I can still remember the very first CD I ever bought: Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 8. We had stopped at an FYE somewhere in the middle of Indiana, and I picked out this firey looking CD to go along with the bright yellow Walkman I owned. Up until that point, I grew up listening to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. I used to (and still do) sing along to every single note in Stevie Ray Vaughn's In Step album. And sure, we listened to a little Matchbox 20 and Barenaked Ladies on the radio, but I had never heard anything like that first NOW CD. 

Volume 8 had an incredible line up: "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child, "Stutter" by Joe ft. Mystikal, "Fat Lip" by Sum 41, "Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz and the list just kept going. All of a sudden, I had hip-hop. I had punk. I had music I wanted to blast as loud as possible and just jam to. Once I had Vol. 8, I wanted to get my hands on as many NOW CDs as I could. I probably bought or checked out from library almost every NOW CD that came out between 2001 and 2007.

As a kid, I used music and reading to escape from my world, and to this day, they are both actitivies that bring me comfort and joy. I'm not exactly sure why I stopped listening to NOW CDs. I think by that time I had an iPod, so I could start searching for whatever I wanted on iTunes. But I will always have a place in my heart for NOW CDs.

 

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