Never-ending playlist

Growing up, music was so important to me. I never realized it at the time, but looking back, I can only imagine how different my childhood would have been without such a strong musical presence. Both of my parents were lovers of good music. They had tons of "old" records and "new" cassette tapes. My mother was always singing along in the car. She seemed to know the words to every song, old and new (I think Kyle would say I inherited this trait).

As an only child, I spent a lot of time alone either in the basement playing or in my room. No matter where I was, it seemed my boombox was always nearby. I was blessed that my parents supported the development of my own music tastes, even if they weren't into it. I had many tapes of my own and I would listen to them for hours.

Mom took me to my very first concert at the ripe old age of 7 to see M.C. Hammer at the Illinois State Fair. Did I mention that the concert was the night before the first day of school? Yeah, she was that awesome. It became a tradition that we saw at least one concert a year.

As a pre-teen, I remember that the music became more than just words and tunes; I actually began to feel the emotion of it. Heartbreak and unrequited love were the themes that I seemed to understand most clearly. In retrospect, I knew little of either, but that did not matter.

I had an idea to begin making a playlist of all of my favorite songs from ages 0-16. I quickly became overwhelmed by all the music, all the memories that came flooding into my mind. I decided to set a limit that the playlist could only contain radio hits. This helped narrow it down a bit, but it seems as though it will never really quit growing. I just keep hearing songs that must go on the list.

The odd thing to me is that for every song, there is a place, a person, or a deep emotion tied to it. Some of the songs aren't even that great, but the memories are so strong, I could not ignore them.

I decided that I need to write about it before I get too old and forget everything. So, I am starting a new tradition. I'm calling it "Old Music Tuesdays." Every Tuesday (well, most Tuesdays) I will feature a different artist, name the song or songs that made my list, and share the memories that are attached to each song.

I am very interested to see if others have memories tied to the same songs. I'll get things started in the morning.