I Like My Girls A Little Bit Older
As my Xterra snaked its way up Highway 17 through the Santa Cruz mountains, a song came through my iPod into my car's stereo. It made me recall something, I'm not sure what it was, but a feeling. I smiled, it made me feel warm and happy.Funny thing about songs. Much like scents they are powerful reminders of past events. A certain melody can spark memories that have been long buried into my noggin. Powerful memories that are linked to a moment, a feeling, usually a person is associated with it. Are they important memories?...most times not, but I smile as they are a musical journal of my history.
Here are a few:
Boston - Don't Look Back
This reminds me of my early years of highschool. In the back of Robert Cope's white Chevrolet Camaro. The only thing I could hear is the swelling of the bass at the start of the song as we drove to school. Robert would press on his steering wheel, but I could never hear the sound of the horn as the sounds of Boston overpowered everything. After those days, I'm kind of surprised that I can hear anything.The Outfield - Your Love
There was this guy who worked with me at Prints Plus in Northridge, California named Roland. He always had this goofy grin on his face. When the Outfield's song Your Love would play on the radio he would always come running over excitedly stating how the verse, "You know I like my girls a little bit older..." would always make him laugh incessantly. Why do I remember this?...how the Hell should I know?! But why was Roland so fixated with that verse?...hmmm...
Journey - Only Solution
Tron...the drive-in in Concord...luscious Lori Wagner. Okay, before Andrea gets bent out of shape, Only Solution was the song during the closing credits for the Disney film Tron. Now at that time we thought that the special effects were awesome (glowing outlines of things) and that transporting someone into the computer world was the top of the scale in story lines. We saw that film at the drive-in so the effects were somewhat lost, however, in our group was Lori. She was an uber-babe!...at least for the teen set. I had a huge crush, or lust...who knows with young guys. Later I remember Lori's father asking me what position I played when first meeting me. What position?! What the Hell?!!! That ended that lust...er...crush...REO Speedwagon - Keep On Loving You
This was the mother of all bands in my senior year of highschool...okay...that's dating me! This syrupy song played a million times in 1981. It was the cause of hundreds of teenage teeth in braces romances at my school. Senior Prom...although not the official ballad of our prom, it might have damn well been. By the way...that year all dances ended with two songs. The second to last song was Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven (what the Hell were we thinking making that a song to dance to?!) and the absolute last song had to be Donna Summer's Last Dance.Boomtown Rats - Living On An Island
Before LiveAid and The Wall, Bob Geldolf had the Rats, the Boomtown Rats. These are the same guys who sang I Don't Like Mondays...however, Living On An Island preceeded that minor hit. My friend Brian, who by his own admission, is severely lacking in a true interest in the arts, introduced me to the Rats. He told me of his admiration of this band in the hall of his parents house....yet another moment that has no bearing on anything and is clogging up valuable real estate in my brain.
Billy Joel - A Matter Of Trust
Andy Moon a past friend from my college days. One of the few males that I have known that is actually shorter than me, er, not that I'm short, nope. Andy's two favorite musical performers were Van Halen and Billy Joel. Sort of an odd mix. I remember sitting in his garage when this song came on and Andy went into a long rant about how Billy Joel rocked live. Billy Joel = really good musician. Billy Joel = rocked?! Hmmm... To top it off for poor Andy, he was always a girl's best friend. A heterosexual guy's worst nightmare. When your a girl's best friend you know you're listening to all her problems, getting a hug and that's about it...while the local jerk scores with her.Steely Dan - Reeling In The Years
Yaz - Situation
Yet another moment that involved Prints Plus, but unlike the Roland experience this one was at Pier 39 in San Francisco. There was a coworker who moonlighted as a stand-up comedian. He loved Steely Dan and along with his love for Dan, he would always profess how depressing stand-up work can be. I guess I'm glad that he never went Postal. But Reeling In The Years brings back fond memories of summers in the City. Situation also reminds me of this period, closing at nights on the Pier. This was a time that truly began my love affair with San Francisco. This was a time that I first counted an openly, flamboyant gay man as a friend, a new wave girl had a crush on me (she openly stated that she would sleep with me...never happened...), a Goth girl explained why she was going to be a mortician (lots of money and she had the wardrobe for it), I had more than two Asian friends, I met Pam who became the subject of a lame song of mine...glorious, absolutely glorious.Yeah...this is what fills my noodle as I drive. I have come to realize that my taste in music has completely lost its relevancy. I am quickly turning into an old fogey. Admittedly, and sadly, I am not as intimate with music anymore. But these songs always bring a warm grin to my face. I guess that counts for something...
posted by LoneCactus @ 7:06 PM
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