Jump to content

The song that brings back memories (win a CD!)


Carl

Recommended Posts

Tell us about that one song that brings back the memories. Maybe it's the one that always came on the radio when your dad took you to the ball game; maybe it's the song that was playing when you shared your first kiss or got your first big job. Everyone has a story - let's hear yours.

The good people at Shout! Factory have re-released some of Herb Alpert's classic albums, including Whipped Cream And Other Delights and The Lonely Bull. They gave us some of Herb's CDs to give away, so we'll wait until June 1st, then pick our 5 favorite stories in this thread - the authors of those 5 posts will each win a CD. Think deep and write well.

Carl

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NEW HORIZONS -Moody Blues

I played on the varsity tennis team for three years, and the highlight of the season was having the ability o miss a day of school to go to the State Prep Championships down in Lawerenceville to root on our teammates who were playing. We would all bring bag loads of snacks and music for the ride there and back. The seniors got control over the stereo and we would blast music, singing along the whole way down there.

Senior year when it when it was our turn to pick the music we blasted classic rock the whole way down and back. Moody Blues, Billy JOel, Eagles, Buffett, everything. And the last song that we played on the way back up the hill to campus was New Horizons by the Moody Blues. It was a fitting way to end the last trip together as a team for the season, and for our high school careers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First of all, what a great idea Carl, I love to hear about others stories, and I'd like to share mine...I'm not really good at this, but I'll do my best...Whenever I hear Time For Me To Fly by REO I think about my trip to California to visit with my best friend for a month. I was only 16 when my best friend moved away. Her father moved the family there because of a new job. Both my friend and I were born in a small town in western ny, very country, very hometownish and laid back. Moving to California was a big step for her, and she found out that California was HUGE, and felt a little lonely, and out of place. She had asked me to come and stay for the summer, and both her parents and mine were good friends also and said that would be fine. On the way to the airport Time For Me To Fly came on the radio.

I was only 16 at the time, and flying for my first time also, all by myself I might add, I was very nervous and very scared and excited at the same time. I had a boyfriend at that time also, so it was a big decision for me too. He didnt want me to go, and I was young and foolish and almost turned down the offer of my friend. We talked and I ended up going to California, and so glad I did. I had the time of my life there. A country gal from a small town, and without my parents!!!lol. We had a real good time, I wont get into those details...lol. My friend greeted me at the airport with 2 tickets to the Rolling Stones concert at the Oakland Collisium...Wow what a concert, Santana opened up for the Stones, and sang happy birthday to Mick...helicopters dropped pink balloons over the stadium, it was awesome! When I returned to N.Y. and saw my boyfriend, it was not a happy return. I found out he had found someone else I guess while I was gone, and that was the end of that. It turned out for the best in the long run. I guess the lyrics had a certain meaning to me. Time For Me To fly, as in getting on that airplane and seeing my best friend, and Time For Me To Fly to leave the past behind, and go on with my life, which I did. I met a terrific guy afterwards, and we now are married, going on 24 years now! and two wonderful daughters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love "Seasons in the Sun". It´s the English version of a song of Jacques Brel who´s hard to listen...

I also had somebody I really loved who died by the time I heard it for the first time... it was spring too...

"Runaway"... they used to play it in the merry-go-round I was hooked on when I was three or four... I dreamed of that farfisa or mellotron or whatever... I even dreamed with that soundtrack until I started school. I forgot about it and I heard it again maybe fifteen years later. It still reminds me of those dreams I had but as I´m a masochist i love it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You? A masochist? I though you were hispanic/hebraic.

well, actually, I am hispanic/hebraic/azkenazy/french but in the masochist version...

Oh, and I have another story to tell... some thirty years ago, a friend of mine was in trouble, so we had to get some money to help him out. We decided to collect some old records from my boyfirend´s older brothers and sell them in the flea-market... one of these records was "Whipped Cream", I found it so astonishing (mainly the cover!) that I kept it for me and I still have it among my vynils!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Flashback Summer 1967....On the boardwalk at Wildwood, NJ. This was my first vacation at a place that would become my favorite vacation spot in all the world. The place is very NJ. A mecca of rock and roll in the 40's and 50's transformed into a family resort complete with a massive boardwalk, piers, rides, games and music...oh how that music permeated through the many noises of Jersey Shore life. Every store had music blaring, the games all had their own soundtrack of the day and transistor radios played the AM hits of the day. WABC-AM was the monsterous home of rock and roll in the New York New Jersey area. FM was just being born with Scott Muni at WNEW-FM.

So there I am, on the boardwalk listening to the loudest music I ever heard coming from huge speakers on the Himalaya ride. You know the Himalaya, it spins a chain of bob sled shaped cars forward at lightning speeds, slows you down and then does it all over again...backwards.

So, in the summer of 1967, only one song played on the Himalaya...Light My Fire by The Doors. I stood in awe, taking in the sounds, the flashing colored lights, the screaming riders, the smells of lovely boardwalk foods.. through it all one thing stood out..that epic, Light My Fire was playing continually...nothing else...Light My fire, Light My Fire, Light My Fire...my goodness, how I loved those carnival like first keyboard notes, that droning guitar solo, Jim screaming the final verse....When your a kid and all of your senses are over-stimulated at once...a certain joy is created that lasts a lifetime.

