Dreamtime-

May 1, 2009- Two Parties

My family and I were at a party at the big, fancy home of one of my Aunt Ann’s friends, Barbara (fictional). Approximately 70 people were here. I was a little anxious. Mom was chatting with her niece, Fran. Dad was having a conversation with Uncle Joe.

   I was mostly hanging out with my brother and cousin Missy. I did go over to my aunt for a bit. She was talking to her daughter Donna about mystery novels. I sort of wanted to join in on this conversation but wasn’t feeling comfortable enough to do so, probably partially due to my low self-esteem.

   Barbara announced that there was a special guest arriving now. We were told to go into the living room where a piano was. Sitting at it was Elton John. I was happy about this. He performed “Sad Songs” and “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues”. He would be doing a few more songs later.

   I suddenly felt very tired. I asked if I could go to one of the bedrooms to take a nap. Barbara said that this would be fine.

    I was awoken from my sleep by the sound of 2 guys talking. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was now in an entirely different setting. I was in the passenger seat of a car. The driver looked like David Hasselhoff. We were in the KITT car (Pontiac Trans-Am) from his show “Knight Rider”. He was talking to it.

   I didn’t really say anything to David/Michael Knight. I wondered where we might be going. No, I never did have a crush on this actor.

   We were driving through the countryside which was nice. I saw around a dozen balloons like the ones in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in a field; one was the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

   We arrived at our destination, a Victorian style home. I saw my mother’s car, the 1984 Buick Century, parked outside of it.

     This home turned out to be that of our friends, the Prescotts. Mrs. P asked Michael if he would stay for the party but he couldn’t because he had to go back to work.

   My parents and brother were in the backyard. Why hadn’t I just come there with them? It certainly was strange but interesting that a fictional character was part of this storyline.

   Mike and Jeff took a walk. I talked with Pam. Mom and Mrs. P were chatting about a Bradlees coworker of theirs. Billy Joel music was playing on the stereo.

    Dad and Mr. P had just made up over an argument that they had had at their workplace, General Motors. They put the burgers and hot dogs on the grill. I helped bring out some of the other food to the table.

   Mom had made her baked beans (she used to bring this to most barbecue parties that we went to), coleslaw, and potato salad. For dessert, there was cupcakes and Mom’s chocolate mayonnaise cake.

   Mike was talking about the trip to Austria that he was saving up for. The program ended shortly after that. I wished that I could have been at both parties for longer. I would have loved to have seen the rest of Elton John’s performance.

 

Our 1984 Buick Century

Mom's Pork and Beans recipe

Chocolate Mayonnaise cake

 

Note- the food, balloon, Elton John, and Billy Joel 8 track photos are from the internet.

June 11, 2015- Music, Stuffed Animals, and Writing-Part 2

   Mom still has all of her records, even the Rosemary Clooney 78s. She doesn’t have her old record player that could play these though. I have my record player only it hasn’t been used in about 10 years. That stereo has been in mom’s room for even longer than that.

    I can’t believe that I used to like listening to her musical soundtracks- Gigi, Gypsy, Oklahoma, South Pacific, The Music Man, Bye- Bye Birdie, Jumbo, and The King and I. We watched these movies together too.

    I wish that I never got rid of all but 3 of my Beatles records. I’m kind of embarrassed about my McCartney crush. I did have a poster of him and a Beatles one on my wall during that late 80’s- early 90s phase. 

    I thought that one of our 8^th grade Communion Breakfast (pre-graduation) songs used Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” with our school name replacing “Rock and Roll”. When I recently looked in that booklet, I saw “Graduation” to the tune of Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” which I do remember. But there was also another called “Be Good Eighth Grade” to the tune of “Be Good Johnny” that I definitely don’t recall.

   Why had there even been 2 songs? The former says 1982 with words written by 4 of my classmates and the latter is 1983, with 5 names.  A couple of them sound familiar; they might have been the class of 1984. I am really confused about this.

