The ABC Music of My Life

This is by no means a complete list, but if there was ever such thing as a soundtrack to my life, these songs would certainly be included. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A. America – Steppenwolf This was really the first political protest song I ever heard. That’s not saying I heard them before, but this was the first to tell me point blank it was protesting something. In this case, it was about the treatment of Native Americans, which is rather funny coming from a group whose main members originally came from post-Nazi Germany. B. Ballad of the U.S.S. Titanic – Jamie Brockett This was my favorite song from KAAY’s late night alternative show ‘Beeker Street’ that I listened to after everyone was supposedly asleep. I needed a tiny portable radio with an earplug to enjoy this anachronistic masterpiece. C. Come On Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners The first song I ever played (as a disc jockey) on CD, about 1981 or so. It skipped. Having never heard a CD skip before, it freaked me out. D. Daisy Jane – America I played this as a dedication to Carla one night at the campus radio station. It worked. E. Electric Eye – Judas Priest I would start my late-night rock shift at the campus radio station in my most polished voice with ‘This is KUCA, Conway’s elegant radio station, featuring the world’s most beautiful music at 91.5 on the FM dial’, then rip into this bad boy. F. Flashlight – Parliament/Funkadelic I tied for 3rd place with this song in a dance contest on Graduation Night 1978. Part of the intricate dance moves involved falling flat on my butt. G. God of Thunder – Kiss I heard this (along with the flipside, ‘Flaming Youth’) on a jukebox in a greasy spoon on Harkrider St. across from the old Sonic Drive-In, where I got my first job as a carhop and, later, as a fry cook. My love of all things rocking, theatrical and covered in greasepaint and fake blood was sealed. H. Honey – Bobby Goldsboro My siblings and I have a penchant for exceedingly sad songs…the sadder, the better. This was the pinnacle of that genre. We used to have endurance tests to see who would cry first when ‘the angels came’. I. I Knew You When – Joe South I heard this song in late 1968-69 after going to the Monday night wrestling matches at the Robinson Civic Center and seeing Cowboy Bill Watts get his clock cleaned by Waldo Von Erich with his ever-present riding crop. It left me with an uneasy feeling. I haven’t been able to listen to his music the same way since. J. Jingle Jangle – The Archies I actually got to hear this song as it was attached to the back panel of a box of Kellogg’s Corn Pops in the late 1960s. The grooves were made in a hard plastic slightly less resistant to damage than vinyl, but it worked for about a week or two. K. Kicks – Paul Revere & the Raiders Remember back in the 60s when everyone who was someone dressed up in some historic motif? These were the guys who got that little ball rolling. Paul (which was his real name), teen heartthrob Mark Lindsay, Phil Volk (better known as ‘Fang’) and the others became popular enough to sway my big sister to tune in ‘Where the Action Is’. I can’t help but think of bright sunny days and feathered tri-corner hats when I hear this. L. Little Brown Bat – Burl Ives The first cut of the first album I ever received as a present. My mom bought me this collection of classical folk songs from the guy who voiced Sam the Snowman in ‘Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer’. It also contained ‘Sweet Betsy from Pike’ and ‘The Streets of Laredo’. I still have the album. M. Magic Man – Heart After we moved to Conway in ‘73, Dad redesigned the garage into a super-huge bedroom, which Kevin and I took over at one point. We began living what can best be described as a bohemian lifestyle in the same house as our parents and siblings. We had two beds, but we also had a legless sofa in front of a makeshift stereo/TV system under the window facing out into the driveway. Many was the time we left the windows open (and the air vents closed) to see if we could stand the winter cold. We were much hardier (and vastly more stupid) back then. One night I woke up on the sofa in 20-degree weather and Ann Wilson singing about that ‘cold late night so long ago’. The image and the feeling stuck with me. N. Nights in White Satin – The Moody Blues I had heard the song before, but