TLDR: Listen to the Soundtrack

First, A History Lesson

It’s a typical Saturday night in 1990. My best friends and I are sitting on the round stools, headphones on, at the Blockbuster Music listening bar. We spent hours doing this. Even with 35 years of perspective, I continue to think it was time well spent. For those who aren’t acquainted with pre-streaming means of consuming music, the experience went something like this:

1. Visit a retail location with thousands of square feet dedicated to selling albums on vinyl, 8-track, cassette, and compact disc. The adoption of compact discs (hats off to a hometown technology pioneer for his contributions to this experience), where audio quality didn’t degrade over time, really unlocked the listening bar experience.
2. Walk through the store, locating CDs that you wanted to sample before you purchased.
3. Take the CD to the store employee who would open the sealed CD, put it into a player that was linked to a specific pair of headphones at the listening bar.

It was my first memory of understanding the difference between a retail transaction and a retail experience. After purchasing CDs that featured just one artist, we all wanted to play DJ or compile our favorite tracks onto a mixtape. My daughter, who has only known streaming music, explored this mixtape phenomenon in a design project called B-Side.

The Unofficial Connection to the Book

I was surprised by all the music that rang through my head while writing this novel. James’ drive to the hospital in chapter 30 (A Drive to the Stars), his visit to his Uncle Ben’s “office” in Chapter 41 (Koigokoro), and thinking about him wrenching on his motorcycle in chapter 13 (Lauren’s Text) inspired me to recall songs and artists that I love to listen to. An unexpected relationship between the great music by so many artists emerged and inspired the characters, the setting, and the challenges they faced throughout the story.

I hope you’ll take a minute to enjoy the start of the soundtrack I’m assembling. Those who have an ARC of the book or have read early copies of the manuscript will identify the moments or characters each track points to. For those who are still waiting for a copy, consider it a preview of what’s to come. Stay tuned for more posts about the music that rang through my head as I wrote A Bad Hand.