   Mike mentioned that his class had “The Reflex”. Was it used for this same event or as the main song for his 8^th grade dance- Medieval Times theme? If it was the former, I wonder how they would have changed the words to fit graduation/grade school memories.

   I’m so bad at remembering song lyrics. I do know some Christmas carols still, I think. The songs that I remember most are the ones from my childhood and it’s not like I can recall many of the words. There’s Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane”, Lionel Richie’s “You Are”, Kenny Rogers- “The Gambler”, Wham! – “Careless Whispers”, and McCartney/Wonder-“Ebony and Ivory”.

 

                                                                 Rosemary Clooney

                                                                Rosemary Clooney

 

 

Music Memories- Part 2

-I still have the 95 top songs of 1983 list from WPLJ. “Hungry Like the Wolf” and” Is There Something I Should Know?” are on it as is “Every Breath You Take” by the Police which is number 1.

-We remember some of tapes that we got from a club in the early 80s.  They were 10 for a penny or a dollar then buy a certain number at regular price. Styx – Kilroy was Here, Toto IV, Asia, Go-Gos – Vacation, David Bowie – Let’s Dance, Kool and the Gang, Def Leppard – Pyromania, Hall and Oates – Voices or H2O, maybe both.

   Mike said that my Duran Duran Rio tape was also from that club but I don’t remember this. I thought that I bought it at a flea market in 1993. It’s strange that my brother would recall this and not me. I must not have listened to it that much in the 80s. Night versions of “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Hold Back the Rain” are on this.

-High School- Jim D was showing some of us his Wham! - Make It Big album before class started one day.

-I still have the Invisible Tour Genesis poster that I got from the picture guys shop at US 1 Flea Market. I had wished that I could go to one of their shows back then

-We listened to a Rick Astley tape for a little while at Cindy’s graduation party in 1988. I think that she said that it was her mom’s. Cindy was into Depeche Mode (and other New wave music that I don’t exactly remember). I didn’t start liking them until the early 1990s.

-In 1989, my roommate and I were singing” Ebony and Ivory” while walking by the river in Pittsburgh. A guy was looking at us as if we were crazy.

-Billy Joel- I listened to his Greatest Hits Vol. 1&2 on my Walkman during the drive to Smithville Village. I think that we stopped there on the way home from a trip to the shore. We listened to some of his 8 tracks at our friends the Prescotts’ house a couple of times.

-We listened to Mark’s Styx Kilroy Was Here tape during the drive home from the shore (AC?) Dad didn’t really care for that.

-I listened to Mellencamp’s Scarecrow on my Walkman during the drive to Saratoga Springs, N.Y. for cousin Kevin’s wedding in 1988.

-Kathy, Mike and I listened to Prince and Hall and Oates records at her house once. Her taste in music change a lot when she started dating her future husband Jeff in the late 1980s. She then liked Aerosmith, Motley Crue and other stuff that he and their college friends were into.

-Dad had an album of wrestling stars performing songs like” Don’t Go Messin’ with a Country Boy” by Hillbilly Jim.

-The first CD that I ever bought was The Unforgettable Nat King Cole in 1994.

 

 

 

Note- The Wrestling album is an internet photo.

Favourite 80's songs - Part 4

1. Is There Something I Should Know? - Duran Duran

2. It's Still Rock and Roll to Me - Billy Joel

3. Easy Lover - Phil Collins and Phillip Bailey

4. The Living Years - Mike + The Mechanics

5. Take On Me - a-ha

6. Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House

7. The Promise - When In Rome

8. True - Spandau Ballet

9. It's My Life - Talk, Talk

10. Don't Talk to Strangers - Rick Springfield

11. And We Danced - The Hooters

12. Freezeframe - J. Geils Band

13. How Soon Is Now - The Smiths

14. Let's Dance - David Bowie

15. In My House - Mary Jane Girls

16. Throwing It All Away - Genesis

17. Always Something There To Remind Me- Naked Eyes

18. Something About You - Glass Tiger

19. Who Can It Be Now - Men at Work

20. Everybody Wants to Rule The World - Tears for Fears

Favourite 70's songs

I was listening to Saturday night 70's last night and really enjoying this. It got me to thinking about other songs that I like from that decade. They are mostly mellow and some country crossovers. This list is in no order of preference.

