Listography : Songs That Transport Me To A Particular Time Or Place
I may have pestered Kate for a while to provide another Listography prompt (I love them so much - they give me the inspiration I need to get out of a writing funk most of the time) and then when she shared one I got all busy and put it to one side 'to do later'. Anyway, this is my 'doing things later' moment.
This Listography is all about songs that transport me to a particular time or place which is very similar to my own Soundtrack To My Life series (quick plug: this is starting again in 2016 so get your choices in if you want to be involved). Music is a very evocative language to me; almost all my favourite tracks are connected to memories for one reason or another so to narrow it down to just five is nigh on impossible unless I choose a theme within a theme. So I've decided to select the tracks that send me back to my teenage years.
Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now
A classic track from the late 1980's but, because of the 'dance' that Tiffany does in the video, many hours were spent in my friend Tracy's bedroom trying to perfect the little hand jive thing that was going on (one under the jaw, one up by the cheek, two under the jaw, one up by the cheek, one under the jaw, two up by the cheek, and repeat whilst twisting on your toes without bashing your heels together - try it... it's not that easy to master). Most of my final year of high school was spent, not revising for my GCSE's but learning dances from music videos and films.
Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure
I was about fourteen or fifteen years old and was being introduced to Queen from many sources. I had a boyfriend that lent me his treasured Queen Greatest Hits cassette tape (I've still got it), my aunt bought (and played on repeat) Freddie Mercury's solo album (see more below) and another boy that liked me gifted me (for reals this time) the Under Pressure vinyl after playing it to me over the phone. The reason I chose the Under Pressure track is because I still remember that phone call - I was sitting on the stairs in the hallway of my parent's house, listening to this song being played in the background whilst the lad tried to convince me to go to the cinema in the next town with him that night.
Freddie Mercury - Mr Bad Guy
My aunt was a huge influence in my life. Whatever she said, I trusted or believed. She was my favourite uncle's second wife and was exactly 11 years older than me and 11 years younger than him. It was perfect, especially when the teenage angst hit as she was always the one that could make me see reason. She was the only person I knew that had Freddie's solo album, Mr Bad Guy, and she made me a bootleg cassette copy so that I could listen to it on repeat. I still know this album word for word and each song takes me back to the chats we used to have and the way in which she helped me through those teenage years.
Freda Payne - Band of Gold
There were only three pubs in the village where I grew up and the one near the boatyard was where I got my first bar job. I hung out there quite a lot with my friends and it's also the place where I met my husband. There was a jukebox in the pool room and one day someone selected one of the two Elvis tracks listed. This song came on instead and it became our anthem. I loved it so much that I had the local record shop hunt down a (vinyl) copy of the single down for my collection. Every time I hear this I remember that bunch of friends that took me from awkward teenager to adulthood in so many ways. Weirdly, I later found out this track was Number 1 in the charts when my parents got married. Ironic!
Candy Flip - Strawberry Fields Forever
When I met my husband (in 1990) we used to go out to a lot of raves. Our 'quiet time' was spent driving out to random places without a care for where we were going or what time we were going to get back. We stumbled upon a field one day, parked up and just chilled out with a couple of joints. This song was on a CD or the radio in the car at the time and we christened that field our own 'Strawberry Field'.
Living is easy with eyes closedMisunderstanding all you seeIt's getting hard to be someoneBut it all works outIt doesn't matter much to me
Let me know if you've got a song that transports you back to a specific time or place - or you could even join in with Listography yourself. Find all the other stories linked over at Kate's blog.