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Post by Dawn on Sept 23, 2008 16:24:52 GMT -5
I don't think we've talked about this topic before here on the Click, but I thought it would make for some interesting discussion, especially since we have a range of ages of members.
What are the popular songs you have the earliest memories of?
For me, the list would include:
The Yesterday and Today album by the Beatles, but especially Day Tripper, Yesterday and We Can Work It Out
The Monkees' A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You
Neil Diamond's I Thank the Lord for the Nighttime and slightly later on, Song Sung Blue
The Rolling Stones' The Last Time and (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (my mom had the LP Out of Our Heads)
The Supremes' You Can't Hurry Love
Merle Haggard's Daddy Frank
John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads
Lobo's Me and You and a Dog Named Boo
Sammy Davis Jr's The Candy Man
Gallery's I Believe in Music
Lynn Anderson's Rose Garden
All of these I remember hearing from 1971-1972. Many of the songs were from my parents' music collection, and a couple of them are songs I remember hearing on the radio often. I was still a preschooler at the time, but these memories are quite vivid.
Although I can't say for sure, if I were to pick the one song that triggers the earliest memory, I'd go with The Last Time.
What are some of the songs that go way, way back for you?
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Post by Ken on Sept 23, 2008 19:01:20 GMT -5
Excellent topic Dawn   For me it would include the following: The Beatles - Abbey Road / White Album - Revolution 9 kind of freaked me out lol! - both my brothers were (and still are) huge Beatles fans, so I heard them regularly around the house. The Beatles - Yellow Submarine - I remember singing it around the house lol The Monkees - More Of The Monkees - my middle brother really liked them. CCR - Proud Mary / Green River The Bee Gees - Best Of The Bee Gees LP (Yellow cover) John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads - my Mom and Dad Lynn Anderson - Rose Garden - One of the albums my Mom and Dad owned(which I think I still have) was a Ktel compilation of country songs. Joan Baez - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - I heard this on the radio. Rolling Stones - 19th Nervous Breakdown, Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Women, Beggers Banquet / Flowers ('67 compilation) - Lady Jane, Out Of Time etc Ringo Starr - It Don't Come Easy - The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup Badfinger- No Matter What / Baby Blue The Grass Roots - Walkin' Through The Country The Cuff Links - Tracy The Jaggerz - The Rapper The Who - Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, Who's Next - I'm not sure which of my brothers owned "Meaty" but my oldest brother bought Who's Next Tony Orlando and Dawn -Candida / Knock Three Times / Simon and Garfunkal - Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Two daughters lived next door to us, and the oldest had both of the albums. My Mom and Dad had quite a few albums and both my brothers had quite a large collection of both 45's and LP's. I've mentioned before that friends of both my brothers would bring albums to the house, forget to take them home, and never seemed to want them back lol |
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Post by H2IZCOOL on Sept 24, 2008 9:48:07 GMT -5
Excellent topic, Dawn!  Of course my memories go back a day or two farther than most of the rest of you.  These are songs from the late '40s and early '50s. My earliest song memory may be of Bing Crosby singing the song: "When The Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)". It's actually from (I believe) the 30s. But I remember it from the late 40s, when it was used as the theme song for a 15 minute-long (I think) Bing Crosby radio program. It was on every night at 6:30 PM, when my mom was getting me ready for bed. I couldn't have been more than 3 or 4. (We moved the day before I turned 5, and I know it was before then.) Other early song memories: Mañana - Peggy Lee. - With a large part of my dad's family living in Cuba in the late '40s, this was a very popular song in our household. Doin' What Comes Naturally - Dinah Shore The Thing - Phil Harris (my dad absolutely loved this song.) Am I Blue - Hoagie Carmichael Orch. Be My Life's Companion - Rosemary Clooney ---- Interesting footnote on this song that I may have mentioned before. It was out in 1951, so I was seven. One section of the lyrics went like this: "I know a man who's lonely, and he's old at 33. No one wants to be old at 33." My 7-year old mind heard the second line as "no one wants to be as old as 33." ... and it sounded perfectly reasonable.  |