1. Knock Three Times - Tony Orlando & Dawn
2. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) - The Temptations
3. Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
4. Let's Stay Together - Al Green
5. I'll Be Around - The Spinners
6. (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right - Luther Ingram
7. Before The Next Teardrop Falls- Freddie Fender
8. Lonesome Loser - Little River Band
9. Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers
10. I'd Really Love To See You Tonight - England Dan and John Ford Coley
11. You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine - Lou Rawls
12. Use Ta Be My Girl - The O' Jays
13. Here You Come Again - Dolly Parton
14. Escape (The Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes
15. Fire - Pointer Sisters
16. After The Love Has Gone - Earth, Wind & Fire
17. Reunited - Peacher & Herb
18. The Devil Went Down To Georgia - The Charlie Daniels Band
19. The Gambler - Kenny Rogers
20. You Are The Sunshine of My Life - Stevie Wonder
21. My Life - Billy Joel
22. Sail On - The Commodores
23. How Much I Feel - Ambrosia
24. Nobody Does It Better - Carly Simon
25. I Love A Rainy Night - Eddie Rabbit
26. Smokey Mountain Rain - Ronnie Milsap
27. Do You Know the Way to San Jose - Dionne Warwicke
28. Back In Love Again - LTD
29. Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight & The Pips
30. Rhinestone Cowboy - Glenn Campbell

I'm pretty sure that 19, 25 and 26 are the 70's. I should look this up in my Billboard book but I don't feel like going into the basement for it.

Some Favourite 80's Songs

1. Mad World - Tears For Fears
2. Rio - Duran Duran
3. It's A Sin - Pet Shop Boys
4. Invisible Touch - Genesis
5. The Prisoner - Howard Jones
6. You Make My Dreams Come True - Hall and Oates
7. Raspberry Beret - Prince
8. Careless Whispers - Wham!
9. Major Tom(Coming Home) - Peter Schilling
10. Tainted Love - Soft Cell
11. Lay Your Hands on Me - Thompson Twins
12. The Look of Love - ABC
13. Human - Human League
14. Seperate Ways - Journey
15. Some Like it Hot - The Power Station
16. Take It On The Run - REO Speedwagon
17. Pressure - Billy Joel
18. Our House - Madness
19. White Wedding - Billy Idol
20. You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi
21. Jack and Diane - Mellencamp
22. Heart of Glass - Blondie

8- Tracks

I was thinking about the 8-Tracks that my family and I used to have. We didn't have that many, maybe 10. Doris Day's Greatest Hits, The Village People, Dolly Parton's Heartbreaker, Englebert Humperdinck, Shenandoha, Oklahoma, and a goofy one with CB related songs on it. There were also 2 Christmas music mix ones- I liked Nat King Cole's Mrs Santa Claus on the one. My friend got me a K-Tel Soundwaves with hits from 1980 on it. I had a couple of K-Tel records too.

My father put an 8-Track player in our 1976 Chevy Malibu station wagon. We thought it was so cool to have this in our car at the time. Our family friends also had one in their car. I remember listening to Billy Joel in their car once and also on the stereo in their home. We had a big stereo that played records and 8-tracks.

I see 8-tracks at flea markets sometimes and laugh a little inside. Am I having a false memory or was there a clicking sound right during the middle of some of the songs and it switched over to the next section? I keep meaning to look up on the internet when 8-tracks first came out and when they offically died. Same with cassette tapes. I still have plenty of those but no 8-tracks, didn't even keep those for nostalgic purposes.