The Soundtrack of My Life

Available in stores, under several separate titles.

I have approximately 350 tape cassettes, and innumerable CD's in my music collection. Most of them never see the light of day, as I converted all of the CD's to mp3's, and they sit on my hard drive. The cassettes? We have presidential elections more often than some of my tapes are played!

Each tape and CD has meaning relating to part of my life, and evokes floods of memories when played. I realized this when I broke out the "ABBA Gold" tape for my two year old the other day, so that she could dance to "Dancing Queen". ABBA is what my parents listened to in the months preceding their divorce, when I was 12 years old. And so, when hearing "Summer Night City", I remember driving up the canyon at night to our new home, with the moonlight and the warm summer breeze blowing through the car. When I hear "Mamma Mia", I remember playing with Star Wars figures out on the 12-ft tall snowbanks on our street (my own version of the ice planet of Hoth), and when I hear Air Supply's "Sweet Dreams", I think of a girl named Dixie, who died that same year of cystic fibrosis.

Air Supply's "Even The Nights Are Better" evoke memories of driving to Salt Lake on a warm summer night, to visit my dad's new squeeze. Toto's "Rosanna" reminds me of riding with my stepdad through the oilfields in Wyoming, as he kept drilling rigs supplied with various chemicals. Robert Plant's "Big Log" reminds me of California for some reason. Santana's "Hold On" also reminds me of California, and how much I wanted to moved back there when I was 14. Def Leppard's "Pyromania" album reminds me of my freshman year in high school. I had a friend who was a drummer, and he taught me how to play some Def Leppard and Rush songs on his zillion-piece drum set.

The Scorpions "Love at First Sting" album reminds me playing in the band at football games. Billy Joel's "Greatest Hits, Vols I & II" reminds me of going to track meets in high school. Berlin's "Love Life" album, and the Thompson Twins "Into the Gap" mark my departure from rock into alternative music. Alphaville's "Forever Young" album calls back memories of my huge crush on Melanie, while Howard Jones' "Action Replay" album marks a very dark time when I was crushed by that crush. Howard Jones music reminds me of a trip to Lake Powell, while Tears for Fears, 'Til Tuesday and the "Top Gun" soundtrack were defining music of my Junior Year.

My move into the dorms, and the accompanying freedom it brought is recalled by The Church's "Under the Milky Way". I also bought William Orbit's self titled album at that time. The Damned's "Phantasmagoria" album defines a lot of that first year of college as well, and is still a personal favorite of mine. As the school year ended, I listened to more of the Cocteau Twins, especially their "Treasure", "Pink Opaque" and "Blue Bell Knoll" albums. These songs were the soundtrack of my summer as a lifeguard at Raging Waters. I met Tina the last week that the park was open. Our relationship is called to mind whenever I hear "Chains of Love" by Erasure, or Pink Floyd's "On The Turning Away". Depeche Mode was there for my depression when she dumped me. There's a reason why they're called "Depressed Mode".

Upon moving to Switzerland, I listened to a-ha's "Scoundrel Days" album, and Alphaville's "The Breathtaking Blue", as well as some of the local artists. Moving down near Montpellier, France a few months later (a bit closer to the Mediterranean), I found that a-ha had released their "Stay On These Roads" album. I bought it. I fell in love with Catalonia, and moved about 50 miles further south, and stayed there for the next 6 or 7 months. At this time, I started listening to some classical music. My favorites were Bach and Rachmaninoff. As I started to get ready to move back to the states, one of the local kids (who loaned my their comic books in French all the time) talked me into Roch Voisine's "Helene" and Elsa's "Rien Que Pour Ca" albums. Both good albums.

Jesus Jones was popular when I returned to the states, and reminds me of taking Alla Kosova slam dancing. Don't ask me why, but I also really got into Disney music at the time. I also bought Neil Diamond's "Greatest Hits I & II" around this time, and am reminded of driving to a small remote town to interview for a job in a coal mine anytime I hear that tape. I also started listening to country music on a limited basis at this time, including Garth Brooks, Chris Ledoux, Reba and others.

My dad went to Switzerland on a business trip, and retrieved a copy of Mylene Farmer's "L'autre" for me while he was there. Hmmmmm. Excellent. Most other music I've enjoyed since that time would be of the Alternative, Classic Alternative, Rock, Country and Classical varieties. Did I leave much of anything out?

/ramble