It seems no matter what era you grew up in, music was an important aspect of teenage life.  In the ’80s, it was a daily occurrence to blast my stereo while locked in my bedroom, which was covered with posters of my favorite bands.  I recall my dad often shouting to “turn down that noise” which I defiantly pretended not to hear.

In my adolescence, we only had a couple of outlets to listen to music. The first was splurging to buy an album. It was exciting to rip off the cellophane and I can still hear my turntable needle clicking with static right before the music started playing the first song. Constantly listening to the radio and creating mixtapes was the second way we connected with music. With our cassette player tuned to the most popular FM station, my friends and I spent hours waiting for our favorite songs to play. Then, we’d scramble to push the “record” button when the song finally aired. That completed tape was essential to our social life.  

Equally important were Sunday mornings. It meant the weekly radio music count down. We sat patiently to hear the legendary disc jockey, Casey Kasem, tell us what song was number one for that week.  The anticipation was always climactic!  With our limited choices of music collections in the 80s, we couldn’t have imagined the invention of cellphones or paid music streaming services to be so readily available with the infinite genres of music at our fingertips like we have today.

Concerts

As much as I enjoyed music in high school and college, listening throughout my adult life has been non intentionally absent from my daily routine. The reconciliation happened during the pandemic while straightening out a messy closet. I came across an old, yellowing photo album complete with sticky adhesive pages. It was mostly filled with concert ticket stubs, those precious paper ones that were ripped in half after entering a venue. Many great memories came flooding in!  Before leaving for a concert, I remember peaking into my purse checking at least ten times, to make sure the ticket was in my possession. It was like carrying around a piece of gold.  

Looking through my old album, I can recall each band, from crazy AC/DC to the legendary Pink Floyd, and what group of friends I attended with.  My recollection also included the morning after when your ears were still ringing from the deafening music while sporting your new concert t-shirt.

Finding those old tickets prompted me to start listening to the music I grew up with. It’s been wonderful hearing a song that takes you right back to the memory associated with it like a Friday night sock hop after a football game in the high school cafeteria, the friends you were driving home from school with, or a song that reminds you of a certain boy you had a crush on. 

I’m appreciative that I had time to clean out that closet to find the old photo album that brought me back several decades. As an homage to some of my favorite 80’s songs:

 Don’t Stop Believin that this pandemic will break (Journey).  In the meantime, Let the Good Times Roll (The Cars) and enjoy your time at home.  Please Don’t Forget About Me (Simple Minds) and I’ll be back next Thursday with a new post!