Music and Me

Music has always been a part of my life. Some of my earliest memories are dancing around the living room to my mother’s Pete Fountain and Benny Goldman records, captivated by how the rhythm sections and melodies spoke to me. When I was in my 20’s and playing somewhat seriously, Mom told me she had breastfed me to Beethoven and Bach. Later when she’d complain about my passion for music, I’d remind her that she was at least partially to blame.

My first independent choice of music was The Beatles. The moment I saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show, I was hooked. After that it was Motown and The Jackson Five. My first memories of owning records are buying a Jackson Five single for 35 cents and getting the “Hey Jude” single as a present. The rhythms and melodies of those bands (as well as their jazz contemporaries) would set a musical foundation for the rest of my life.

As for playing, that started in elementary school. In the 3rd grade they asked us to pick an instrument, and I picked the drums because of Ringo. Of course, you didn’t get to start on a drum kit, they gave you a rubber pad or a snare drum and sticks (which hardly satisfied an aspiring percussionist). As a result, I’d switch to the saxophone, which only held my interest through the 7th grade. I wouldn’t play another instrument until college, but I was able to work at my high school radio station to stay close to music.

During the fall of my freshman year of college, I heard about a band that needed a drummer for a party. Still wanting to be Ringo, I lied and said I could play even though I had never sat behind a drum kit. I played the party, held my own (kind of), and started playing the drums every day after that. I joined a band called The Screaming Shrimp, and we’d play around campus and at various events. Our biggest show, opening for Billy Falcon’s Burning Rose, was rained out. We recorded our only demo the day after John Lennon was shot and killed.

The Spaces

The summer after college I moved to NYC and began looking through The Village Voice, skimming ads for bands looking for a drummer (anyone who needed bandmates or an apartment knew about the Voice). One listing I saw was for a band called The Knack. Sometimes I wonder if they had any idea that My Sharona would go No. 1 when they were buying space in a local paper for a few dollars.

Another ad I found read simply, “Going To Poland.” At first I thought it might have been the name of the band, but it turned out to be where the band was actually going. The group was The Spaces from the East Village, and we toured Poland in the fall of 1981 (during the height of the Solidarity Movement and behind the Iron Curtain). Fortunately, we left one week before martial law was declared, and the USSR marched in to take over the country.

Exquisite Taste

In 1982 I was working at Variety Magazine and met a keyboard player who got me an audition with a band called Exquisite Taste. The band included two former members of Secret Weapon, who had their own big hit, “Must Be the Music.” They liked how hard I hit the drums, and so I became the last person to join the lineup (which included members from NYC and a great bass player from northern NJ).

We recorded several singles, one being 1984’s “It’s You That’s Happening.” It became a cult classic of sorts, doing especially well in Europe, even into the 21st Century. As one review puts it, “Electrifying synth stabs, melodic verses with lush chords, and a killer bridge make this hard-hitting drum machine heavy 12" one of the best mid 80s boogie tunes you'll ever hear!”

Post Taste

Exquisite Taste broke up around 1986, and I continued playing, writing, and recording music on my own. After a stint writing jingles for ad agencies, in 1993 I decided to stop pursuing music full time and got a graduate degree in Education. I taught for a year before finding my way into TV, training with a small production company in the city as a producer and editor. I went freelance in 2006 as an editor and have worked for different companies on different projects ever since. I’ve continued to play music at home, writing and recording songs for my own fulfillment.

For me, life is about the journey, not the destination. While I’ve enjoyed my personal achievements in music, it is the little moments that have had the most meaning throughout my career. Things like learning production techniques from an engineer who worked with Quincy Jones. Or cramming into the back of a station wagon with a band called the Disco 3, who would change their name to The Fat Boys the very next week. Or going to see the US debut of Eurythmics and being introduced to another musician (“Jack this is Cindy, Cindy Lauper. She has a record coming out soon.”).

It is the pursuit of that journey and those moments that has led me to resume recording music for commercial release. I hope you enjoy.

Jack Raybin

Concerts Attended

America (Rider College)

The Band (The Last Waltz Tour 1976)

BB King (Radio City)

Billy Joel (Rider College)

Copeland Bros. (Ossining, NY)

David Bromberg (Central Park)

Elton John (MSG 1992)

Elvis Costello (WNEW Breakfast Show)

Eurythmics (US debut, The Ritz NYC)