Life Soundtrack

People doing surveys and talking about the soundtracks of their lives typically think of the songs that would play during the scenes if their life were a movie. The true soundtrack of your life would be made up of songs that were very important to you. Right? What would yours be??

Here are just a precious few of mine.

Pratt and McClain "Happy Days" - Yep, the TV show theme song. I had brought my 45 (that's a the single, for those who haven't heard of it) and some other albums with me to Wisconsin when my mom, aunt, grandma and I went to visit Grandma's side of the family. Once, while the adults were downstairs chatting, I listened to my music on the record player in my mom's cousin's room, where I was staying. I was dancing around and singing and when I came down later, mom's cousins (I was 8, they were all college-age) gleefully reported that they could hear me the whole time. YAY. Waited for a hole to appear and swallow me up. But no.

Grease soundtrack "Grease" - Not my favorite song from the movie, by any means, but this was the song we listened to over and over again in "Modeling Class" which I took with Lori at a department store in Houston when we were 11. It was a summer camp of sorts. Ten girls met over two weeks or something like that. We learned etiquette (including what all the forks are for at a fancy dinner), nutrition and exercise, fashion and hair styling and makeup, etc. We also learned about modeling and did a runway show the last day for our parents (superfun!). In the room we where we had class, during any time we were practicing our skills- makeup, etc.- we would turn up the Grease soundtrack, because the movie was out and SO popular. We mostly played the title track, because it was our fave at the time.

Any version of "Town Without Pity" - A local Houston 50's and 60's cover band called Tom Slick (and later Grease Lightning) played Astroworld for a couple of years when Lori and I had season passes. We were total groupies, along with several other squealy middle school girls. We watched every show through the day and then hit some rides until our parents came to pick us up at night. ALL SUMMER for two summers in a row. Anyhoo... the hunky one, Rocky (Howard in real life), sang a beautiful and swoon-worthy version of "Town Without Pity." We couldn't WAIT for him to sing it.*sigh*

"Rock-a-Bye Your Baby (with a Dixie Melody)" It's an Al Jolson jazz standard, but we knew it from a production show called "Razzamatazz" at Astroworld's Crystal Palace. (I can sing the entire show for you now, if you'd like.) This was the one that Cathy and I sang ALL THE TIME. We jazzed that thing up until it was dripping with Judy Garland drama. We would sing it in harmony in some places. It was almost a challenge to see how "concert finale" a-freakin'-mazing we could make the song performance. Exactly like this...



Seriously. This has me giggling, because it is exactly how we used to sing it.

Songs from high school. There are so many, of course. Here are a few of my particularly memory-filled ones:

1) Phil Collins "Take a Look at Me Now"- a high school cafeteria juke box song with major drama
2) Berlin "Sex (I'm A...)"- big night on Westheimer in downtown Houston (no sex)
3) anything Prince- because he was The Man. I had the shower poster that came with the Controversy album over my bed. Mom thought it was fine (well, she shook her head when I put it up), but my grandma wasn't so thrilled when they were visiting and sleeping in my room.
4) Bow Wow Wow "I Want Candy"- our beach tune
5) Soft Cell "Tainted Love" - I had a recording of this from the radio that I listened to until the tape broke
6) Eddie Murphy "Boogie in Your Butt" - senior musical Official Afterparty Song (for four weekend afterparties in Nassau Bay, where one night we received a police warning for being too loud... and this song was playing)

College. Tons again, but a few of my big ones...

1) REM "It's the End of the World as We Know It" - road tripping with Scotty
2) Erasure "Oh L'Amour"- best. club. song. ever.
3) anything The Judy's- because they were The Band. I remember being squashed in like sardines at one concert at Eastgate in College Station, dancing and having the best time ever
4) Huey Lewis and the News "The Power of Love"- I won tickets on the radio to this concert. Awesomesauce! I was all, "Shout out to mah homies in NUKE 301!" (or some 80's version of that)
5) "The Aggie War Hymn"- goes without saying. I said it anyway.

Well, I need to work on a "Life as a grownup" continuation at some point when the Superbowl isn't coming up in a few hours. (Plus, I have to send CJ that Judy Garland vid.) GO BRONCOS!