Is that what you call music?

I have a very clear memory of being five years old and being asked what I wanted for Christmas. I thought for a minute or two and then announced that as I was getting older now, it was probably about time I had some pop music. That Christmas I got the very first Now album, Now that's what I call music. It was a double LP, a real record. I had my grandparents old stereo as they were updating theirs.  As I got a bit older I got more records, then some tapes and at the weekend I'd listen to the top 40 on radio one and tape my favourite tracks.

I actually had three more Now albums, I was given Now 2 (also on vinyl) and then I had Now 12 (which had such classics as Doctorin' the Tardis by the Timelords, Push it by Salt and Pepper and I think we're alone now by Tiffany) and Now 23 both on double cassette, which was a little annoying as they wouldn't fit into the tape holder thing I had. These days the Now series has moved on quite a bit and in the UK they're up to Now 89 and any number of other Now compilations, (dance, Disney and Christmas to name just a few).

Kai has never really shown much interest in music, other than mentioning if he likes or doesn't like something that I'm listening to. This Christmas though, we got him a CD player for his room. Now that he has his own room, we thought that he might like to have one, especially as he likes to listen to books on CD. I thought that he might like some music to listen to too. The obvious choice seemed to be one of the Now CDs. Here in New Zealand, they haven't got quite so high in numbers, so it was Now 46.

I still have my Now 1, somewhere, back in the UK. I wonder in years to come if Kai will still have his first CD? I suspect that when he has children of his own, they probably won't know what CDs are any more, the same way that my children don't really know what records or even tapes are. Even so, my taste in music may have changed and developed over time, but I still look back fondly on that first taste of pop music