Once Upon a Time...

The first popular song I remember from my childhood is, These Boots Were Made for Walkin', by Nancy Sinatra. Interesting song for a young 'un to listen to, wouldn't you say? I had a 45 rpm single play record of this song - the kind that needed the adapter pictured on the left in order to be played on the hi-fi.

I also had the single of, Those Were the Days, My Friend, by Mary Hopkins, on the Apple lable. You know the song (if you're old enough) - it started out, "Once upon a time, there was a tavern, Where we used to raise a glass or two." Again, odd musical choice for a toddler. That yellow adapter looked pretty funny right smack dab in the middle of that green granny smith apple!

Another song I remember from that era is, Little Becky's Christmas Wish. It was a tearjerker about a little girl who wanted her big brother to come home from Viet Nam for Christmas. I don't think he made it.

I took a musical trip down memory lane at You Tube last night and looked up the following songs:

Hooked on a Feeling - This one was originally by Blue Swede; the version at You Tube is by David Hasselhoff (what's up with that?), but it sounded pretty much the same, and the video had dachshunds in it!

Bohemian Rhapsody - by Queen. I still love the tight harmonies and the rock opera presentation.

I Started a Joke - by the Bee Gees. I still only partly get the joke.

Surrender and The Dream Police - by Cheap Trick

I even visited my least favorite song of all time. It gave me a frisson of nostalgic repulsion right from the very first strains: Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I used to cringe when they played it at a dance - it went on forever and ever, and it was virtually impossible for anyone to dance to it.They always requested it, though, with cries from the crowd of, "Play Freebird! Play Freebird!" Ugh. Sorry to all of the Skynyrd fans out there. Just hated this one. It grated on me from the very first time I heard it. Sweet Home Alabama was much easier to take.

I could never quite bring myself to like Stairway to Heaven, either. I know, I know, I'm a traitor to my generation. Another awful song: The Girl is Mine by Michael Jackson.

I couldn't find anything by The Cars at You Tube, but I went through a distinct Cars phase.

I was able to find the first music video I remember watching - Don't Stand So Close To Me by The Police. I checked out a little Blondie (Call Me!) and the Eurythmics (Annie Lennox singing Sweet Dreams). I even listened to a short version of Macarthur Park (hey, it beats Freebird any day in my book).

To give credit to the late 80's, I looked up Simply Red's, If You Don't Know Me By Now (it was big when I was dating my husband). I kept trying to remember Don Henley's, The End of the Innocence - it sat at the back of my mind like a shadow or a ghost that disappeared when I tried to look directly at it. If finally popped into my head tonight, when I least expected it.

There was a song by John Cougar Mellencamp that was big in the late 80's, too - I can see a bit of the video in my mind, but I can't quite remember it. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?

When I speak of today's music, I have begun to echo the things my mother said to me a couple of decades (or so) ago:

1. They don't make music like the did in my day, and

2. It all sounds the same.

I could go on for hours, picking out tunes from the past and reliving moments of my life to them. What were your favorites, and which one gets your vote for worst song of all time?