Startup Sounds was originally released in 2001. It is now remixed, remastered and available on all major streaming services as Startup Sounds Revisited.

Twenty five years ago I released the album “Startup Sounds (Songs about computers and technology sung and played by a human being)”. 

The Original Inspiration:

This album was the result of a coming together of three passions:

Songwriting: The Beatles and Dylan are my favorite influences but I find it interesting that in the early '60s groups like the Beach Boys could sing so passionately about surfing and hot rods. Don't some people feel just as strongly about computers? 

Apple computer: In 1989 we got our first Mac. I liked the interface (look and feel) better than any other computer I had used. In the mid '90s there was so much press about Apple going out of business that many Mac users (me included) became convinced the press itself could kill the company. Many passionate users became passionate defenders. I didn't know who Steve Jobs was till I saw Cringely's Triumph of the Nerds on TV. I said to my girlfriend "Wouldn't it be great if Steve Jobs came back?" Then he did. What a dramatic twist!

Collecting oddball vinyl: I've been collecting strange LPs for several years. Things like William Shatner "singing" or dog training LPs, records by hypnotists, taxi drivers and folk songs about outer space. I was thinking it would be fun to throw together a collection of folk songs about computers.

Joy of Tech & Cult of Mac:

My girlfriend and fellow Mac enthusiast, Lynn, suggested I send a copy of my CD to the creators of “Joy of Tech”, a webcomic created by Nitrozac and Snaggy. They shared my work with Leander Kahney, a senior reporter, at Wired News, the online sister publication of Wired. He interviewed me over the phone and published an article on Wired.com Feb. 1, 2002 entitled, He Writes the Songs: Mac Songs. Leander also featured my story in a coffee table book entitled "THE CULT OF MAC" published in 2004.

TechTV & Wired.com:

After that story was published, I was contacted by TechTV, a San Francisco based cable channel owned by Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft) . They came to the school where I worked and videotaped me in the computer lab. The story aired on Tech Live. Then a short while later, TechTV contacted me again and asked if I would be attending the 2002 Macworld Expo in New York. Even though I never had planned to go, I responded yeah, sure. They wanted to follow a true Mac fan around the show floor and review products. I said, I will get a press pass, right?

My New York Adventure:

This was my first visit to New York City. It was June and very hot. I didn't spend much time at the Expo except to tape the TechTV segment. What I did was walk around the city for hours and hours. Because was I had little cash, It was a blessing the expo press lounge was stocked with plenty of bagels and snacks. One morning I was sitting in there eating when a guy asked if I was going to the store opening, the bus was arriving soon. Soon, I was seated and on my way to a press tour of the first Apple Store to open in New York. In SoHo the bus let us off and the man holding the door to let us into the shop was Steve Jobs! I just happened to have a few copies of my CD with me and I handed a copy to Steve Jobs and to Phil Schiller.

Startup Sounds revisited:

One member of the original Macintosh team who didn't throw away my CD was Bill Atkinson. I mailed him a copy of Startup Sounds and he thanked me by sending us one of his prints. It has been hanging on our wall all these years. After Bill passed in 2025, I was contacted by his daughter inquiring how to get Startup Sounds. I remixed Quickdraw Bill and released it as a single and made a video for YouTube as a result. Here is the link: QUICKDRAW BILL YOUTUBE VIDEO. After doing this work and realizing Apple's 50th anniversary was coming up, I decided this was a good time to spruce up the old recordings and release Startup Sounds Revisited. Also, I included a bonus track called Cloudy Highway: Oh Wow, Oh Wow, Oh Wow (Steve Jobs last words).