"Sports" by Huey Lewis and the News. This album was the first cassette tape I ever bought. It was very exciting to graduate from records to tapes. My mom gave me a boom box when I was 12. I was so pleased. It even had a soft eject. Whoa. Or should I say, rad. Not that I ever said "rad" as a kid. I thought slang was base. I got over it--and myself. My favorites: "Walking on a Thin Line," "Finally Found A Home," and "If This Is It."
Homer and Jethro. I can't remember which albums my parents had, but I sure got a kick out of them. These guys and Spike Jones set me on the path of cracked recordings from the moment of my birth. My favorites: "Battle of Kookamunga," "Bill Bailey," "She Was Bitten on the Udder by an Adder."
AC/DC: "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" I wasn't a metal head by any stretch. I hated the drug scene; I hated the hair; I hated the stupid lyrics shouted into the microphone, fuzz guitars, and tight pants. But "Big Balls" didn't even try to be serious. It was outrageous fun to play it in front of my mother and listen to her disgusted snorting. Other songs I didn't mind on the album: "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "Problem Child," "Ride On." I find myself singing lots of songs from this album, actually. If you could call it singing.As time has gone by, I've bought some music from my childhood. Some of it I've sold again. Like Madonna, Jefferson Airplane, and Journey. Others that I've kept: Yaz, Billy Joel, Elton John, Genesis.
Eric ushered me into CDs in 1990 with Elton John's "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy," my favorite album of all time. What a guy. I had it on vinyl, and it embodied perfection. It had that fantastic cover art, front and back. The jacket was designed as a double-record jacket and opened up. On the left were photos of The Captain and The Kid (Elton and Bernie); on the right was the whole group. It came with a lyric book--not a little flap like you get in CDs, but 8X10 size, also with awesome artwork--and a scrapbook of photos, notes, and a comic. There was also a poster that I kept on my wall above my bed. So not only was the music excellent, but the package was, too. Unfortunately, the album got terribly scratched when my mom babysat my nephew one day when I was 18. I was heartbroken. But I still have it.There were one-hit wonders that I've completely forgotten but I bet I'd get a bang out of hearing again. If only I knew what they were.
6 comments:
i would tell you what i listened to as a teenager but you would never speak to me again. you woudln't want to be around someone who was that .... nerd isn't even close. weird. just downright weird.
though i do like that huey lewis album.
I can handle anything but Bobby Sherman.
I'm guessing you were a classical or jazz fan at an early age and had to keep it a secret for fear of unrelenting teasing.
Like me with Kenny Rogers and Burl Ives.
no, not bobby sherman, but my brother loved him.
not jazz. not classical.
irish music. folk music. and old-time country music (not kenny rogers. the red clay ramblers)
drove my family crazy.
Ah, you'd've fit right in at my house.
it's amazing the allowances we make for laurie, isn't it?
I came across an old box of album during our move last June. Flash from the past. Can you say autographed Andy Gibb? Oh. My.
Autographed? Got any David Cassidy in that box?
It's funny the music that grabs us. And funny how we feel we have to hide that supposedly uncool stuff.
When I was in sixth grade, I gave myself away by mentioning a particular radio station at school. Only to have a boy (!) know exactly what I was talking about and even joined in my imitation of the DJ. I didn't know whether to feel more of less like a dork, but it was a little vindicating to know that I wasn't the only person out there who turned the dial to Love Stereo, 95-FM. It was easy-listening, secretary music. They played nothing cool enough to make it onto a K-Tel record.
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