"steel bars," in case you're wondering

The other day I was in the drugstore and got really excited. No, Tums wasn’t on sale (although that sure would have been nice), but a Michael Bolton song came on the radio. Yes, Michael Bolton. It was one of my very favorite songs when I was a younger, and I knew every word. So picture me, dilly dallying in the aisles of Bartell’s, singing along to Michael Bolton and trying to avoid embarrassment by not getting caught singing along to Michael Bolton. It was like riding a bike. I hadn’t heard the song in years, but knew it so well back then and evidently I still know it today.

I think for all of us, when we first discover “music,” it is a pretty amazing thing. I’ll come right out and admit that the first CD I ever put on my Christmas list (and received), was New Kids on the Block, Hanging Tough, but that was not the first music I really discovered. I just wanted it since all my friends had it and I thought I had to have it. (Tangent: for the record, Joey was my favorite. BUT, to prove what kind of die-hard fan I am, when he was on Dancing with the Stars a couple seasons back I watched zero episodes. So yeah.)

Some of my other music “first loves” were Ace of Base, Mariah Carey, Vanilla Ice, and yes, Michael Bolton. Pretty tame. After the “chill” stage, I went through a country phase. No one disown me as a friend; it was fun while it lasted and I still have an appreciation for country music.

Then came the rock and roll. My first rock and roll love, and still one of my most sincere loves, was Live’s Throwing Copper. It was the first CD I actually bought with my own money. I remember sitting in my pink bedroom, curled up on my bed, listening to it on my headphones, and just melting into the music. It was euphoric.

Before I could afford CDs of my own, what I did was call up the local radio station, request my favorite song of the moment, then set up a tape in a tape recorder and wait. I’d wait wait wait until the commercial was over then hit “record.” If it wasn’t my song, darn, I’d rewind and wait until the song was over then do it again. I made some pretty choppy but eclectic mixed tapes this way.

And, I’d listen to them over and over and over again. In fact, to this day, when I hear "Buddy Holly" by Weezer, as the song ends, in my head I’ll say, “95.9 the Coast!” because that’s how it was on my tape. That’s how it’ll be engrained in my head forever. And, AFTER that song should always be "I'll Be There For You" by The Rembrandt's (theme from Friends), since that is how it was on the tape.

Then – it gets even better – I wanted to know the words. And, since we are still at the time before I could afford CDs (which had lyric books in them), and the Internet yet hadn’t caught fire (so looking it up online wasn’t an option), I’d take one of my radio-pirated mixed tapes, sit with my headphones and a notepad, and listen to one line over and over and over again, trying to figure out what the guy was saying. I’d write the line, and when I was pretty sure I had it, I’d move on to the next line. I’d transcribe songs for hours. You try transcribing "Tripping on a Hole in a Paper Heart" by Stone Temple Pilots and tell me how long it takes you.

Ahh, being a carefree teenager. Sometimes I definitely miss it! My early music loves have definitely molded me into who I am today.

However, lest you forlornly conclude that my music development ends at Stone Temple Pilots, I offer these points of rebuttal:

• I was in the concert choir in high school and not only did I greatly enjoy learning and singing "Pal Pa Haugen," a Norwegian song – in Norwegian – about Paul and his chickens, I greatly enjoyed singing it at Carnegie Hall in New York
  
• At 15, I was deeply moved by “I am a Child of God” and learned to appreciate Church music, which can inspire and touch people (read: teenage girls like me) in ways other Church stuff can’t
  
• I ran off to BYU and enjoyed passing not one but two Humanities courses, during which I discovered Beethoven’s Pastorale, which really relaxes me on Sundays
  
• My brothers and I were enjoying listening to the instrumental score of Jurassic Park with our aunt in her car one day, and she got really bored because there were no words and proceeded to give us a hard time; I will admit it’s probably still my favorite movie score (take that, Titanic!)
  

Well, that’s all for now. Isn’t it funny how one Michael Bolton song can bring back so many memories? I think you should all take out your figurative (or literal) Michael Bolton albums and enjoy a few minutes of reflection. I wouldn’t be surprised if you still knew all the words.