Child of the ’80s.
I love music.
Love, love, love, music.
My kids will tell you otherwise, but that’s because I can’t stand it playing from a phone speaker first thing in the morning.
Ok, truth be told, I can’t stand much of anything in the morning.
We have satellite radio in our vehicles and I listen to all types of genres of music.
But recently I have spent a lot of time switching back and forth between the ’80s and ’90s music.
I was a child of the ’80s and a teen in the’ 90s.
Music.
Music was always a part of our home.
I grew up going through my dad’s giant record collection finding songs that I like.
I learned to love Fleetwood Mac, Melanie, Janis Joplin, Simon & Garfunkel….the list goes on.
And I can’t even begin to name the music that I was exposed to that had come from prior generations.
But I also liked the modern music of the day.
The ’80s and ’90s channels transport me back to moments in time from those days.
Last night, I was driving home after dropping my daughter off at soccer practice when “Summer of ’69” by Bryan Adams came on the radio.
I was about 7 or 8 when the video for the song came out…way back when MTV played music videos.
We didn’t have cable way out where I lived (it was doubtful that we had standard electricity yet either).
When I would go stay with Jami, I wanted to try to see the music video for “Summer of ’69” and Madonna’s “Material Girl”.
Those songs transport me back to that moment of my youth.
Little snapshots of time.
It was there in that snapshot of time that Jami and I would find a piece of broken glass behind a stairwell.
We would cut our finger, and press them together, to be forever bonded as “blood sisters”.
However, during the process, we wondered why we felt it was necessary since we were already blood-related.
It was also in that snapshot of time where Jami owned a pair of roller skates.
I got a brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key
I digress… but if you don’t know what I’m talking about:
If we took turns using the skates, we couldn’t enjoy the fun together.
So we came up with a brilliant idea.
We would each wear 1 skate.
We became experts at gliding along on 1 skate…. turning, twirling, balancing on one foot.
And we choreographed intricate routines in this 1 skate style, sometimes even including our batons.
We raced each other through the parking lot.
Thinking that we were unstoppable forces.
We envisioned that everyone would think our routines were works of art and come clamoring to seek our genius.
A snapshot in time when life was simple and laughter was never-ending.
Music has a way of transporting us through time. Little points along the continuum.
What about you? Do you have a song that takes you to a snapshot in time?
Let your light shine!
Amy
I love listening to 90s country…It transports me back to my middle and high school years.
🙂
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks. I was known to own a few Garth Brooks CDs 🙂
Great memories, and good times! Music does transport one back in time.
I like a lot of the same music you do, plus a lot of the oldies my mother used to play. My favorite genres are country, folk, rock & roll, and classical.
I love how music has that ability to transport.
I seems to listen to quite a few genres, finding new ones through my kids on occasion.
The middle child was recently playing 60’s tunes. I love seeing their love for all music take root 🙂
I do too. It’s fun watching #1 Grandson begin to love music. He sings whole songs now from his favorite movies, and shows. He’s just over 3 1/2 yrs. old. We play a lot of show tunes…daughter and I love musicals so he’s being exposed to the those. 🙂 Right now his favorite is Nightmare before Christmas and his favorite song is Halloween. He sings it all the time. Before that is it was David Bowie’s Dance Magic Dance from the Labyrinth.
I fell in love with bands that have a horn section listening to my Mother’s Trini Lopez album when I was 8 or 9.
Rock and Roll with a horn section…there are a few tunes that I swear I swoon over when the horns start playing. 🙂
I hope the little one takes up a musical instrument so there’s music in his life always. Right now he tickles my piano keys from time to time. Time will tell, and he’ll have encouragement all along the way. 🙂
Lovely memories for me too, we must be about the same age. It’s funny you mention Brand New Key, because I mentioned that phrase in one of my blogs and someone asked me what that was about, and I was like, “Either you know it or ya don’t!”
That was my favorite 45, the first I can remember putting on my turntable, and I wasn’t in school yet. Oh how I loved that song! 🙂
Melanie and Joni Mitchell were records that I would listen to that belonged to my mother. She also had a box of 45’s that spent quite a bit of time in my room 🙂
My dad plays the guitar and they would sing some of the songs I’ve come to love at family gatherings.
The 60s and 70s with a bit of 50s thrown in for me, thank you very much! Love Melanie and Joni Mitchell! 🙂
🙂
I remember Melanie. I volunteer at the local Habitat Restore, and we had a bunch of old albums come through. One was the Melanie in the city with the Pop out cover! I have nominated you for the Three Day Quote Challenge Award. See my second quote posted today. Dwight
A pop out cover sounds very cool! 🙂 Thank you for the nomination.
I guess it was more of a cut out that folded over the album. You are very welcome!
Just discovered your blog – and this post. It’s not just songs with me, but smells are linked to memories too. If I ever smell lavender, for example, I am transported to my grandparents house, and my Nan’s dressing table which always had a soft-haired hairbrush on it. Musically, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears takes me back to childhood discos 🙂
So glad you discovered it. 🙂 The smell of orange blossoms takes me to my youth driving past the orange groves near my home. What a great memory tied to the smell of lavender! I love that Tears for Fears song…. there’s so much great music out there!!
I play oldies at work. Good thing I haven’t received any criticism from coworkers. 🙂 I do mix it up with the new.
I usually play “500 miles”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Downtown”, “Champs Elysees”, “We’ve Got Tonight”, etc.
Boy, even reading and writing this comment takes me back … 😉
We listen to everything in this house. When I reread the post I was like “oh, what about the Beatles, how in the world did I leave out the Beatles, and what about Tom Petty…and…and” Music is a wonderful transporter. 🙂
I feel sorry for kids growing up now. We lived through a great time in music. The stark switch from the New Wave sound of the 80’s to the Grunge movement of the 90’s. The airing of MTV and VH1 that added a whole new dynamic to music, and who can forget the hair bands. I remember getting Poison’s album for Christmas one year, my dad stared at the cover of that cassette tape and then declared that they were the ugliest 4 women he had ever seen. I informed him that they were guys, he looked again, pointed to one of them and asked even that one. Maybe it’s because I don’t listen to much modern music, but it just doesn’t feel like the same sort of revolution we lived through. Thanks for the ride in your time machine.
It doesn’t feel the same, but my oldest son is always finding music that hasn’t hit the mainstream airwaves yet. A few times I’ve heard songs come on the top hits channel and realize that I heard them months ago…by then he’s on to something new 🙂
I forgot to mention that the roller skate song is now burned in my brain and my family will spend the next 3-4 days listening to me sing and hum it.
…and now it’s back in mine. Hope they enjoyed listening! 🙂
Such a fun post. So many memories coming to mind reading this. So many of being a kid and listening to Kylie Minouges ‘Locomotion’ (we lived in Australia at the time – and she was really popular with me and my 11 year old friends)…90’s grunge and rock always takes me back to being a teenager. We still listen to a lot of the same bands lol
I loved Kylie Minogue’s “Locomotion”. I remember learning every word to that song! 🙂
Now, I remember my own college friends as we listened to Madonna and Boy George and Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran. 🙂
I love those! Now I’m playing them in the background while I type 🙂