There's no disputing that the music we listen to early in life gently guides (and in some cases, strictly dictates) what we like to listen to later... I am definitely in the "gently guides" category, the people who still refuse to admit that the beatles broke up are in the latter.
Probably my earliest memories are from kindergarten. I was in the morning class, and after school, I would rush home as fast as I could, and while Mom would make my lunch, I'd be laying on the floor in front of our big console stereo, listening to records.
One in particular that I remember listening to over and over and over was "Standing on the Corner, Watchin' All the Girls Go By" by the Four Lads. Over and over and over... I was pretty much limited to the records my parents had in their collection, and the few Disney or Sesame Street themed ones they'd bought me.
Not much later than that though, my sisters started bringing their own music into the house, and I was exposed to Billy Joel, Elton John and Barry Manilow. The records changed, my devotion to just lay there and listen didn't. I can remember one time when my sister Susan had joined the Columbia House Record Club (against Mom's wishes, of course) and got a cassette of Steely Dan's "Can't Buy A Thrill". I commandeered the tape recorder and played "Reelin' In The Years" and "Do It Again" until I got yelled at to move on to other songs...
A trip with my uncle Richard from the Tri-Cities home to Des Moines introduced me to Fleetwood Mac, and a trip with him to the OK95 radio studios in Kennewick solidified my love for ELO... An afternoon listening to the radio and playing board games with my cousin Annette during the country crossover period of the early '80s locked in Johnny Lee's "Lookin' for Love" as a good timey classic...
If you read my earlier post about the new wave of the '80s, you'll recognize that my tastes shifted away from these mainstream early favorites. But they never actually left - just moved to the back of my consciousness. I'm sure that the quality of songwriting and musical craftsmanship I fell in love with as a child set the standard for what I personally considered "good" in my later years. It's why there always seemed to be songs that would fly up the charts and get everyone excited about them, but I'd be left totally flat, saying "it's just not a good song!"
As I hit my 30s, I discovered the joy of nostalgia. Pulling out an old K-Tel album from a box that hadn't seen daylight in 15 years was such a great feeling! I began seeking out those old songs again, and since I worked at AEI Music (if you missed that part of the story, click here) I had a pretty easy time collecting all my old favorites and making my own nostalgic CD library. Again, I differentiated myself from other 30-somethings enjoying their musical flashbacks, by fiercely clinging to new, cutting edge music as well... I was probably the only Dance & Trance Mixing DJ on Seattle Radio that listened to soft rock hits of the '80s on the way to the studio!
I was still riding that dual-wave of nostalgia and cutting edge when Cindy and I finally got DSL. I'd had several people telling me that I had to try out Napster... I knew what it was, but wasn't about to even start messing with it while on dial up. Would have been WAY too frustrating!! But with a then-unthinkably fast connection blazing through our apartment, I fired up Napster and did a few tentative searches... And as anyone who was using it back then can attest, it was hard to look for something that WASN'T available! That first night of playing around with it, after I'd gotten a few childhood classics, I called Cindy in, and showed her how easy it was to find things...
...and we both called in sick to work the next day, and spent the entire day at the computer, playing "Stump the Napster!" It was so fun... Since she grew up between California and Arizona, there were different regional hits than I knew, so certain songs that I may have either missed completely, or only somewhat recalled, she would light up and instantly remember every word. At the time, she was making a blanket for Kaylee, and she sat there chocheting, singing, laughing, remembering... before we knew it, it was time to pick the kids up from school!
Today, we still have a few CDs marked "Memory Lane" that are made up of songs from that day... And the songs on them crack me up - I would have never believed that I'd willingly - intentionally, even - listen to Helen Reddy or Anne Murray, but having the new memory of shared re-discovery added to the nostalgia of my own childhood, slips them up to the dignified category of All Time Favorites!
Oh, and even more than just having CDs, I have thoroughly embraced my love for Barry Manilow. So much so that four years ago (almost exactly - June 2004) I did a whirlwind trip with a friend from church who also openly loves Manilow... Barry was doing a one-night-only concert at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. My friend Dave got tickets... And invited me to go with him! We flew out on a Saturday morning, spent the day in Vegas, rode the NY, NY roller coaster, watched Smarty Jones fail to win the triple crown, snuck into the Mandalay Bay to see the stage as it was still being prepped for the show, and then experienced an amazing two hour concert. After the show, we tried (unsuccessfully) to sneak into a private meet-and-greet with Barry, eventually gave up, walked around Vegas some more, and finally crashed in the airport until our Sunday morning flight back home. Well, Dave crashed in the airport. I couldn't. You may recall that I can't sleep when there's music playing, because I just can't NOT listen to it... and there was music playing all night long in the terminal... So I was up all night, didn't sleep on the plane, got home, went and bought a car, got back home, said "wow, I can't believe I'm not tired!" then finally sat down, and crashed harder than I've ever crashed before... All for a Barry Manilow concert!!
