The Soundtrack of My Life

As I was driving around Saturday night, delivering pizza, I had it on an "oldies" station. A particular song came on (to be honest, I can't remember which one), and it instantly took me back to a particular time and place in my life.

This got me thinking about the songs in my life that did that to me. These are the milestone songs that are irrevocably tied to an era in my life. So here it is: the soundtrack of my life. Sorry it is somewhat long...but I am 40 now.

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up to 8
Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott (The Statler Brothers)
Saturday Night (The Bay City Rollers)
When I hear these songs I'm taken back to the home of my childhood. I would listen to these songs (and others) on 8-track (click here if you don't know what an 8-track is), and play pool in our little gameroom. Sometimes we would use the pool table to have a place to play with all my army men.

3rd - 4th Grade
Summer Nights (Grease Soundtrack)
This song takes me back to 3rd/4th grade. The first time I remember hearing it was at Shari Morris' house on their 8-track. For some reason, I also always associate this song with my first girlfriend, Kelly McGraw (other than Luann Teboe in kindergarten...I broke up with her because she got the mumps). She lived right down the road from Shari...maybe that's why. I wonder if Kelly ever knew she was my girlfriend?

5th - 6th Grade
Tommy Soundtrack (Various Artists)
By this time, we had moved into the "new house". We had a gameroom there as well. I had left behind the Statler Brothers, and now liked to listen to Tommy while playing pool, and, you guessed it, pinball. I fancied myself a pinball wizard. Of course, this was on 8-track as well.

Summer Before 9th Grade
Friday Night Videos (Various Artists)
Ahhh...1983...the year Friday Night Videos made its debut. I'll never forget that night. It opened with Billie Jean (Michael Jackson, of course). Also that night: Hungry Like the Wolf (Duran, Duran), Let's Dance (David Bowie). I want to say that Come on Eileen, Our Love's In Jeopardy, Safety Dance, and Our House were also on that same episode, but it may have been later. Regardless, any of those songs takes me back 25 years instantly.

9th Grade
More Than a Feeling (Boston)
Being in 9th grade to me meant a lot of changes. I was in high school now, and I had friends that could drive. One of my best friends from my freshman year was Tyree Collier (he used to give his name as George when we would eat somewhere that put your name on the ticket...I always thought that was funny). Tyree was a senior. We fought back and forth that year for trumpet section leader, and became good friends while doing so. One thing I learned from Tyree has had a lasting impact on my life: the guitar. Tyree played guitar, and since he was a senior, and extremely cool, I thought playing the guitar would be cool. He introduced me to Boston, and one of the first songs he played for me was More Than a Feeling. So, years later, after all the bass and guitar gigs I've played, in church and out of church, in cover bands and original bands, it can all be traced be traced back to Tyree and Boston.

10th Grade
Eliminator (ZZ Top)
When I turned 16, my parents gave me a 1977 Camaro. I know, cool, huh? It rocked. I used to drive around town, listening to my ZZ Top cassette on my 8-track adapter. That's right. It had an 8-track AM/FM radio...and I had an adapter. Like I said...it rocked.

High School in General
Anything from any John Hughes movie or Back to the Future(1985)
Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Back to the Future...play a song from any of these and I am in high school again.

Freshman Year College
Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns n' Roses)
My freshman year in college, I was in a cover band called Shattered Image. I know, cool name, huh? We played pretty regularly, had the worst sound equipment ever, had no idea what we were doing, and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Tim Moss, Keith McLeod, and Bryan Armstrong were the other members of the band. Sweet Child O' Mine is indelibly linked to that time in my life.

Sophomore Year College
Lead Me On (Amy Grant)
For you Christian types out there (you know who you are), you may recognize that this is the first song by a Christian artist on this list. It's true. I didn't even know that "Christian music" was a genre until then. This was the time of my personal spiritual awakening, when I started reading the Bible and trying to figure out what I really believed.

Senior Year(s) College
Out of the Silent Planet (King's X)
Fast forward a few years, and you'll find me in college in a Christian band called Reckless Abandon (or Restless Ambition, as we were introduced one time). I roomed with several guys from the band (and some guys not from the band). Me, Mark, Coe, Russ, Tornado Tommy, Randy, Kenny (unofficially Seth...it just seemed like he lived there) all live at one time or another in what we called the Reckless Abode. We had quite the time. At one point, there were 6 of us living there. Tommy, who is worthy of his own blog post, introduced me to King's X. To this day one of my favorite bands (at least their first 4 albums). When I hear Goldilox from their Out of the Silent Planet album, it's like I'm back in the Abode again, fighting over who should have to wash the dirty dishes.

Circa 2000
Mezzamorphis (Delirious?)
This is one of my favorite albums of all time of all time. Also, King of Fools, another album by Delirious? is one of my other favorite albums of all time of all time. One reason I think this album, and two songs in particular off of it, My Glorious and Mezzanine Floor, evoke such strong memories is that I used them in a video I made about the youth ministry I was leading at the time.

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Well, there you have it. These things are, of course, always in retrospect. I'm interested to see in 10 years what songs make me think about moving to Atlanta. If I'm still blogging then, I'll let you know.

Care to share any songs from your soundtrack?