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Post by Dawn on Sept 24, 2008 11:50:44 GMT -5
Excellent topic Dawn For me it would include the following: The Beatles - Abbey Road / White Album - Revolution 9 kind of freaked me out lol! - both my brothers were (and still are) huge Beatles fans, so I heard them regularly around the house. The Beatles - Yellow Submarine - I remember singing it around the house lol The Monkees - More Of The Monkees - my middle brother really liked them. CCR - Proud Mary / Green River The Bee Gees - Best Of The Bee Gees LP (Yellow cover) John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads - my Mom and Dad Lynn Anderson - Rose Garden - One of the albums my Mom and Dad owned(which I think I still have) was a Ktel compilation of country songs. Joan Baez - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - I heard this on the radio. Rolling Stones - 19th Nervous Breakdown, Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Women, Beggers Banquet / Flowers ('67 compilation) - Lady Jane, Out Of Time etc Ringo Starr - It Don't Come Easy - The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup Badfinger- No Matter What / Baby Blue The Grass Roots - Walkin' Through The Country The Cuff Links - Tracy The Jaggerz - The Rapper The Who - Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, Who's Next - I'm not sure which of my brothers owned "Meaty" but my oldest brother bought Who's Next Tony Orlando and Dawn -Candida / Knock Three Times / Simon and Garfunkal - Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Two daughters lived next door to us, and the oldest had both of the albums. My Mom and Dad had quite a few albums and both my brothers had quite a large collection of both 45's and LP's. I've mentioned before that friends of both my brothers would bring albums to the house, forget to take them home, and never seemed to want them back lol Thanks, Ken! I was curious, since you and I are pretty close in age, if we had any "early memory" songs in common, and sure enough, we do! I forgot to include Yellow Submarine on my list, but I too used to sing that when I was little.  I must have heard it on the radio sometime in the early '70s, as I don't believe my parents had that record. I imagine Revolution 9 would have been pretty scary to have heard as a young child. I didn't hear it until I was in my teens, but I must admit, it kinda freaked me out too the first time I listened to it! |
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Post by Dawn on Sept 24, 2008 11:55:44 GMT -5
Excellent topic, Dawn! Of course my memories go back a day or two farther than most of the rest of you. These are songs from the late '40s and early '50s. My earliest song memory may be of Bing Crosby singing the song: "When The Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)". It's actually from (I believe) the 30s. But I remember it from the late 40s, when it was used as the theme song for a 15 minute-long (I think) Bing Crosby radio program. It was on every night at 6:30 PM, when my mom was getting me ready for bed. I couldn't have been more than 3 or 4. (We moved the day before I turned 5, and I know it was before then.) Other early song memories: Mañana - Peggy Lee. - With a large part of my dad's family living in Cuba in the late '40s, this was a very popular song in our household. Doin' What Comes Naturally - Dinah Shore The Thing - Phil Harris (my dad absolutely loved this song.) Am I Blue - Hoagie Carmichael Orch. Be My Life's Companion - Rosemary Clooney ---- Interesting footnote on this song that I may have mentioned before. It was out in 1951, so I was seven. One section of the lyrics went like this: "I know a man who's lonely, and he's old at 33. No one wants to be old at 33." My 7-year old mind heard the second line as "no one wants to be as old as 33." ... and it sounded perfectly reasonable. Thanks, Ed! I don't think I've heard that particular Bing Crosby song - I'll have to see if I can find it. Over the years, I've really grown to love a lot of the "crooners" - Crosby, Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc. Those songs still hold up very well today. LOL about the "33" line! I remember a time when 33 would have seemed ancient to me! |
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Post by Dawn on Sept 24, 2008 12:00:42 GMT -5
A song I forgot on my list is Cher's Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves. I have a memory of going to the Grant's Department Store (that will date me, LOL) with my mom and grandmother one evening, and hearing the song on the car radio. This would have been January or early February 1972, because I remember getting a box of valentines during that trip. (Not sure what I wanted the valentines for, as I was only 3 and not in school yet).