I used to refer to these classics as guilty pleasures... But now I'm not even ashamed of them! I call 'em "Mellow Gold" and I'll happily play "Sweet Caroline" or "Looks Like We Made It" along with whatever is currently hot and new, with my head held high!
How about you?? What guilty pleasures have you been hiding? Set them free! Embrace the nostalgic goodness of it all!! It's not only okay, it's GOOD!
Probably my earliest memories are from kindergarten. I was in the morning class, and after school, I would rush home as fast as I could, and while Mom would make my lunch, I'd be laying on the floor in front of our big console stereo, listening to records.
One in particular that I remember listening to over and over and over was "Standing on the Corner, Watchin' All the Girls Go By" by the Four Lads. Over and over and over... I was pretty much limited to the records my parents had in their collection, and the few Disney or Sesame Street themed ones they'd bought me.
Not much later than that though, my sisters started bringing their own music into the house, and I was exposed to Billy Joel, Elton John and Barry Manilow. The records changed, my devotion to just lay there and listen didn't. I can remember one time when my sister Susan had joined the Columbia House Record Club (against Mom's wishes, of course) and got a cassette of Steely Dan's "Can't Buy A Thrill". I commandeered the tape recorder and played "Reelin' In The Years" and "Do It Again" until I got yelled at to move on to other songs...
A trip with my uncle Richard from the Tri-Cities home to Des Moines introduced me to Fleetwood Mac, and a trip with him to the OK95 radio studios in Kennewick solidified my love for ELO... An afternoon listening to the radio and playing board games with my cousin Annette during the country crossover period of the early '80s locked in Johnny Lee's "Lookin' for Love" as a good timey classic...
If you read my earlier post about the new wave of the '80s, you'll recognize that my tastes shifted away from these mainstream early favorites. But they never actually left - just moved to the back of my consciousness. I'm sure that the quality of songwriting and musical craftsmanship I fell in love with as a child set the standard for what I personally considered "good" in my later years. It's why there always seemed to be songs that would fly up the charts and get everyone excited about them, but I'd be left totally flat, saying "it's just not a good song!"
As I hit my 30s, I discovered the joy of nostalgia. Pulling out an old K-Tel album from a box that hadn't seen daylight in 15 years was such a great feeling! I began seeking out those old songs again, and since I worked at AEI Music (if you missed that part of the story, click here) I had a pretty easy time collecting all my old favorites and making my own nostalgic CD library. Again, I differentiated myself from other 30-somethings enjoying their musical flashbacks, by fiercely clinging to new, cutting edge music as well... I was probably the only Dance & Trance Mixing DJ on Seattle Radio that listened to soft rock hits of the '80s on the way to the studio!
I was still riding that dual-wave of nostalgia and cutting edge when Cindy and I finally got DSL. I'd had several people telling me that I had to try out Napster... I knew what it was, but wasn't about to even start messing with it while on dial up. Would have been WAY too frustrating!! But with a then-unthinkably fast connection blazing through our apartment, I fired up Napster and did a few tentative searches... And as anyone who was using it back then can attest, it was hard to look for something that WASN'T available! That first night of playing around with it, after I'd gotten a few childhood classics, I called Cindy in, and showed her how easy it was to find things...
...and we both called in sick to work the next day, and spent the entire day at the computer, playing "Stump the Napster!" It was so fun... Since she grew up between California and Arizona, there were different regional hits than I knew, so certain songs that I may have either missed completely, or only somewhat recalled, she would light up and instantly remember every word. At the time, she was making a blanket for Kaylee, and she sat there chocheting, singing, laughing, remembering... before we knew it, it was time to pick the kids up from school!
Today, we still have a few CDs marked "Memory Lane" that are made up of songs from that day... And the songs on them crack me up - I would have never believed that I'd willingly - intentionally, even - listen to Helen Reddy or Anne Murray, but having the new memory of shared re-discovery added to the nostalgia of my own childhood, slips them up to the dignified category of All Time Favorites!
