Do you remember the first Michael Jackson song you ever heard?

I was about 9 when I heard the song Rock With You  from his Off the Wall album.  I remember being in the kitchen with my mom and her friend as they were getting ready to go out.  I wished I could go with them.  I didn't want to stay home with my drunk father who was passed out sleeping upstairs.  But the girls were having a nite out on the town.  Whenever I hear that song I am returned to that moment in my childhood be it good or bad.  Music has always been that for me.  Kind of  like a touchstone to my history.

 

 

A much better memory comes to mind with the first MJ album I bought with a few bucks I saved.  I was 13 and Thriller had just come out.  The best of the best in my opinion.  Beat It was the sh** back then.  I had just gotten my first boom box with a tape deck.  All the kids had them but mostly boys who walked down the street with it on their shoulder and base pumping.  It was a cool spring nite and my friend Lisa and I were outside testing out my new box.  I was giddy with excitement.  As I pressed the play button that was the size of a piece of bazooka gum and heard the beat start I grabbed the silver handle.   Lisa and I proceeded to strut down the block and around the corner with MJ's Beat It blasting.  We thought we were so dam cool.  Just us, the music, under the streetlights.  I don't remember how many times we circled the development of townhouses where we both lived.  I think until my mom came out and yelled to me it was time to come in.  It is one of the few memories I have of feeling carefree in my childhood.  

My husband and I were in the car yesterday when we heard the news on the radio.  I turned the volume up in disbelief.  Then I got chills and tears in my eyes.  Its not like I knew the guy or anything so I wondered why the tears?  As I drove on I thought about that moment on that street with my beat box blasting MJ.  It felt as though a part of my growing up was taken away. 

My heart goes out to his friends and family as well to those of Farrah and lest not forget Ed.  Wow, what a week...

Do you remember the first MJ song you heard?  Was it a good memory?  Does music jostle you memory?  When icons like this die how do you feel?

What's On Your Ipod?

After the somberness of my last post I wanted to write something fun.  I just ordered tickets to an upcoming Journey concert in the fall YAY!  And now I am all about classic Journey tunes on my ipod today.  It got me to thinking about the role music has played in my life.  

I remember the first Journey album I bought.  It was the Escape album circa 1981.  I was 12 and "Don't Stop Believin"  was my fav song at the time.  My friends and I used to blast it from our boxes we carried while strutting down the street.  Can I just say how old I feel right now!    Anyway, I remember how happy I felt listening to that song and belting out the words.  It was like an escape for me, no pun intended.  At that age, it was a way for me to drown out the sounds of my parents screaming and my father's drunken noise.  I could tune out the world.  Even as I watched that last scene in the Soprano's finale with that song playing I got chills.  

As I got older music became a connection to boys I liked, falling in love the first time with Paul, and just plain ol' good times with friends.  It helped to drown out the sadness I felt at times.  In my adulthood music could also evoke tears as I began to loose those close to me.  But at the same time  I couldn't help but smile and feel as though that person was brought a little closer around me.  And when Lou and I got married our gift to the guests at our wedding was a CD I put together of our favorite love songs.  

Listening to music has also inspired my writing.  Sometimes when I am feeling that writer's block blasting some tunes helps the words to come out.  I don't listen often enough these days.  It is something I want to bring back to the forefront of my days.  It releases my creativity and lessens my anxiety which I am feeling way to much of lately.  

So.... what is playing on your ipod today?  What are some favorite songs that have brought you  good times?  What role has music played in your life?