I grew up during the 70s and 80s when music was exploding on the radiowaves. Our family listened to music whenever we could. Mostly we listened to Pop and Rock with a little Country sprinkled in every once in a while. Music was playing at the workplace, in our van, and in our home when nothing was on the three TV channels we had.

Stereo Consoles

Both my grandparents on my mother’s side and my parents owned a large stereo console similar to the one pictured here.

Inside was a turntable, AM/FM stereo, and an 8-track player. The two doors on the front housed all of your 8-track tapes and vinyl records. It was an ornate piece of furniture that took up the whole wall at the bottom of our stairs in the house I grew up in. Songs I really loved during that time were:

America – A Horse with No Name

I still remember the dream I had while this song was playing as we traveled home in our van. I was very tired. It was late at night and I took a little nap during the drive. As I was falling into dreamland this song came on the radio. It penetrated into my mind and I was transported to a desert and riding a golden horse, of course with no name. It is crazy how certain songs can mess with your brain.

Hall & Oates – Rich Girl

Our family was on vacation in the Black Hills and as my parents went into the hotel to get our room reservation they left my brother and me in the van with the radio on. As soon as I heard it I fell in love with the musicality of the song. The acapella at the beginning moving to the electric guitar hook and the drums kick in. It was also the first time I really listened to the lyrics and was curious as to what they meant.

Dolly Parton – Here You Come Again

This is one of the first country songs I listened to when having dinner with my family at the local Legion club and someone chose it on the jukebox. The upbeat piano and her angelic vocals really hooked me. Dolly was a brilliant artist then and still is today. Her music is timeless.

8-track players

My parents were noticing my love of music. I was torn with playing music downstairs in our living room and playing in the privacy of my room upstairs. So I either turned up the stereo way loud so I could hear it in my room or take all my toys downstairs and play in the living room leaving a mess for my mom to pick up. My parents decided to get me for Christmas a portable 8-track player. I was beyond ecstatic! It was very similar to the picture below.

You couldn’t get me out of my room after that! The only thing that was flawed about the 8-track player was I had to listen to the whole album before I could get back to my favorite song. That would change a bit in the 80s.

I was beyond obsessed with music in the 80s. With the fusion pop, rock, metal, new wave, and country climbing the charts and MTV, music was everywhere. Our family was one of the first in our small little town to get a 12-foot satellite dish in our backyard. Suddenly, the world and every channel ever created was in a small, silver box on our TV. We watched MTV every day after school and dreamed about becoming a huge music star or play in a band. These songs were a big influence during my middle school and high school life.

Hall & Oates – You Make My Dreams Come True

Yep, here they are again. My brother and I loved watching videos and for some reason, the simplistic black background and the keyboard hook at the beginning of “You Make My Dreams Come True” made it look like it was easy to be in a band. So we would pretend to be Hall & Oates whenever their videos came on MTV. My brother was always Oates. I think it was because of the mustache.

Chicago – Stay the Night

MTV was really picking up steam and creating videos with a storyline and lip-syncing. These types of videos were becoming very popular and helped drive record sales. Many of the cassette tapes I bought were because I loved the video. One of those cassettes I received for Christmas was “Chicago 17” by the group Chicago. I loved their harmonies and mixing in the big band sound with their pop/rock songs. I am amazed I didn’t wear out the tape!

Madonna – Dress You Up

One of my dreams growing up during my junior high years was to be Madonna. I loved her style (the skirts with leggings, fingerless gloves, and bows in the hair), her music (it was so much fun), and she was hugely popular on the radio and in videos. Whenever a new video was coming out, every pre-teen and teenager were glued to their televisions wondering what she was going to do next.

Thriller – Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was an innovator. Not just in his music, but in his videos as well. The “Thriller” cassette I owned was played on repeat on a daily basis. I even took my Sanyo boombox to school with me so we could hear it during recess. Once the “Thriller” video came out, I became a huge fan wishing someday I could seem him perform live. That dream would sadly never happen.

Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Entering into the music scene was a girl from New York named Cyndi Lauper. Her music video was so fun and I loved that she didn’t care what other people thought of her. Her song, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was a mantra for my friends and I growing up. I will never forget when her album came out, it was one that I needed to have in my collection. This was before the days of Amazon where we had to drive an hour or more just to get to a department store. On my birthday, my Freshman year of high school, I opened a small package and there it was…the cassette “She’s So Unusual”. I had tears in my eyes because it was one of those albums I just had to have in my collection. I will never forget that.

Boston – Amanda

December 20, 1986…a shy, freshman girl goes to a fundraiser dance for her church and sits down on the benches along the sides of the auditorium next to her priest. An upperclassman sits down next to the priest on the other side and it seems like they have a friendship going and they have visited often. The shy girl recognizes this upperclassman because they were both in band class together. They sat in the same saxophone section.

The priest introduces the two of them and the upperclassman asks the shy girl to dance. During the rest of the evening, there was talking and dancing and the rest is history. “Amanda” from Boston, was one of those songs that evening. The shy girl was me, the upperclassman, was my first and only boyfriend and my future husband.

I find it so fascinating that music can transport us to places and times tucked away in the deepest memories of our minds. It can stir up feelings, change your mood, and can even bring back the senses of the times and places you heard that song. Music is a very powerful thing and we are blessed by God to have many talented performers who share their gifts with us.

What are your favorite songs that transport you to another place and time? Please let me know in the comments.