Oh, and even more than just having CDs, I have thoroughly embraced my love for Barry Manilow. So much so that four years ago (almost exactly - June 2004) I did a whirlwind trip with a friend from church who also openly loves Manilow... Barry was doing a one-night-only concert at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. My friend Dave got tickets... And invited me to go with him! We flew out on a Saturday morning, spent the day in Vegas, rode the NY, NY roller coaster, watched Smarty Jones fail to win the triple crown, snuck into the Mandalay Bay to see the stage as it was still being prepped for the show, and then experienced an amazing two hour concert. After the show, we tried (unsuccessfully) to sneak into a private meet-and-greet with Barry, eventually gave up, walked around Vegas some more, and finally crashed in the airport until our Sunday morning flight back home. Well, Dave crashed in the airport. I couldn't. You may recall that I can't sleep when there's music playing, because I just can't NOT listen to it... and there was music playing all night long in the terminal... So I was up all night, didn't sleep on the plane, got home, went and bought a car, got back home, said "wow, I can't believe I'm not tired!" then finally sat down, and crashed harder than I've ever crashed before... All for a Barry Manilow concert!!
I used to refer to these classics as guilty pleasures... But now I'm not even ashamed of them! I call 'em "Mellow Gold" and I'll happily play "Sweet Caroline" or "Looks Like We Made It" along with whatever is currently hot and new, with my head held high!
How about you?? What guilty pleasures have you been hiding? Set them free! Embrace the nostalgic goodness of it all!! It's not only okay, it's GOOD!
Honestly, 80's music is my favorite. I know most of the words, which definately isn't the case with songs today.
ReplyDeleteMy fav's were Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, The Police, Culture club. I saw all these bands in concert and was in heaven. I also loved Depeche Mode. My musical preferences are STUCK in the 80's.
Hey Debie, we like the exact same stuff! In fact, Pet Shop Boys are the only group from my core '80s favorites that are still making great music... Duran Duran's latest (Astronaut) was really good too... Depeche Mode was my absolute favorite up through Violator, but they've underwhelmed me with each release since then..
ReplyDeleteIs that actually a picture of our old stereo? You know every time I hear the name Barry Manilow (and now my kids too) I think of the Young Ones episode where Ftmsh and Orgo are tormenting the guy in Hell.
ReplyDeleteAah what memories. First of all sorry to take so long to bring new music into the house. I can't believe how long it took for me to stop being satisfied with "Standing on the corner" and "Hang down your head Tom Dooley" Mom and Dad were SO white bread. They even had us watching Lawrence Welk every week and thinking THAT was cool. That all ended of course when one Saturday Night I was over at our cousin Brenda's house and I don't quite recall what they had on the TV but it was certainly a whole lot cooler than LW. Brenda, to her credit didn't rub it in too bad. I also can remember when I realized that there were a lot better radio stations than the ones that Mom listened to. I still think that the music of the sixties and seventies is some of the best EVER! And I do remember wanting to make sure that you Janice and Brian had a better background in music at a younger age than I had ever had. I like to think that I had somewhat suceeded in this beneficent goal.
ReplyDeleteLong Live the Music of our Youth!!!
Yeah Janice, I still remember that bit as well, and how delighted the little demons were to be inflicting such agony on the poor victim. I'd be perfeclty fine with it though!
ReplyDeleteSusan, thank you for blazing the trail away from the white bread of our parents. You enriched me with multigrain goodness! My only conflict with what you said is that I would have to say that the '80s were made up of the best music ever... Strangely, a few years ago when I went on a quest to ensure that my media server had all the songs that made the top 40 for every year, I couldn't believe how poorly most of the '90s music has aged. Songs that I remember really liking just sound weak now... But not the '80s. They just keep getting better!
I grew up having to endure many nights of Lawrence Welk too. But, I had older sisters that had the best collections of albums. We had Beatles, Elvis, Stones all of it. Then my brother and I had our own collections. Steely Dan, Bread, Jim Croche (sp). My very first concert was Olivia Newton John and my second concert was Three Dog Night/ ACDC first band.. I like variety so much. I am a fine of much music. Every song takes me back to something memorable. Good or bad. Which isn't always the best.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I can't believe what you went through for Barry. He is a classic. Just wished he'd get his political place right. LOL...