So today, when this 46 year old kid hears those first notes of Light My Fire...I am immediately transported to a time that was exciting, fun, innocent and a memory that will never leave me.

Ron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RJS...you bring back happy memories of Wildwood, NJ. In the 50's, 60's and into the 70's I used to spend my summers there. Ahh, now I'm dieing for a lime rickey and some french fries in a coned cup from under the boardwalk (with malt vinegar on 'em). Darn you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I posted this a long time ago...and still mean every word...

Last May, I found out I was pregnant after approximately 5 years of trying. I loved American Idol, and happily watched Ruben Studdard win. I was home from work one day and while laying on the couch watching TV, I saw a "Making the Video" for Ruben's song "Flying Without Wings". Maybe it was my raging hormones, but the words to that song touched me deep down in my soul. I really felt that my unborn child made me "fly without wings". My beautiful, precious daughter was born in November, and every time I hear that song, I am reminded of how grateful I am that she chose my husband and I to be her parents. It would definitely be on my soundtrack!

"Everybody's looking for that something

One thing that makes it all complete

You'll find it in the strangest places

Places you never knew it could be

Some find it in the faces of their children

Some find it in their lovers eyes

Who can deny the joy it brings

When you find that special thing

You're flying without wings"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RJS...you bring back happy memories of Wildwood, NJ. In the 50's, 60's and into the 70's I used to spend my summers there. Ahh, now I'm dieing for a lime rickey and some french fries in a coned cup from under the boardwalk (with malt vinegar on 'em). Darn you!

Uncle Joe...thank me later for this, but go to www.limericky.com and you can be transported back to the heydey of Wildwood right now. I invite all of you who never had an opportunity to visit the classic Jersey Shore to check out this site too. Pretty neat. :laughing:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great site RJS. It actually brought tears to my eyes. Now I suppose you're gonna tell me that you rode the Wild Mouse? Well, I rode it. Once. That was enough.

Did you ever go to the Starlite Ballroom dances?

Cozy Morley's? Breakfast at Grandmom's on the boardwalk?

Leap from the balcony at The Pan American into the pool below? Date many of those lovely waitresses? The Surf Club? The Oasis? The Marbern where they gave you ten 7 oz. glasses of beer for $1.00?

It's been many years since I've been to Wildwood, but it's all coming back to me little by little. And I'm lovin' it.

Thanks!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unc,

I did some of those things and certainly contemplated doing all of them at some point.

The first thing I did in the summer after I turned 17 (and could drive myself) was take my friends down to Wildwood. That would have been the summer of '76.

I'm booked for a week this summer in Wildwood Crest. I can't convince my kids to skip a year and go somewhere else. Even if it's only a couple days, we end up in wildwood.

I'm glad you liked the web site for Lime Ricky. I think it is one of the best nostalgic sites I've seen for anywhere.

Philly to Wildwood is a snap. Take the trip.

Ron

Oh yeah, I rode the wild mouse....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would have to say that "Never Say Goodbye" by Bon Jovi (off their "Slippery When Wet"album) really brings back memories of my senior year of high school (1987): enjoying still being a kid and not having too many adult resposibilities; having a crush on a guy and not knowing if he likes you back; a younger kid dying in a car accident; sitting on a swing at the playground after graduation and wondering what comes next.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, man does music hold memories for me. It seems that every important chapter of my life can be summed upped in a good classic rock song. And oddly, most of them are by Bob Seger, but the one that takes me back to my teen years is ?Like a Rock?. It was the summer of ?68, and I was just out of high school and working full time in a factory. Like the song says I was working for peanuts, but I was carefree, strong, and ready to take on the world. Of course, the world had other plans, like the cancer that took my mother the following year, not to mention all the social and political unrest that marked the Summer of Love. The late ?60?s were an exciting, painful time and this song really brings back the hope and optimisms I had as an 18 year old. But sometimes, to quote Mr. Seger, I wish I didn?t know now what I didn?t know then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Give the cd to someone else.

For me the seminal song is "The Needle and the Damage Done."

I worked for 2 years at a junkie clinic in Charleston. The lesson I learned is that you can't relate to the tragedy of addiction until you pick up the spike yourself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first time I heard "BABY COME BACK" by PLAYER in 1977 on the radio, I was blown away by this new band with the most intense guitar riffs(before there was metal bands), yet such sensual lead vocals and spiritual background harmonizing. I hung on every word thinking "my God, someone must have hurt him so bad and/or he loved someone so deeply", to write a beautiful song like that.We've all been there and it really hit home because at the time my marriage was in trouble. I immediately ran out and bought the 8 track.(yes,I said 8 track!)Through the years I have developed such a passion for PLAYER, especially their lead singer PETER BECKETT(whom I am starting up a website for). Everytime I hear "BABY COME BACK" or any of their melodic love songs, it takes me to a very special place where I feel at peace in my heart and soul. Although it didn't save my marriage, this song always gave me faith that someday someone would sing these beautiful words to me in their own way. Well worth the wait, nine years ago I found that man. Although he could not keep a tune to sing the words, he spoke them to me from his heart.Even now when I hear "BABY COME BACK" on the radio or I put on my PLAYER cd's(no more 8 tracks for me!),it makes me smile and I get a warm, content feeling inside."There was something in everything about you."(quote from Baby Come Back) productinfo.asp?style=music&pid=1056073&

