Fire Away

from the Crimes of Passion Album, 1981

One of the first 45 singles I remember caring about. I am not sure what grade I was in -- 5th grade, maybe? I have a distinct memory of sitting in Carrie Longie's bedroom and listening to this record over and over again and dancing around her room. Pat Benetar still gets me fired up (she's all over my workout playlist!)

Magical Musical Thing

Magical Musical Thing, Mattel, 1978

The version I had of this toy was blue and white--not sure I remember the orange stickers. (This image shows the book too... actually check out this site, it's terrific for vintage toy instruments and the like) I was actually searching for a picture of a different musical toy I had as a child but I still haven't tracked that down. When I saw this blast from the past I was nearly overcome with joy.

My mom stored, oddly enough, our MMT in the linen closet by our bathroom. I think she was HIDING it because it could be rather annoying especially when we weren't trying to play the actual notes and songs in the songbook but were going "freestyle" by rubbing the body of the instrument on our heads and sweeping our hands across all the keys and so forth!

The 8 Track

38 Country Classics, 1979 Audio Research Inc

Connie Smith Collections RCA Records, 1972, 1980

When I was young we drove a blue Econoline full size van complete with curtains, a stowable table, and a ladder on the back to reach the luggage rack. That's not to say we traveled much at all, but we rode to town and back in style! :)

We also had an 8 track tape deck and I have fond memories of my parents music. Here are two of those classic country tapes. One is a compilation full of goodies like "In the Middle of a Heartache" by Wanda Jackson or "Sixteen Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford. The other is easily one of my favorites--Connie Smith. I have a CD version of many of her greatest hits now and it includes all of these songs except the one about the blue transister radio. She's wonderful and sad and full of heartbreak songs.

Here's her first bit hit: "Once a Day"

Singing in the Kitchen.

63 Great Country Songs, The Big 3 Music Corporation

When I was young I remember pulling this songbook off the shelf and singing the songs with my mom in the kitchen. The funny part is that I didn't even know the original versions of the some of the songs (though, I suppose my mom did!). Later when I heard "Knock Three Times" by Tony Orlando and Dawn I was impressed by how close we were to the original. I can read music, but I'm not known for my singing abilities.

I also think it's rather amusing that the company who put out this book came up with 63 songs. Not 50. Not 60. Not 75. Sixty-three. I guess it seems like an odd number to me. I also think the label of country is sort of funny considering some of the songs don't seem like country songs at all (Knock Three Times, for example).

I scanned the back of the book so readers could see the songs the book includes. My favorites were "El Paso," "We'll Sing in the Sunshine," "Paper Roses," "Delta Dawn," "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing," and "Crazy."

My Musical Heritage--You Can Cry if You Want To!

Not all THAT long ago at trivia, I offered my meager contribution in the form of recognizing a Lesley Gore song from my youth.... "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows." This trigger suddenly had me thinking of all my favorites from the one album my mom had from 1963. Gosh, the songs I loved: "Cry and You Cry Alone," "It's Judy's Turn to Cry," "Cry Me a River," "Cry," "No More Tears Left to Cry," "Just Let Me Cry," and "The Party's Over."

Of course most of us know this red-headed 17-year-old singing sensation as the voice of "It's My Party" ..... and I'll cry if I want to. Apparently when I was 12 I wanted to. Cry, that is. What a morbid song line-up.

Read more about her rise to fame here and here's her Wikipedia entry.

I loved (and still love) Lesley Gore and even have a greatest hits CD in my collection.