My first career B.C. (before computers) was playing in a rock and roll band. For several years, I actually made a living at it, although it’s a hard life even for those more successful at it than I ever was.

Artistically, it was very satisfying to be able create this work and also support myself with it. There’s something fine about watching people dance to the beat of a tune that didn’t exist before you decided it should. On the best nights, a few voices in the audience might even join in on on a hook or a chorus. Nothing quite like it.

I could do this, and get paid, and I felt like I was getting away with something. Never mind that the gig was basically in the marketing arm of the alcohol industry. In a bar, many truths about human behavior come to light. It was a place your stuff could be heard, and people would talk to you about it.

However, it’s basically a young man’s game, notable exceptions aside. I went back to school, studied computers and got a Real Job writing assembly language software for data-communications networks. Later, I found myself producing television programs and helping run a start-up cable network. Still later — well, you hang around long enough, and it gets a whole lot later.

I didn’t quit writing songs, though. At some point A.C., I picked up a MIDI keyboard and some sequencing software, a decent mike and mixer, and committed a few tunes to the digits. Here was something truly revolutionary about the digital revolution. For a few hundred bucks, anybody could now make their own album — to heck with Columbia, Capitol and Atlantic!

Whether the results are worthy of a major label is highly questionable, but I offer them here for your curiosity, perhaps even interest, and hopefully, your listening pleasure.

And if you’re a working musician who might want to do one or two of them, I’d be delighted — just let me know, and be sure to tell ‘em who wrote it!

The tunes:

Blue Norther [Lyrics]
A straight-ahead country rocker with some regional color. Themes of a loved one missed and changes in the air. A great set-opener.

In Case It’s Too Simple [Lyrics]
A medium-tempo lover’s plea with a little bit of Tex-Mex flavor. Includes a couple of unusual rhythmic turns and a full chord palette. It’s a new relationship complicated by doubt, hope, and mixed messages.

She Keeps the Flowers [Lyrics]
An uptempo rocker with a rolling piano beat. If you hang on long enough, things are bound to look up!

Debes Decir a Mamá [Lyrics]
Some Tejano sounds from this San Antonio gavacho. Little sister is getting serious about somebody, but we don’t know who yet.

Who Knows, Baby [Lyrics]
Moody piece in a minor key. Somebody you can’t have, but can’t leave alone, either.

Jewel in the Sun [Lyrics]
Some “latitude” music. Shady doings in Paradise, and not just under the palm trees.

Where Did Everybody Go? [Lyrics]
Almost titled “Boomer’s Lament,” this ballad could be an anthem for anyone inspired by THE decade, but willing to sort out the hype from the hope.