only as a single. There was a Little Rock radio station that used to play entire albums late at night, so I made plans to be up the night they played ‘Days of Future Passed’. Hearing the entire album, and ‘Nights’ place in the scheme of things, it cemented its place as one of my favorite listening experiences. O. One Less Set of Footsteps – Jim Croce I first heard this song on the first cold night of Autumn in ’73, shortly after Croce’s death. Nowadays when I feel the first chill in the air following the long hot summers Arkansas is known for, and see the vast number of stars well enough to recognize the spiral arm of the Milky Way, I think of this song. P. The Prophet’s Song – Queen Before the introduction of headphones, I used to lay on the floor of my living room with two gigantic speakers on either side of my head. I was listening to ‘A Night At the Opera’ when the slow strum of the koto gave way to the scream of Brian May’s guitar. It was an awesome experience. Q. Quentin’s Theme – Charles Randolph This was the eerie hit song that sprang from a gramophone in the gothic soap opera ‘Dark Shadows’. Quentin Collins (David Selby) was a werewolf who at one point approached the popularity of vampire Barnabus Collins (Jonathan Frid). R. Randy Scouse Git – The Monkees I love the vast majority of this group’s repertoire, but this song (from the album ‘Headquarters’) gave me a fear of bass and kettle drums. Maybe it was the juxtaposition with the otherwise light rock theme before they break out in their harangue against the Establishment. It just made me feel spooked out of my head. S. Send My Picture to Scranton, PA – B.J. Thomas There is a lost art in what’s known as ‘the B-side’. The hit singles of the 60s and 70s were, in fact, not singles at all, but duos. There had to be some sort of recording on the other side of the little vinyl disc. Many record companies would intentionally put ‘throwaway’ songs on the flip side to make sure the ‘A-side’ gets the playtime (this has been documented to have backfired on many occasions). ‘Scranton’ was the B-side of Thomas’ hit, ‘I Just Can’t Help Believing’. I deemed it was not a throwaway by any stretch. The song, about a high school loser who made it big, was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. T. Tiger in the Rain – Michael Franks My favorite song from the jazz collection at KUCA. Best played on quiet rainy nights. U. Upstairs, Downstairs – Herman’s Hermits It was Halloween night, 1968. The outside was dark and still wet from a recent storm, which made for perfect trick-or-treating conditions. Jackie was playing the ‘Blaze’ album while the rest of us were getting into our costumes when I overheard this. The song is a little ditty about two lonely people in the same apartment building who didn’t know each other until one hears crying from the room below and comes to the rescue. There are lots of other great songs on this album, but this one stuck out the most. V. Valleri – The Monkees This is one of those songs that everybody in the house would listen to except me. I preferred the flip side, ‘Tapioca Tundra’ (see my listing for ‘S’ on this topic). W. What Goes Up – The Alan Parsons Project I bought this album (‘Pyramid’) with the money from the one day I spent as a factory line worker, drilling holes into bus bodies at Ward Bus Manufacturing. It was the middle of summer 1977 and I had to wear a flannel shirt to keep the metal shavings from hitting my body. I didn’t last two hours. That shirt weighed about 10 pounds when I finally got it off. X. Xanadu – Olivia Newton-John Sorry, this was the only song I could think of starting with ‘X’. I know the Queen of M.O.R. had the help of Jeff Lynne (of E.L.O. fame), but beyond that, it did nothing for me. Y. You Were Made For Me – Freddy & the Dreamers The first 45 rpm record I remember hearing in my home. The first British Invasion was going strong (about 1964-65). I thought for the longest time that Freddy was a girl from the way he sounded. Z. Zorba the Greek – Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass I performed a mime routine in a Senior Year high school drama class to this song as a rooftop sniper picking off innocent passers-by with every beat of the bass drum. If I did that nowadays, I know I’d be facing several days of suspension from school (if not outright expulsion) and having some psychiatrist trying to get to know me intimately.