Why are there so many memes about rainbows...
OK, it's time for a meme-thing. I've been tagged in this meme, but as per usual, I shall not tag-on, because I don't tag these things. Why? I'm just ornery that way, I suppose. And also, being me, I'm not listing these as THE MOSTEST BESTEST PERFECTEST ALBUMS IN TEH HISTORY OF MUSIC EVAH because I have trouble picking out my favorite shoes, much less my favorite song/artist/book/whathaveyou. So therefore, participate if you've a mind, and if not, hey look, music.
The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you've heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. [ Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what albums my friends choose. ] [Um, or not, as per noted above.] Quickly, and in no particular order...
1. The Muppet Movie Soundtrack. Because I loves me some Kermit, and I think we wore out that record. Also I was called on to instruct my father's high school choir on the end order of sounds for "The Rainbow Connection" when I was seven or eight, where Kermit is da-da-doo-ing, and I made sure they Got It Right, Dang It. (The end "Dooo" is really specific. Come on, people!)
2. Elvis Greatest Hits, whatever one we had that record of when I was a kid (the album cover was black, is all I remember), and Quinn and Dusty and I would dance around to it and make Mom laugh, and I still desperately want a pair of blue suede shoes. (I have purple and red, but I still need the blue!) Also, "In The Ghetto" will make me cry if I'm feeling particularly emotional.
3. Free to Be You and Me. Because I don't care if you're pretty at all, and I don't care if you never get tall. Sing it, baby Michael. "In a land where the river runs free!" Some things are so very generational. Which is why Target is marketing to me right now, even though I don't have adorable triplets to outfit for school. *sob!* Hey Target, Some Kinds of Help is the Kind of Help that Helping's All About, but Some Kind of Help is the Kind of Help We All Can Do Without. Sing it.
4. Working Class Dog, Rick Springfield. This is the first record I ever bought with my own money. I don't remember a good many of the songs any more, and I now realize that "Jesse's Girl" is not so much about the girl, seeing as how he never bothered to give the poor woman a name, but Angie* and I spent a lot of time dancing to that album and squeeing 10 year old squees over how cute ol' Rick was. As 10 year olds do.
5. Christopher Cross/Christopher Cross. Angie and I made up very elaborate dance routines to "Ride Like the Wind" in our cul-de-sac, and we sang it a lot on the swings, and we listened to that album in the basements of both our houses over and over and over until I think pretty much everyone else in our respective families was ready to kill us. But hey, gotta be better than Barney, right? We also sang "My Baby Takes the Morning Train" and "He's So Shy" a lot. What?
6. Escape, Journey. Another album we listened to a lot in our basements. Because that's the kind of dad I have. I have lurved Journey's songs since I was a wee thing. I could make a post about all the songs I love because my dad played them with his bands. The gig bands, not the high school bands. That's another post again.
7. Chicago - probably all of them up through the early 80s. We spent a lot of time listening to Chicago in my family, especially on trips. See, dad had this in-car 8-track stereo in the van ... what? We had Journey on 8-track, too. We were a cutting edge kind of family. With a van.
8. Duran Duran, Duran Duran. My first ever giant band-crush. Angie had a lot to do with this once I was in England, but we both adored the songs and videos on MTV before the move. And again, with the dancing and singing and making up of routines, and watching MTV in Angie's basement for hours... I often wonder whether our parents worried about us. Because when we weren't making up dance routines, we were making up elaborate murder mystery/space opera plots. A lot of them involved singing.
9. Duran Duran, Rio. See previous entry. Also I had a giant huge crush on Simon LeBon. As one does.
10. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Aretha Franklin. I stole this record from my mother. But that's OK, because I think she stole it from her sister way back in the day. Go Mom! I spent a lot of my time in my room in high school, blasting this record. Because I'm soulful like that.
11. Mack the Knife, the Complete Ella in Berlin, Ella Fitzgerald. I was both admired and mocked for loving this album to pieces in high school. Another one I think Mom stole from Kris, and I stole from Mom. I can't remember if I gave it back or not... (To Mom, not Kris. Although maybe Kris stole it back?)