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, man does music hold memories for me. It seems that every important chapter of my life can be summed upped in a good classic rock song. And oddly, most of them are by Bob Seger, but the one that takes me back to my teen years is ?Like a Rock?. It was the summer of ?68, and I was just out of high school and working full time in a factory. Like the song says I was working for peanuts, but I was carefree, strong, and ready to take on the world. Of course, the world had other plans, like the cancer that took my mother the following year, not to mention all the social and political unrest that marked the Summer of Love. The late ?60?s were an exciting, painful time and this song really brings back the hope and optimisms I had as an 18 year old. But sometimes, to quote Mr. Seger, I wish I didn?t know now what I didn?t know then.

I feel like I could have written your post myself, Ol Ed... with just some exception, but I feel just the same...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wrestled with posting this here and had come to the decision not to. Some of the reasons were personal, some were obvious. Over the last week or so, I have received a pile of personal messages to put it here and so here it is. I don't need a free cd, I just put it here for the shared experience. The following is a direct cut-and paste from the songfact here.

Kenny.

Not long ago, I was heading home from work. On the way home, I encountered a detour that would take me 20 minutes out of my way home. I was angry, as, the garbage had to be brought out, darkness was coming earlier these days, and the front lawn needed to be raked. Lost in my reverie about these tasks, I found myself at the stoplight at the intersection of of Riverside Drive, and Caron Avenue. I live in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The river the drive runs along is the Detroit River. It was there I heard the song, only this time, it was in my head. It was summer of 1985. My girlfriend and I had gone down to the local "Freedom Festival" (an annual festival celebrating the goodwill that exists between Canada and the U.S). We rode a couple of the rides, ate a couple of cotton candies, and blew a few bucks at the 'Pitch-'till-u-win' booth. We had been going out for a year, and were getting pretty serious in our relationship. I was thinking about ways of approaching the idea of marriage. Eventually, I asked her if she would be interested in looking at engagement rings at the downtown jewlery shops, and she said "Sure!" with a smile. We looked for the better part of the afternoon, and eventually found the one she liked. I plopped down a downpayment (pitifully small on what seemed like something I'd never be able to afford to pay off). What we did for the remainder of the day escapes me now, but it was the ride home after dropping her off that night I'll never forget. The ride home was usually a 20 minute hike down Riverside drive, which eventually turns into Highway 18, and a short turn to my house. That night, it was hot. Sticky, muggy hot. The smell of new summer in the air. And I was on top of the world. My girl said yes, she would marry me. I was at the intersection of Riverside and Caron waiting for the light. The Detroit skyline off to my right. In my Dad's car. A 1973 Plymouth Valiant, deep green, vinyl seats and an AM radio. The disc jockey said "AM 5-8-0, CKWW.... It's 2 AM". I have heard the song on an expensive home stereo, and I have heard the man sing it live (from the good seats, too). But it never sounded better to me than it did that night, coming through those cheap, tinny, factory speakers. those rich strummed chords, and that husky voice. "I was a little too tall, coulda used a few pounds, tight pants, points, hardly renouned..." I sang along with Bob, happier that night, than I ever had been. That the song was recorded not far from here, lends to the story. I got home late because of the detour, but in a different frame of mind. The leaves got raked, and the garbage still got out. Kel and I have been married for almost 16 years. 16 years, one child, a couple of different addresses, a few deaths and births, some decent vacations, 5 or 6 cars later, and I eventually paid off that engagement ring. And we are still together, me and her.. I came to learn that detours aren't always a bad thing.. As I write this, I see it is 12:30 AM. I am gonna go upstairs and see if Kel wants to practice some night moves. And that's a good thing. Like Seger says, indeed, ain't it funny how you remember..... Peace.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to say "Dancing Queen" - ABBA/Arrival 1976 Atlantic Records. Made #1 on the US Pop charts April 9 1977...

HEaaavvvvy SiGHHHH....

This song brings back terrible memories actually... But in a funny particular way...

I was 5 years old at the time...We were driving back from getting Ice Cream with my Mom and Dad and for some

odd reason, they started arguing in a very bad physical manner. My mom was hitting my dad and my dad blocking her hands. Then he stopped the car and told her to get out. She got out and he drove off with me and my sister looking back at my Mom running after the car. All the while they were playing dancing queen "Hence is why I really, Truly, HATE and Despise the very existence of that particular song!!!!!!!!!!

I later found out that the argumant was about a woman at the Ice Cream shop. Well my Mom didn't have to walk too far to get home I found out later. But when she got Home, Boy was my Dad in the DOG HOUSE....

Thats it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...