Music Soothes the Savage Beast by Earl Corp The Soundtrack of Your Life contest entry |
The Soundtrack to my life. As long as I can remember I have been a fan of music. I can’t sing but I admire those that do. One of my favorite songs, when I was a kid, was Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke. Music is a world within itself With a language we all understand With an equal opportunity For all to sing, dance and clap their hands Growing up in the seventies I had to listen to the radio, that’s right with commercials and everything. My father was most definitely the head of household and decreed we would listen to nothing but country music. I became a Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Sr. fan. But I guess my first crush on a music star was Tanya Tucker. My favorite song at the time was The Jamestown Ferry. Since she was only 13 and I was 11 it seemed doable in my pre-teen infatuation. The seventies were the rise of Outlaw Country such as Waylon Jennings, David Allen Coe, and Willie Nelson. Though I preferred Waylon to Willie I loved their duet My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys. My sophomore year I branched out to listening to Rock and Disco. There were a lot of good Rock songs by Bob Seger, The Eagles, Steve Miller Band, and the Rolling Stones. Of course I had to listen mostly on FM radio. The big music thing was 8-track tapes. We also had record albums and 45 records. I can remember the very first 45 I bought. It was Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airman. The only way to make a playlist for a mixtape was to stack 45s on a player then record them with a cassette recorder. I had my first slow dance in my freshman year, with a senior, Cammie Wolfe. The song we danced to was Johnny Rivers Slow Dancin’ and I smile every time I hear it. The memory hasn’t faded. My senior year when we got together to pick the class flower and song we chose Life’s Been Good To Me So Far by Joe Walsh. I went to basic training at Fort Benning, GA four days after I graduated high school. Ironically the Number one song that summer was The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels. I believe it and the Devil’s real name was Drill Sergeant Enyart. When I reported to Fort Campbell, Kentucky The two biggest songs on the radio were Olivia Newton John’s Physical and Centerfold by the J. Geils Band. It was also during this time Hank Williams Jr. sang A Country Boy Can Survive. Outside Fort Campbell there is a strip known as 41A. Only three types of businesses were on the strip; bars, pawn shops ad used car lots. I had a buddy who had David Frizzell’s I’m Gonna Hire a Wino jukebox number memorized in every single bar on 41A. When I got to Germany every time I walked in the enlisted club Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark seemed to be playing. One of my favorite memories was a concert at the rec center. The band was Chrissy and High Noon, an English band. This was a BYOB affair. Since a gallon bottle of Wild Turkey cost $5 my infantry company each man brought their own bottle and we were drinking straight out of the bottle. The band went on break. When they returned Chrissy had made a wardrobe change into a black leather vest and nothing else on top. Her first song was Hit Me with Your Best Shot. My unit picked up our picnic table and carried it and sat it down right in front of the band. Good times. I can’t hear that song without thinking about that night. One aspect of being in the infantry was going to the field for long stretches at a time. It never failed that right before I went I’d hear a song that would roll around in my mind for the entire two weeks. I think they call that an earworm. A couple of the more memorable earworms I had were Kim Carnes’s Bette Davis Eyes and the Isley Brothers’ Twist and Shout. When I attended the NCO academy Wipeout, by the Beach Boys and the Fat Boys, was very popular. We’d play volleyball for afternoon PT with a hacky sack and every time we made a point we’d do the Wipeout dance. When I was looking to get out of the Army in 1992 I was having a panic attack. I heard Michael White’s song Familiar Ground. This calmed me and told me everything would work out. After the Army, I went to college. I met my wife, Anna, while attending. The first time I kissed her I heard the song This Magic Moment by Jay and the Americans. After our first date we were sitting in her car and listening to the radio. Tim McGraw’s I Like It, I Love It came on. That became our song and still is to this day. Each of the songs I’ve talked about holds a special meaning to me and can transport me back to that time. At least for the time it takes for it to play.
|
| ©
Copyright 2024.
Earl Corp
All rights reserved. Earl Corp has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work. |