12. Pippin soundtrack. My dad put this musical on (with some significant edits) with his high school in the early 80s, and I have loved every number from this album for my entire life. It is awesome, and funny, and the original Broadway cast has Ben Vereen in it, who is possibly the coolest man to ever live. How can you resist?
13. Godspell soundtrack. Again, with the musicals my dad put on with whatever high school he happened to be teaching (Horace Mann, North Fondy, I'm looking at you!) I'm not religious, but I adore this musical. Happy Clown Jesus! And the 1973 film version has Victor Garber as a *Very Young* Happy Clown Jesus, which I didn't realize it was him until last year when Scott pointed it out. Holy Happy Clown Jesus! I still sing all these songs all the time, because I'm like that.
14. The Joshua Tree, U2. Because I am a child of the 80s, and Dad bought me this album for xmas one year, and I didn't even know who they were, since I spent all my time listening to oldies radio and my mom's records from the 60s. What? I was that weird kid. But I started listening to this odd band from Ireland to distraction once I had this album.
15. The Bobs, The Bobs (also My, I'm Large). Because who doesn't love weirdo a capella groups who write songs like "I've Got My Helmet On," "Mopping," and "Prisoner of Funk?" Have to count me in the group that loves them to pieces. Really, most of their albums could be on this list.
So of course that's missing random other albums that I will also love forever, which I think it's weird that none of the classical albums got on here. But I guess I was in a childhood kind of mood for this list. Most of these I've loved since grade school or Jr High. What can you do? Pardon me, I think I have to go eat lunch and listen to my iPod now.
* Angie is my bestest friend from when we were both wee children. We lived in the same cul-de-sac, enjoyed singing, dancing, making up stories, frightening ourselves with crazy disaster paranoia, candy, making up elaborate multi-equipment routines (with chairs and swings and monkey bars) and having insane crushes on lots of boys/celebrities because we liked to keep our options open. Good times. She is still my bestest friend. We still enjoy most of the same stuff (minus crazy paranoia, and many of the crushes. Except for Cap'n Tightpants - gotta have *some* crushes still going. It's one of our many things. Also we swing less, which is sad). I only wish we still lived in the same cul-de-sac. Miss you!
The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you've heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. [ Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what albums my friends choose. ] [Um, or not, as per noted above.] Quickly, and in no particular order...
1. The Muppet Movie Soundtrack. Because I loves me some Kermit, and I think we wore out that record. Also I was called on to instruct my father's high school choir on the end order of sounds for "The Rainbow Connection" when I was seven or eight, where Kermit is da-da-doo-ing, and I made sure they Got It Right, Dang It. (The end "Dooo" is really specific. Come on, people!)
2. Elvis Greatest Hits, whatever one we had that record of when I was a kid (the album cover was black, is all I remember), and Quinn and Dusty and I would dance around to it and make Mom laugh, and I still desperately want a pair of blue suede shoes. (I have purple and red, but I still need the blue!) Also, "In The Ghetto" will make me cry if I'm feeling particularly emotional.
3. Free to Be You and Me. Because I don't care if you're pretty at all, and I don't care if you never get tall. Sing it, baby Michael. "In a land where the river runs free!" Some things are so very generational. Which is why Target is marketing to me right now, even though I don't have adorable triplets to outfit for school. *sob!* Hey Target, Some Kinds of Help is the Kind of Help that Helping's All About, but Some Kind of Help is the Kind of Help We All Can Do Without. Sing it.
4. Working Class Dog, Rick Springfield. This is the first record I ever bought with my own money. I don't remember a good many of the songs any more, and I now realize that "Jesse's Girl" is not so much about the girl, seeing as how he never bothered to give the poor woman a name, but Angie* and I spent a lot of time dancing to that album and squeeing 10 year old squees over how cute ol' Rick was. As 10 year olds do.