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Post by Ken on Sept 24, 2008 14:57:40 GMT -5
Excellent topic Dawn For me it would include the following: The Beatles - Abbey Road / White Album - Revolution 9 kind of freaked me out lol! - both my brothers were (and still are) huge Beatles fans, so I heard them regularly around the house. The Beatles - Yellow Submarine - I remember singing it around the house lol The Monkees - More Of The Monkees - my middle brother really liked them. CCR - Proud Mary / Green River The Bee Gees - Best Of The Bee Gees LP (Yellow cover) John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads - my Mom and Dad Lynn Anderson - Rose Garden - One of the albums my Mom and Dad owned(which I think I still have) was a Ktel compilation of country songs. Joan Baez - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - I heard this on the radio. Rolling Stones - 19th Nervous Breakdown, Brown Sugar, Honky Tonk Women, Beggers Banquet / Flowers ('67 compilation) - Lady Jane, Out Of Time etc Ringo Starr - It Don't Come Easy - The Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup Badfinger- No Matter What / Baby Blue The Grass Roots - Walkin' Through The Country The Cuff Links - Tracy The Jaggerz - The Rapper The Who - Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, Who's Next - I'm not sure which of my brothers owned "Meaty" but my oldest brother bought Who's Next Tony Orlando and Dawn -Candida / Knock Three Times / Simon and Garfunkal - Bridge Over Troubled Waters - Two daughters lived next door to us, and the oldest had both of the albums. My Mom and Dad had quite a few albums and both my brothers had quite a large collection of both 45's and LP's. I've mentioned before that friends of both my brothers would bring albums to the house, forget to take them home, and never seemed to want them back lol Thanks, Ken! I was curious, since you and I are pretty close in age, if we had any "early memory" songs in common, and sure enough, we do! I forgot to include Yellow Submarine on my list, but I too used to sing that when I was little. I must have heard it on the radio sometime in the early '70s, as I don't believe my parents had that record. I imagine Revolution 9 would have been pretty scary to have heard as a young child. I didn't hear it until I was in my teens, but I must admit, it kinda freaked me out too the first time I listened to it! Dawn, I also thought that there might be a chance we would have some songs in common. |
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Post by edehl on Sept 25, 2008 13:24:12 GMT -5
My mom listened to a radio station that played a lot of the hits of the day, so I was exposed to quite a bit of popular late 60s to early-mid 70s music when I was a child. Here are a few that stand out in my early memories: Rhinestone Cowboy - Glen Campbell Sentimental Lady - Bob Welch Summer Breeze (and all of Seals and Crofts hits) We’ve Only Just Begun - Carpenters Saturday in the Park - Chicago Hooked on a Feelin’(The ooga chaka version) Make It With You - Bread Fire and Rain - James Taylor You’re Gonna Miss My Lovin’ - Lou Rawls Games People Play - Spinners Windy - Association My parents also listened to a lot of big band music, as well as music from Bing, Perry Como, and the like, but I can’t remember any specific songs. |
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Post by Dawn on Sept 26, 2008 14:46:42 GMT -5
My mom listened to a radio station that played a lot of the hits of the day, so I was exposed to quite a bit of popular late 60s to early-mid 70s music when I was a child. Here are a few that stand out in my early memories: Rhinestone Cowboy - Glen Campbell Sentimental Lady - Bob Welch Summer Breeze (and all of Seals and Crofts hits) We’ve Only Just Begun - Carpenters Saturday in the Park - Chicago Hooked on a Feelin’(The ooga chaka version) Make It With You - Bread Fire and Rain - James Taylor You’re Gonna Miss My Lovin’ - Lou Rawls Games People Play - Spinners Windy - Association My parents also listened to a lot of big band music, as well as music from Bing, Perry Como, and the like, but I can’t remember any specific songs. Great list of songs, Nancy! Summer Breeze is another song I should have included on my list - I have early memories of that one as well. And Games People Play - if I had to pick five songs that bring back the most vivid memories of childhood for me, that one would definitely be in there. Whenever I hear it, I'm immediately taken back to fall 1975. It's still a huge favorite of mine to this day. |
