Sometimes long-forgotten music comes at me from the shady corners of the past and, depending on the song, I am gladdened to hear it, mostly because it also brings with it a tidal wave of memories of sensations, hairdos, plastic bracelets and wacky lunch box items. So while in the middle of the bread aisle at Publix yesterday, pondering the various virtues of English muffins and trying to make the most informed decision, what did I hear floating from the speakers in the lofty heights, synthesized to within an inch of its life? "Say It Isn't So" by the large-haired power duo who ruled the eighties. Guys, I'm talking about the Hall and the Oates.
So as part of my New Year, New Tunes initiative, I welcome ballads from my teenage years most heartily, right alongside all the truly new, underbelly indie stuff. I just need new sounds, I need them somethin' fierce. The most helpful way to discover the new/old goods, though (and I think we all agree), is Pandora. Here is a mere smattering of the greats I've heard today:
"You Make My Dreams" Hall and Oates
"Waiting For a Girl Like You" Foreigner
"Night Fever" The Bee Gees
"Enjoy The Silence" Depeche Mode
"P.Y.T." Michael Jackson
"September" Earth, Wind and Fire
"Boogie Shoes" K.C. and the Sunshine Band
"Baby Hold On" Eddie Money
"I Can't Go For That" H&O
"Promises, Promises" Naked Eyes
"Play That Funky Music" Wild Cherry
"Say It Isn't So" H&O
"Broken Wings" Mr. Mister
"Under Pressure" Queen
"Eyes Without A Face" Billy Idol
It's a funny thing, music. I can almost taste the Gatorade gum (anyone else remember that stuff?), smell the interior of mom's little lemon yellow Rabbit, remember the seemingly endless wait for her to get out of Jazzercise at the local middle school, meanwhile whopping a tired and aimless tetherball towards my really hip big sister out on the black top, taste the cherry Kissing Potion roll-on gloss on my lips.
We are all the ages we have ever been.
