What Boom is comin' outta your Box?

 

          Summer has always reminded me of memories like those from an old trunk being opened that was found in the garage before moving. Memories that are so bitter-sweet they can make you smile while crying. The best of days, the favorite part of nights and all the moments in-between.

     We all have that one "favorite" Summer where everything comes flooding back. The best stories kept secret held close to our hearts. My favorite Summer's always pull me back into the 1980s. Heck if truth be told, everything takes me back to that decade. That wonderful, perfect, carefree, top of the World time when the temperature only hovered in the high 70s and the swimming pool was but a reach away. Green grass as far as the eye could see. Old worn faded out lawn chairs. Bottles of Sun-In with a perfectly placed Playboy Head sticker (you know, just to make sure you were getting your burn on) & KJR blaring out tunes so loud you swear you could hear the neighbors singing along 6 houses up the road.
My eyes sting at those thoughts now. How could we have known back then how any of this was going to turn out? How it would ever change? How it would change so much that it would leave us with but the dreams of going back someday? Somehow. Time passes so quickly that often the most precious of memories are "forgotten" until something jolts them awake like a steaming cup of fresh Folgers coffee or the scent of Potatoes and Onions frying on a Sunday Morning or ... a song. 

     That one song. I am guilty. I will always be guilty whenever those first few words are sung. Those words that transport me back to another lifetime ago. A time that has past, long past yet will always seem brand new whenever the music starts to play. They say that music is the international language and who knows? Maybe that statement is true. I know that different artists have came to my rescue over and over carrying me to utopia no matter how good or bad that second in time was trying to reveal. It is funny how each moment frozen can seem as vivid as a rainbows light after an endless storm passes. How that one tune can take you to that one place that you wrapped so tightly in faded ribbon, hiding it away. Never thinking about it again but always remembering it when you need it most.
I am not different then anyone, I have "my" song that ignites my soul when it begins. And somehow Summer always seems to be the time they are pulled out of the archives being served under a needle, cranked up to their fullest potential.

     If I had to choose 1 song. Just one ... I couldn't. I have way to many running through the play lists of my mind.
     Starting with my younger years, lets say back in grade school, I would have to pick: Let The Good Times Roll by The Cars. The first note of that song takes me right back to Redmond Elementary School, sitting on the grassy hill during recess watching the "cute boys" play ball.
     A few years later it would have to be: I'll Never Fall In Love Again by Dionne Warwick. Bam! In my backyard at The Redmond House looking for 4-leaf clovers with my "Aunt" Linda.
     I am a teenager now having different friends from different places in life.
Vacation starts and here comes Alice Cooper w/ Schools Out for the Summer. I am in front of my house with one of my best friends, Chrissy. We spend endless hours throwing a baton in the air, spinning and twirling praying we catch it before it hits us. Always watching out of the corners of eyes for our crushes A.S. or M.D. to walk by. I think we always knew we weren't going to be famous leading the Macy's Day Parade but for us being able to show off a little was just fine.
     Another phase comes along, dating time. This song. This. Song. takes me right back to my times with Mark and Bill. Who's Gonna Drive You Home Tonight by The Cars. Awwww ... The Summer of a lifetime. My best most divine memories come from those lyrics. Cyndy Lauper. Pickle Buckets. Long Socks. Broken Back Windows. Mt. Dew and Police. Life was good!
     More vocals that were just as important to me was anything by Wham! or Duran Duran. Chrissy & Marcia were a real special time in my life. They always will be. Stuff like that can't be erased. Ever.
     Same with Shari aka Buzz. It doesn't matter what mood I am in as soon as I hear Some Guys Have All the Luck by Rod Stewart or What's Love Got To Do with It? by Tina Turner my heart just feels like a melting popsicle from a broke down ice cream truck. 
     *Glass Breaking: Faithfully by Journey holds just about every memory of my times as a teen. I will always turn that song up whenever it comes on and if you aren't quiet singing along it will just get louder. Louder like the pop of the crowd on a Wednesday Night at the Arena in Seattle. Big Time Wrestling is Live! With its room full of wild children trying to cuss at the boys to the elderly Grandma's who are. A flip of the finger, a knife to cut through the smoke and a Hey, how are ya doing there Flair? Where the boys were just that, the boys and everyone always left smelling like beer. Good Times. Good Times.
     It is the start of my forever life now as Ozzy Osbourne is serenading along side my one day husband, Momma, I'm Coming Home. The first time I heard that song was the first time I knew my heart no longer belonged to me. There are a few other songs that my husband and I claim. Both by Matchbox Twenty. One is 3am and the other being Bright Lights. To this day I am still so proud of Rusty for not ripping my curtain down while he was spinning around leaving that song stuck in my head. For life. Shout out to Matchbox for keeping this marriage still going after 20 plus years together. I also have do have a very special love for the song: Strawberry Wine by Deanna Carter and who you are, you know why. I also can't leave out some other favorites like: Stacy's Mom, Beautiful Soul, Walk This Way, I Get Around, Step That Step, Sugar Don't Bite, Lovin' You, Puppy Love, Save the Last Dance for Me, Unskinny Bop and Home Sweet Home.
     Sure there are some other songs that take me back to reliving my glory days like: Angel by Aerosmith on the top 20 count down. Yes! MTV Baby! or Don't Do Me Like by Tom Petty hydroplaning all over Lake Washington with long blonde hair and Rainier Beer Caps. I guess the list is endless?! That is alright by me. I love to remember old memories, smile again and sing along.

     Update: Out of every song in this World though, I think I have picked my very favorite one. The one that means the most to me. The one that even though it is rarely played and most of the time not ever ... it is the one that has the tightest grip on my heart and I know that won't ever change no matter what new artist comes on the scene. It has got to be: Honky Tonk Angels but Kitty Wells. My Grandmother used to sing that to me all the time along with Funny Face by Donna Fargo but Honky Tonk Angels has to be my all time favorite. Nana, as she would say, "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket" and boy was she ever right but if I was Simon and she started whaling out those words: I would give her the Golden Buzzer Every Time!



                                                              Kazz 💋