Pre-Digital Playlist, circa 1980

A personal reminiscence about my own experience of the history of American music.

T. Tiger and I decided to get out my collection of 45 rpm records on this day. There was something I wanted to check, some detail about when I bought some particular song. We got a few of the 45's out and put them on the bed and reminisced.

We remembered what it was like before music was so portable, before digital playlists. The choices in music at our house when I was a kid were the radio, the record player, and the eight-track tape players, of which I think my dad had one in the car, and also in the basement.

My dad was prone to blasting Johnny Cash and Charley Pride at top volume with too much bass. My mom was more of a radio girl and a romantic; she'd listen to that song about rose-colored glasses over and over.

Cassette recorders and players came along after that, including the Walkman. In the later 80s, I moved on to a new music medium: CDs. Eventually, years later, I bought an iPod shuffle, which is the little pink tunes box that goes with me everywhere on my walks. I also got a regular iPod, which often goes with us into the woods, along with a set of speakers.

In those days before music was so portable, you had to CALL UP the radio station and ask for them to play a song. When I went away to college, I did that a lot. If you had a cassette recorder, you might wait and listen for a song, and tape it off the radio.

Recording from the radio required diligence! So, call up, and get out the cassette recorder, and you're set! I also sat by the radio on Saturday mornings and listened to the Top 40 countdown. I made lists of what was where on the charts and recorded some of my favorite songs.

That was also back in the day before you could own movies. Yes, actual movies. You had to either GO to a movie theatre or drive-in to see a movie, or wait for it to show up - highly edited - on TV (they had Friday night at the movies, Saturday night at the movies, and Sunday night at the movies, all of which were Big Deals).

You can only imagine how amazing it was when VCR tapes came out, and much later, DVDs, and you could purchase a movie for some reasonable price. (And let me tell you, the first ones were NOT reasonable. When my cousin ordered the video of The Sound of Music, I think she had to preorder it and pay in advance, and it was almost $100!!!)

But I digress. Back to the music collection. Here is a quick story about just two of these 45's. I bought Little River Band's Cool Change and the Eagles' Seven Bridges Road, and I took them along with me to school. My dad worked the 3-to-11 shift on the railroad down at the Enola yards and my mom never learned to drive a car.

What this meant was that  if there were school events after the normal school day ended, I had nobody to pick me up or drop me off. And I wasn't allowed to accept rides when I couldn't return the favor, lest we be beholden. (And believe you me, BEHOLDEN was perceived as a great evil!)

So on days when we had practice for the senior class play (which was Oklahoma for the class of '82), I simply stayed after school and hung out for a few hours, putting in time. I'd read, or walk around the school, or mess around with the piano, or sometimes play records.

I was too shy to actually get a singing part in Oklahoma, but somehow I ended up as the girl who turned the pages for the boy who played the piano. I know, a brush with greatness.

And yes, I do know every line of every song from Oklahoma! Also of note: I fell in love with the guy who played Ali Hakim. He was an exchange student who took me to the senior prom, then went back to his own country and broke my heart. Ah, young love.

But when I was in the school after the normal day ended, I would take Cool Change or Seven Bridges Road to the school auditorium, and put it on the record player, and stand on stage and sing out. In my dreams, I was a singer, and it was just grand. Oh, I was SO shy. But I would close my eyes, and I'd sing.

One day, I heard somebody come into the auditorium where I was singing, all by myself on stage, and it turns out it was the janitor, Les Landis, a neighbor of ours and a very kind man; one of the best ever.

He said I had a beautiful voice and it was just a lovely rendition of that song. I was embarrassed that he'd heard, but a little pleased by what he said. That is my story of my big performance for an audience of one.

Anyway, here is a picture of a slice of time. All of the 45's you see above are listed below. There are more on the stack, but the ones shown are some of the best I owned. That yellow hairy creature is the cover for the 45 record holder; you could comb its hair. T. Tiger says no way is he combing its hair!

Sounds of Sunshine, Nadia’s Theme, 1974
Billy Joel, She’s Always a Woman, 1977
Andy Gibb, Flowing Rivers, 1977
Shaun Cassidy, Da Doo Ron Ron, 1977
ABBA, Take a Chance on Me, 1977
Cheap Trick, I Want You to Want Me, 1978
Styx, Renegade, 1978
Little River Band, Cool Change, 1979
Supertramp, The Logical Song, 1979
The Knack, My Sharona, 1979
Eagles, Seven Bridges Road, 1980
Carly Simon, Jesse, 1980 – written on it: December 1980, sweet sixteen

I need a soundtrack song for this little blast from the past, and since I gave you several versions of Seven Bridges Road with yesterday's post, here is the Little River Band, with Cool Change. And in my memories, I see a shy young girl, all by herself in the entire empty school, except for the janitor, and she is standing up on stage with her eyes closed and she is singing her heart out:

If there's one thing in my life that's missing
It's the time that I spend alone
Sailing on the cool and bright clear water