The Music Meme Part 1

My two biggest musical influences and me. Told ya they were Hippies! :-)

Ok, So here's the deal: The music Meme has been going around to several blogs and I decided it's time for me to take a whack at it. This blog was to help me remember. And since I said to my mom when I was a kid, when asked “what is music:” “It's sounds to remember with” (or something of the sort), this could be really helpful to me. So, from what I understand the deal here is... you have to go through and pick your favorite album from every year you have lived. I was born in mid-December 1972. So, I am combining 72/73. Obviously I don't remember much from those yeas, but... well, read it and see.

This is pretty fun, so feel free to take it for yourself. I'm going to do mine by decade, so – here is part one – the 70's. Enjoy!

1972/73 (ages 0-1): I am starting this with both years, because I was born in December, so there isn't much that I can add for '72. Since I really don't remember music for my first few years.... I'll have to go by what my mom tells me: Don't Shoot me, I'm Only the Piano Player, by Elton John. Mom told me that I used to fall asleep to that (mostly the song Daniel) while sitting in my swing.

1974 (ages 1-2): I loved the songs Yellow Submarine by the Beatles, Bennie and the Jets and Crocodile Rock by Elton John. I won't put the same record from Elton John on here twice. And I probably shouldn't put him on here two times in a row. So, I'll settle for the Yellow Submarine album. This started a lifelong love for the Beatles (they will be mentioned a bit in here).

1975 (ages 2-3): I think that I listened to so many Disney records (Bambi, It's a Small World, Peter Pan) and I loved to try and do ballet, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite and Swan Lake, that it would be hard to choose between the two. I will go with The Nutcracker, just because it made me develop a love for classical music and ballet that has lasted me a lifetime. Sometime, I'll have to tell you about my third birthday when we went to see The Nutcracker in Pasadena. It seems to make everyone laugh, but I was pretty traumatized.

1976 (ages 3-4): This period of time reminds me of a nickname that I had, The Little Wing. My Aunt and her bf of the time called me this, I assume, after Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing. I also seem to remember my dad listening to a lot of The Doors. This record (The Doors) brings me back to times of drives in the red VW Bus, and going to play Frisbee Golf in Huntington Beach. Great memories. Especially The Crystal Ship, Break On Through, and 20^th Century Fox.

1977 (ages 4-5): At this point, I listened to whatever my parents were listening to. Or kids records. I liked The Chipmunks, and Perry Como. But those were my favorite Christmas albums. My parents were still Hippies. But listened to everything. I would sing on the playground in preschool and Kindergarten the song James by Billy Joel. I have specific memories of Who are You by the Who, and White Rabbit, as well as Today by Jefferson Airplane. Those last two gave me nightmares (associated with the memories). My mom listened to a lot of “easy listening” compared to my dad. They were fond of making mix tapes, and I still have some of them to this day. But, since I can't really narrow it down, I will go with Surrealistic Pillow by Jefferson Airplane, just because it has the strongest memories for me.

1978 (ages 5-6 – first grade): London Town – Paul McCartney and Wings. Oh yes... my first real crush, Paul. I was too young for the Beatles, or I was born after they broke up, too bad. Ah, With a Little Luck, I'm Carrying. Those were my favorites. I have tons of favorite Wings songs. But those I remember. I had forgotten them until I was in high school and bought my first CD – a Paul McCartney greatest hits and it had With a Little Luck on it. I was transported back in time.

1979 (ages 6-7 – second grade): Disco Duck. This may make you laugh, Hell, it makes me laugh. Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots. I probably listened to this until my ears bled. And they would with the high notes that the BeeGees hit. But then, there was Blondie with Parallel Lines. One Way or Another. Hanging on the Telephone. Heart of Glass. Sunday Girl. I was being babysat by a family and one of the older girls was getting ready to go out, and that's when I heard it: One Way Or Another. I'm gonna find ya, I'm gonna get ya get ya get ya! Blondie is timeless. I still remember picturing riding around in a Porche trying to find some person at the grocery store (that was the picture in my head, not necessarily lyrically accurate). My mom even loved this song. We would sing it when driving. I had no idea it was a stalker song.

1980 (ages 7-8 – third grade): This can be a toss up. This is when I started really listening to the radio. There was Cars by Gary Numan, Funky Town by Lipps Inc., Into the Night by Barry Mardones, Sailing by Christopher Cross, Working my Way Back To You – The Spinners, On the Radio – Donna Summer, and Refugee – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Those stuck out a lot to me. Their sounds could frighten me. In Cars, especially. Back in that day, I was listening to Rick Dees a lot. And his top 40. Those three songs were in constant rotation. Then there was show and tell at school. While previously, I always had Disney stuff to show (I was a collector even back then!), one day, I brought in Freedom of Choice by DEVO. I was the hit of the class. I was suddenly popular. It was my dad's record, but everyone loved that I actually had POPULAR music to bring in. The next week, I tried to bring in some AC/DC, but that got me in trouble. Dirty Deeds was not the best song to play to a bunch of third graders, and neither was Big Balls, no matter how much they thought I was wonderful.

Ok, this is the end of part 1 – the first decade that I was alive. Now is when it gets harder to actually pick ONE album a year. Because I remember more. And music influenced me more. And I became the master of the mix tape. I think it runs in the family.