I Got the Music in Me

I have a few great loves in my life – my family, my friends, the St. Louis Cardinals, books, and ranking high on the list – music.

When I was little, pre-Kindergarten, my earliest music memory is begging my mom to play my Monkees album on her stereo turntable. She had an old hi-fi set that doubled as a piece of furniture (and was so heavy it probably required a crane lift). As she spun Elvis, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, Elvis, and other of her country favorites, she would kindly drop the needle on The Monkees and some of my favorites – “Take a Giant Step,” “Sweet Young Thing,” “Let’s Dance On,” and “Gonna Buy Me a Dog” (I now know they were probably pretty high when they did this one, but I love it!). The fact that Davy Jones was my first celebrity crush (more on this another day) didn’t hurt anything.

From there I remember a small turntable box with lid that latched shut that was mine alone, and then, when I turned 6, an ultra-cool record player that had an orange plastic turntable bottom (adjustable to both 33 and 45 rpms) and a detachable white top that was the speaker. It was tethered to the turntable by a wire, but the wire was kind of long, so I could set the speaker somewhere in my room away from the turntable (which also had a small speaker inside). Instant surround sound. Amazing.

I got so many miles out of that device. I can remember my cousins visiting us and the three of us belting out “Cecilia” by Simon & Garfunkel at the top of our lungs. I began my Olivia Newton-John phase about this time, as well as my next teen idol, Donny Osmond.

We were blessed with several retailers from which to purchase records, including Woolworth and Murphy’s and The Melody Shop in the town where my maternal grandmother lived. .45s were anywhere from 50 to 99 cents, albums $5. I begged to start earning an allowance early and spent all of it on records and magazines (Tiger Beat, primarily).

I also had a small AM transistor radio with a wrist strap and antenna that I carried EVERYWHERE. If I was playing outside or traveling in the car (thank goodness for the wired earpiece), my radio was there. I threaded my bike handle bars through the strap when I rode. I heard “Listen to What the Man Says” in its debut when I was outside playing at Joanie Hughey’s house on my station of choice, KXOK in St. Louis. More on KXOK later.

I played percussion in my grade school band for 5 years and gave concert band a go in high school, but it wasn’t for me, so I continued on as a listener. Just like all of you, there are artists and songs that are the soundtrack to my life. There are songs that take me to a date, time, and location that feel like it’s happening in real time.  There are songs that sound like a place I’ve been, even though the song was around before I went to the place. More info – I think “Help Me” by Joni Mitchell sounds like Southern California. Can’t explain it, but trust me, it does.

I attended my first live concert at a young age because all my mom’s fave country artists ran the summer fair circuit or played local arenas, and of course, I was dragged along. I had no appreciation for steel guitar, banjos, or mandolins at the time, so I have referred to these outings as worthy of a call to Child & Family Services. Of course, I was kidding.

Over the years and changes in residence, I’ve found new music, attended tons of concerts in great locations, and have proudly passed along my music tastes to my kids and, to an extent, my grandkids (I’m still working on that).

My daughter and I have this running commentary where, if a song comes on, we’ll tell each other, “This is in my top 25.”  So, for my amusement and your entertainment, I’m going to post regularly about some of my favorite songs and why they made the list. I’m anxious to see if any of them had any type of impact on you as well.

Thanks for reading!