In celebration of getting old, I’ve officially maxed (and then some) the credit card I attached to the iTunes Music Store. I’ve been a little bit sentimental about my youth — Mom and I always listened to music together. She was (is) a young mom, so I was exposed to a lot of really cool stuff, like the rock ‘n roll of the 1970s and the classic ballads that you hear “American Idol” contestants butchering crooning.
Today’s downloads included “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack, “Coming In and Out Of Your Life” by Barbra Streisand, “Through the Eyes of Love” by Melissa Manchester, “Tell me a Lie” by Janie Frickie (although I swear it was Sammi Jo who was the original artist), “Like We Never Had a Broken Heart” by Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks, “Magic Man” by Heart, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” by Joan Jett, and way too many others to continue mentioning, although I am sure we all know names like Sergio Mendes, Peabo Bryson, Dionne Warwick, the Bee Gees and Patti Labelle.
Jeebus Crisp, I feel old, but in a good way. I was transported to a time when nothing else mattered but having fun, listening to old 45s with Mom, reading books and dreaming about everything I didn’t know about yet and all the places I wanted to go. All I ever wanted to do was to be in the music business. Now, for those of you who know me, I neither look like Britney Spears, dance like Janet Jackson nor sing like Melissa Etheridge, so being the on-stage talent is out. But I’ve always wanted to be behind-the-scenes, maybe as a publicist or stylist or something to that effect. When other kids were listening to their “Strawberry Shortcake” or “Cabbage Patch Kids” 33s (and believe me, I owned them, too, but I digress), I was groovin’ to “Incense and Peppermints,” “Crimson and Clover,” and just about anything by The Doors, Janis Joplin and other drug-addled artists of the era. And to this day, when I hear them, I remember the absolute magic that seemed to just pour out of the stereo speakers.
What songs take you on an acid trip back in time?