Here's Something Else...

Sharon at s.m.ART did a wonderful POST that included memories from her youth... and this included music references. It made me think of the things I listened to growing up... back in the day when music was more at the center of my existence. It includes stuff a lot of people didn't know that I listened to... stuff that people who know me now would never think I would have listened to, I am sure.



Wow... I think some of my first crushes were on Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers... and Steve Perry of Journey. (Showin' my age, I know... I know. I am just glad that my husband, who is seven years younger than me, knows who those guys are!)


But then I became more of an individual with my music in high school... I did not listen to what everyone else listened to. I saw how that shaped my relationships in college from these types of choices... but that is another post for another time.



Van Halen and the Scorpions were the biggies... Judas Priest, Cinderella, Skid Row, KISS, Quiet Riot... Tesla, W.A.S.P.... I am sure I am forgetting some. Yeah, I was the little blonde tennis player of Swedish and German descent who looked like she loved Debby Boone and Karen Carpenter (yuck!!!) maybe even Olivia Newton John... more age appropriately would probably show Tiffany, Pet Shop Boys, Air Supply, Billy Ocean... do you remember these? I don't much, 'cuz I didn't listen to 'em! (I had to look these up at the iTunes store to have some references!)

My tennis racquets were all named (that's the geek in me) and they were "Eddie," "David," "Michael," and "Alex" for the Van Halen guys and I had a couple named for guys from Scorpions ("Claus" was one, for sure, that I remember.)

The Clash, Red Hot Chili Peppers (still love them and U2), The Cars, Red Rider (Lunatic Fringe ROCKED), Peter Gabriel, Foreigner, Steve Winwood, Hall & Oates, Prince, Violent Femmes, Beastie Boys, Pat Benetar, The Eagles... I liked these all alright (and appreciated many of them much more as I got older)... but you are reading the blog of the girl who won a lip synch contest her freshman year of college to the song "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns and Roses.

My parents always knew what I listened to. I always shared with them what I liked. I look back now and respect the confidence that they had in me to know my rights from wrongs. They taught me well. And, yes, I made my major mistakes... but that, too, is another post for another time. I just really remember from that time that there were kids out there doing horrible things and parents/adults/congressmen were up in arms over lyrics from songs MAKING these kids do those awful things... my pop and I would laugh and say that I was turning out alright and I listened to the same music. (I do not mean to diminsh the seriousness of suicide with that last statement... there is no joke about people that need help getting it.)

Nowadays I just don't have time to listen to music like I did in my youth. Too busy... well, really just doing other things. I am also not able to concentrate while listening to music like I used to. I am adopting silence as my background of choice while doing much of anything (perhaps because, with two young boys in the house, there is so much noise most of the time, I like to unwind to quiet).

Anyway... lots of memories come up with the names of these artists... boys I dated, girls I rode "The Loop" with and screamed lyrics to these songs with, mixed tapes my friend and I made to listen to on tennis team bus trips, dances (we always had this DJ that would play so much Chicago!!!), time drawing in my room...



Times change, obviously, and so did my tastes. I went through really liking grunge/alternative music (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Bush, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins) but I also enjoyed dance music. I have acquired a love for blues (love it live!!!) and jazz (improvisational)... I even get excited over some big band music and music from the crooner days and the old movie musicals. Right now there is even a lot of hip hop that I like.



But mostly I now listen to Christian music on one of three stations that we have around here. There is so much variety within it now that I like. It's good.



So, there you have it... just a walk through time with my music choices. Thanks, Sharon, for today's post inspiration. (And iTunes will thank you, too, for all the music I want to buy now to have some memories on the ol' iPod!)