Musical Storybook

[youngsta]

Certain songs in my life are associated with milestones. When I hear them they ALWAYS take me back to a very specific memory because of the impact the song had on me. I figured this could be a thread where we share these stories. Here's my first.

It's the summer of 1982 and I was at the Hawthorne Park pool. I was ALWAYS at the pool. My friends and I headed over there every day for a few hours. Well it's a normal day; we're flirting with the girls, doing crazy dives off the low dive, and just plain acting like 12 year-old fools

Every hour the lifeguard's made all of us kids get out the pool for 15 minutes so adults could lap swim ! We get out cussing and go chillout on our towels by the fence. Some brotha comes riding up on his Huffy with a boom box cradled on his shoulder. My boys and I give him the old head nod and he returns it. Then he says, "Check this out." He presses play and I officially and forever fell in love with Hip-Hop.

I'd been listening to it already--'Rappers Delight', 'Jazzy Sensation', 'The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on The Wheels of Steel', 'The Message'--I like all those songs, and owned a few on vinyl. But that day at the pool as I stared in awe at the brotha on the bike and then started dancing poolside...I fell in love with 'Planet Rock'
When I hear:

Party people
Party people
Can y'all get funky?

I'm instantly 12 years-old again...

[pygmalion]

This is a GREAT thread to start. Hmmm.

Yeah. Songs become the soundtrack of our lives, and always take us back to a special place. I'm going spend a lot of time pondering this one, I can tell.

The first one that comes to mind is a sad one, though. Silly by Deniece Williams. I played that song about a billion times when my high school sweetheart broke my heart for the first of many times. We were together on and off for eight years. And when I hear that song, I remember him, with fondness, now. You do move on, eventually.


My second one is The Ruby and the Pearl, by Nat King Cole. My mom has a thing for Nat King Cole. Always has. When I was little, she had an LP box set. Six Nat King Cole albums. Honestly, when she got in a certain mood, she would pull out that box set and play every album both sides. I love Nat King Cole. What a classic crooner he was. And The Ruby and the Pearl is, in my opinion, one of his best songs. Romantic, smoooth, and the sentiment. Oh my!

I could go on, but I'll give somebody else a chance.

Thanks for this thought. You made my day. :D :D :D

[youngsta]

No thank YOU for sharing yours too! :D I love Niecy and Nat King Cole too btw.

[dancergal]

Gosh, I could write a book on songs that remind me of events in my life, but I'll share this one. It's short and sweet. It was many years ago in my early 20's. My boyfriend and I were sound asleep in his apt. He had a friend staying for a few days. He was a singer who lived in Nevada, a one-man band for small bars and such. He came home about 3 am. and started playing "Stairway to Heaven" on his guitar. He was singing very softly and playing. His song woke me gently and I listened in a dreamy daze. It was very beautiful and haughting. I felt like I got a private serenade. Everytime I hear that song, I remember that feeling of being sleepy and dreamy and being serenaded.

[youngsta]

When I was in college back in 1988 I befriended this funny cat named Ed my freshman year. Ed was from Baltimore and was already a serious House head. I was a militant soldier of Hip-Hop at that time. I was heavily into the Hip-Hop club scene and for my entire four years in High School it's pretty much all I listened to (except for my RnB slow jams).

Ed and I would battle back and forth all day about who's music was better. He listened to Hip-Hop, it just wasn't what he prefered. I on the other hand had never heard any House music and had no desire to start. Well one day I'm chillin in Ed's room; it's dark, a lava lamp is bubbling, and a black light is the only illumination in the room. He's digging through his milk crates and playing short samples of his collection. I'm not very impressed until he drops the stylus on one piece of vinyl and this smoothed out bassline begins. And then a guy singing, but whispering at the same time starts chanting 'Break...For Love'

Talk about perking up! I was across the room and peeking over his shoulder in less the five seconds. I made him play it over and over again. It was almost a spiritual experience for me. Raze - 'Break For Love'