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Post by dave910 on Sept 26, 2008 17:21:26 GMT -5
Dawn, You have quite the comprehensive list. The very first song is hard to recall. But listed for you are some of my earliest music memories. Rubber Duckie - Ernie. Yes, a member of Sesame Street. I recall hearing the tune at a neighbors house. I would later own two Sesame Street LP's. Ernie's signature song. I believe the song made the top 20 the year I was born. You Make Me Feel Brand New - Stylistics. My Mom was a huge fan of the radio. She loved R&B music. This song is still a favorite of mine to this day. Then Came You - Dionne Warwick & the Spinners. This was a gift given to me when I came home from preschool one day. I loved the 45, but didn't keep it in good shape. If - Bread. Mom played the 45 constantly. But the tune hasn't aged well with me. I preferred the rocking b-side Mother Freedom, which is never played on the radio. Easy Listening - This was a five album set put out by Tele Records. This probably was a mail order collection. It featured mellow hits of the mid 60's to early 70's. It was quite an eclectic mix. Here's a sample of some of the songs: Monday Monday - Mamas and the Papas Lemon Tree - Trini Lopez Lay Down - Melanie & the Edwin Hawkins Singers Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison The Thrill Is Gone - B.B. King I had this collection until my mid-twenties. I have seen some these songs and others on different collections. But the collection never made it to CD or cassette.  Beatles albums - These were a collection of sleeveless albums given to me by a cousin. Something New, Hey Jude, Let It Be and the Beatles (White Album) played constantly on my GE record player. My babysitter also gave me Meet the Beatles and Beatles 65 when I was about five or six. I loved the Beatles so much that the records wound up looking like road maps.  |
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Post by Dawn on Sept 26, 2008 18:00:37 GMT -5
Dawn, You have quite the comprehensive list. The very first song is hard to recall. But listed for you are some of my earliest music memories. Rubber Duckie - Ernie. Yes, a member of Sesame Street. I recall hearing the tune at a neighbors house. I would later own two Sesame Street LP's. Ernie's signature song. I believe the song made the top 20 the year I was born. You Make Me Feel Brand New - Stylistics. My Mom was a huge fan of the radio. She loved R&B music. This song is still a favorite of mine to this day. Then Came You - Dionne Warwick & the Spinners. This was a gift given to me when I came home from preschool one day. I loved the 45, but didn't keep it in good shape. If - Bread. Mom played the 45 constantly. But the tune hasn't aged well with me. I preferred the rocking b-side Mother Freedom, which is never played on the radio. Easy Listening - This was a five album set put out by Tele Records. This probably was a mail order collection. It featured mellow hits of the mid 60's to early 70's. It was quite an eclectic mix. Here's a sample of some of the songs: Monday Monday - Mamas and the Papas Lemon Tree - Trini Lopez Lay Down - Melanie & the Edwin Hawkins Singers Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison The Thrill Is Gone - B.B. King I had this collection until my mid-twenties. I have seen some these songs and others on different collections. But the collection never made it to CD or cassette. Beatles albums - These were a collection of sleeveless albums given to me by a cousin. Something New, Hey Jude, Let It Be and the Beatles (White Album) played constantly on my GE record player. My babysitter also gave me Meet the Beatles and Beatles 65 when I was about five or six. I loved the Beatles so much that the records wound up looking like road maps. Rubber Duckie - that sure brings back memories! I was quite the Sesame Street fan when I was little, and still have a couple of the cast albums. Although I like If, I agree with you that Mother Freedom should be played more. Great as their ballads are, it's also cool to hear their rockers. Wow, that's cool that you were introduced to all that great Beatles music at such a young age! |
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Post by gremashlo on Sept 28, 2008 8:14:47 GMT -5
Very interesting topic!
