I've been insanely busy, but wanted to do a quick post while I was thinking about it.
Michael Jackson was an incredible artist. I'm not talking about his character or the things he was or was not guilty of doing later on in life...if I got started talking about that, then it's a whole different ball of wax. But, he made AMAZING music, and given that I was born in 1977, and pretty much a child of the '80's, I can hear his songs, and they bring back distinct memories of where I lived, how old I was, and what I was doing. Hearing about his passing today made me sad because it meant that there would not be any more nostalgic songs to punctuate future memories.
But here are a few songs that I associate with different events in my life:
Billie Jean- I was in kindergarten in Oceanside, CA, and I remember it playing at the youth center where my mom had signed me up to take tap dancing lessons (I hated tap dancing, and promptly quit!!). I also had NO IDEA what the song was about, but I thought it sounded cool.
Beat It and Thriller- Both HUGE songs when I was in the first grade and lived in 29 Palms, CA. Strangely enough, I had a music teacher who insisted on teaching all of us the words to the Weird Al Version, "Eat It." Wasn't public school in California GREAT back then?? I would imagine this guy was on a huge powertrip and one of his friends just said to him one day, "Hey...wouldn't it be funny to make you first graders sing Weird Al??" I think I'd probably find that amusing if I were him, too. Probably wouldn't have done it, but the idea would have been funny.
We Are The World- This one was big when we lived in Woodbridge, VA, and all of my little friends and I would have sing-alongs in the car on the way to our gymnastics class. This would be when every little girl in America wanted to be Mary Lou Retton...and before I got tall, effectively ending any hope of a gymnastics career! This was 2nd or 3rd grade, I believe.
Man In the Mirror- I remember being in 5th grade in Catholic school in Newport, Rhode Island, listening to this on my pink walkman that I snuck with me to school so I had something to do on the long bus ride in the morning.
Black or White- This was my freshman year of high school in Colorado Springs, CO. I was in Catholic school again, and the family had just moved to Colorado after spending 3 years in Japan. I remember seeing the video premier during primetime, and let me just say...the rest of the country thought that video was cool. But, for me, after seeing nothing but the one military television channel that we had in Japan for three years, that video was nothing short of phenomenal!! Quite frankly, it might have even caused a few of my brain cells to spontaneously self destruct because I was so mesmerized by the tv while watching it. :)
That last one was 1991, and not long after this was when all of the scandal started up, and he was permanently banned from my radio...I didn't want to be listening to someone's music who was accused of the things he was accused of. But, after about a 10 year boycott on my part, he had a greatest hits cd released, and I couldn't help but feel nostalgic for all those times that I remember as a little kid. So, I decided to separate the man from the music, and I bought a greatest hits cd. And I've got one more memory now...
Billie Jean- the first song on the Greatest Hits album which was the first cd I played as I drove the first brand new car I EVER bought off the Ford dealership in Colorado Springs in 2002. I'm still driving that Explorer.
So, maybe tomorrow, I'll hook up my iPod and give the Greatest Hits a whirl on the way to work for old times' sake. :)
