I was pondering my roots in electronic music last night after posting the Vocal Trance note. At first, I was tempted to say that the first electronic composition that mesmerized me was Enigma’s Sadeness, which I discovered quite by accident in 2001. But, upon further thought, I was mistaken. It was the Ray Lynch album Deep Breakfast. I have no idea where the tape came from, probably something that Mom or Dad heard on WKSU (the local NPR affiliate). I listened to the tape frequently as a kid (sometime around 1989, I’d guess), both in the car and the stereo at home; but, promptly lost interest. (Aside: I refused interest in all music for a period of a few years before discovering an interest in classic rock.)
I hadn’t thought of Ray Lynch in years. I couldn’t even remember his last name, although I do recall the genre classification from the cassette as “New Age.” I punched “Ray New Age” into iTunes and he popped right up. After listening to the first few bars of the preview clip for Celestial Soda Pop, I was able to hum the entire song to myself. The most remarkable things, though, were the dozen or so reviews repeating a story just like mine. They’d listened to Ray Lynch as a kid after their parents discovered his music in a gift shop or record store. According to his web site, Ray Lynch has never toured or performed on TV. Yet, he’s an extremely successful musician. The music sells itself. That’s a thought to consider all by itself…