Sadly, my parents were NOT music fans...what music we heard, we heard on the radio--my sisters didn't really buy many albums either--they were stung once when they bought what was supposed to be a "hits" collection off of TV, and it was one of those re-recorded lumps of garbage. That stopped the album buying for years. And the little "one-room" school I attended played polkas and square dance music for 'entertainment' (So, the "Too Fat Polka" may qualify as my oldest music memory, but I am determined to drink it out of existence)
Oddly, though, my mom liked to listen to WOW out of Omaha, which was the premiere top-40 station between Chicago and LA. And almost all of my earliest music memories come from that station--once I got into radio and collecting records, I started stumbling across songs that set off bells in my memory. One such song was "For the Love of Him" by Bobbi Martin. I also got hooked on the Jackson 5 courtesy of WOW.
Don McLean (American Pie) and Johnny Cash (San Quentin) are also two fond memories, as both were albums that my parents bought my sisters before the TV album snafu.
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Post by cairnterrier on Oct 26, 2008 18:55:42 GMT -5
Some of the very first songs I can recall hearing and singing along to:
*Another Saturday Night~Cat Stevens
*Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me~Elton John
*Yellow Submarine~The Beatles
*Top of the World~The Carpenters
*Band on the Run~Paul McCartney
*Piano Man~Billy Joel
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Post by Jughead on Nov 11, 2008 19:19:18 GMT -5
Practically any song that was released from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. My mother was the biggest disco fan, and played that record well past the "expiration date".
My siblings are also a bit older than I am, and I heard a lot of their music as well. Growing up in the eighties, I heard a lot, like...
Thriller/MICHAEL JACKSON
Take On Me/A-HA
Everytime You Go Away/PAUL YOUNG
The Reflex/DURAN DURAN
Lucky Star/MADONNA
Authority Song/JOHN COUGAR MELLENCAMP
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Post by 55dodger on Nov 25, 2008 1:56:31 GMT -5
I really don't remember anything before say 1958. What I do remember hearing on mom's radio was:
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - The Platters
Great Pretender - The Platters
Mom liked The Platters
Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley
Witch Doctor - David Seville
The Chipmunk Song - The Chipmunks
I think my sister & I listened to these because they were silly.
We (my sister & I) had a 45 called "Do Your Ears Hang Low". We wore it out. The silly thing again.
Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & the Comets (must have been playing on the radio when I first heard it). My mom tells me I used to try & dance to it, something that was probably wasn't a pretty sight.
There was also the Mickey Mouse March at the opening of the show, remember that very well.
Probably because of the Disney connection, The Ballad of Davey Crockett. But I was way to young for the coon skin hats and all that.
And of course there is "I'm strong to the finish, because I eats me spinach, I'm Popeye the Sailor Man." Popeye is still the bomb.
My dad was a huge fan of Glenn Miller & Bob Wills, so I sorta remember that as well, but barely.
But the one song that always seems to stick out as my earliest memory, & it came out in 1959 was The Three Bells by the Browns (Jim Ed & his two sisters). I remember how much I liked then, and still do. I don't own The Browns version, but I do have a beautiful cover version by Alison Krauss that I was just listening to.
Anyway, for better or worse, those are my memories. They go back 50+ years, and that was a long time ago (not as long as you Ed, but still long).
BTW Dawn, this was an outstanding question. It's fun to look at what we remember from way back when. Everybody's list would make a great playlist.
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These are songs from the late '40s and early '50s.
I must have heard it on the radio sometime in the early '70s, as I don't believe my parents had that record.
