father bought a CD player, I remember he set it up and then played Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to demonstrate the sound quality.
   
 The CD revolution was now here. Dad started buying classical music CD’s and instrumental bands like Sky. I wanted a CD player of my own and after they came down in price a bit I finally got one. The first CD I bought was “Brothers In Arms” by Dire Straights. The big hit from this album was “Money For Nothing”. During one of our trips to the city Brashes were having a sale, we both scored a copy of a 3 CD set by Bruce Springsteen live in concert for $20.
   
 Once I was happy listening to the Beatles, but now I wanted to listen to anything and everything. At first I liked a lot of the same stuff Wayne did but after a bit of time I developed my own distinctive musical taste. Like my father and Mrs Brangwin, Wayne had given me a valuable gift, the gift of music. Music was now well and truly a part of my life, I couldn’t do without it. An important part of music becoming part of my life was due to Wayne.
   
Note: Wayne and I remained best friends until he passed away in 1995 due to Cancer. I wasn’t coping that well after he passed but a friend at the time made me realise that Wayne had touched my life with music and his friendship. So I have always wanted to write something to show how he had touched and changed my life for the better.