5. Christopher Cross/Christopher Cross. Angie and I made up very elaborate dance routines to "Ride Like the Wind" in our cul-de-sac, and we sang it a lot on the swings, and we listened to that album in the basements of both our houses over and over and over until I think pretty much everyone else in our respective families was ready to kill us. But hey, gotta be better than Barney, right? We also sang "My Baby Takes the Morning Train" and "He's So Shy" a lot. What?
6. Escape, Journey. Another album we listened to a lot in our basements. Because that's the kind of dad I have. I have lurved Journey's songs since I was a wee thing. I could make a post about all the songs I love because my dad played them with his bands. The gig bands, not the high school bands. That's another post again.
7. Chicago - probably all of them up through the early 80s. We spent a lot of time listening to Chicago in my family, especially on trips. See, dad had this in-car 8-track stereo in the van ... what? We had Journey on 8-track, too. We were a cutting edge kind of family. With a van.
8. Duran Duran, Duran Duran. My first ever giant band-crush. Angie had a lot to do with this once I was in England, but we both adored the songs and videos on MTV before the move. And again, with the dancing and singing and making up of routines, and watching MTV in Angie's basement for hours... I often wonder whether our parents worried about us. Because when we weren't making up dance routines, we were making up elaborate murder mystery/space opera plots. A lot of them involved singing.
9. Duran Duran, Rio. See previous entry. Also I had a giant huge crush on Simon LeBon. As one does.
10. I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Aretha Franklin. I stole this record from my mother. But that's OK, because I think she stole it from her sister way back in the day. Go Mom! I spent a lot of my time in my room in high school, blasting this record. Because I'm soulful like that.
11. Mack the Knife, the Complete Ella in Berlin, Ella Fitzgerald. I was both admired and mocked for loving this album to pieces in high school. Another one I think Mom stole from Kris, and I stole from Mom. I can't remember if I gave it back or not... (To Mom, not Kris. Although maybe Kris stole it back?)
12. Pippin soundtrack. My dad put this musical on (with some significant edits) with his high school in the early 80s, and I have loved every number from this album for my entire life. It is awesome, and funny, and the original Broadway cast has Ben Vereen in it, who is possibly the coolest man to ever live. How can you resist?
13. Godspell soundtrack. Again, with the musicals my dad put on with whatever high school he happened to be teaching (Horace Mann, North Fondy, I'm looking at you!) I'm not religious, but I adore this musical. Happy Clown Jesus! And the 1973 film version has Victor Garber as a *Very Young* Happy Clown Jesus, which I didn't realize it was him until last year when Scott pointed it out. Holy Happy Clown Jesus! I still sing all these songs all the time, because I'm like that.
14. The Joshua Tree, U2. Because I am a child of the 80s, and Dad bought me this album for xmas one year, and I didn't even know who they were, since I spent all my time listening to oldies radio and my mom's records from the 60s. What? I was that weird kid. But I started listening to this odd band from Ireland to distraction once I had this album.
15. The Bobs, The Bobs (also My, I'm Large). Because who doesn't love weirdo a capella groups who write songs like "I've Got My Helmet On," "Mopping," and "Prisoner of Funk?" Have to count me in the group that loves them to pieces. Really, most of their albums could be on this list.
So of course that's missing random other albums that I will also love forever, which I think it's weird that none of the classical albums got on here. But I guess I was in a childhood kind of mood for this list. Most of these I've loved since grade school or Jr High. What can you do? Pardon me, I think I have to go eat lunch and listen to my iPod now.
* Angie is my bestest friend from when we were both wee children. We lived in the same cul-de-sac, enjoyed singing, dancing, making up stories, frightening ourselves with crazy disaster paranoia, candy, making up elaborate multi-equipment routines (with chairs and swings and monkey bars) and having insane crushes on lots of boys/celebrities because we liked to keep our options open. Good times. She is still my bestest friend. We still enjoy most of the same stuff (minus crazy paranoia, and many of the crushes. Except for Cap'n Tightpants - gotta have *some* crushes still going. It's one of our many things. Also we swing less, which is sad). I only wish we still lived in the same cul-de-sac. Miss you!