I love music. I know a lot of music. As a matter of fact, a lot of my friends call me for their musical needs. Oh, no. Not to play or sing. Although, I do love belting out “Proud Mary” and “Bobby McGee” on the karaoke circuit. It’s sad really. It’s where I live out the “what if” factor. What if I had become the Britney Spears of the eighties? Never mind.
Anyway, some of my friends call me when they need some ideas for a song for this or a song for that. And, I bring it. ‘Cause I love music. Although, two kids and age are beginning to interfere with my musical knowledge base. I must overcome.
I’ll never forget my first cassette player. It looked something like this.
I would hold it up to a radio and as soon as a favorite song came on, I simultaneously pressed the “Record” and “Play” buttons. Memba that? Of course, I always missed the first 10 seconds of the song, but that didn’t matter. I still sang and danced to my mix tape like it was 1985.
And, a single mix tape took H.O.U.R.S. to make. You pretty much had to stay cuddled up to your radio for as long as it took. But, once you finished, you had a flawless arrangement of Culture Club, Journey, Rick Springfield, and of course, The Police.
Fast forward a couple of years later. My parents gave me the most darling pink boombox for my thirteenth birthday. Yes. I said boombox. Not only did it have a cassette player, but it had a radio, too. The world of making a mix tape became revolutionized.
I will still make a mix tape. It’s an art. Now, I just select my music from my iTunes library and burn a CD. John Henry, my musical prodigy in the making, requests frequently for a new music CD. And, I don’t hesitate in making him one. Because, he has got the music in him. Yes, he does.
Now, a mix tape is called a playlist. Here are some songs on my most recent playlist:
“Burnin’ Up” – Jonas Brothers (I’d like to claim this one for my children. I said I’d like to.)
“Shake It” – Metro Station
“Viva la Vida” – Coldplay
“Hosanna” – Christy Nockels
“Dead Man’s Rope” – Sting (I know. No surprise here.)
“Hard to Say I’m Sorry” – Chicago (Don’t worry. I have an entirely separate playlist dedicated to Peter Cetera. ‘Cause I’m cool like that.)
“Show Me What You Got” – Jay-Z (The clean version. ‘Cause it’s a regular request from John Henry)
“Lost Without U” – Robin Thicke (It gets me all warm and fuzzy inside.)
“Healer” – Hillsong
“Feelin’ Alright” – Joe Cocker
“Seasons of Love” – Rent (I’m not kidding. I just recently fell in love it.)
Your turn to shake, shake, shake, shake uh shake it. What’s on your playlist?
DustyTakle.com 
there ain’t no shame in love for the Jonas Brothers, Dusty. I want the middle one.
And I thought I was the only one you made special mix tapes for. Silly me. By the way, it has been a little while since my last “Uncle Ken’s Groove On”.
I have a Hannah Montana song on my playlist. Something about not being able to wait to see you again AND I st-st-stutter when you ask me what I’m thinking ’bout. I quit apologizing for my uncool music choices a couple of years ago. Being over 30 is SO liberating!
Kristen, thanks. I will walk with my head held high. ‘Cause if you think the Jonas Bros. are cool, and you are the epitome of all things cool, then there should be no shame.
Ken, it’s just you and John Henry. That’s it. I’ll get busy on your next groove on. You’re gonna need a new one to keep up with your 29 grandchildren – or so, it seems.
Oh, and Melanie, Anna and I do enjoy “If You Were A Movie”. I put that on her playlist. So, I could sing it with her, of course.
Ok my play list is as follows;
any thing by clapton, rod, skynard, garth, sinatra, chicago, some guy named buffet, and my only female vocalist is DURSTEE
Great blog, you and Jaime should get together, she is a music buff too! Any kind imaginable! lol, she keeps me supplied. She bought an MP3 player for me this past Christmas. It helps me keep in step, when I walk!
I love on my playlist, “The Eagles”, right now, but anything with a beat! lol
Nice playlist… did you hear the drama with the pastor who wrote the Healer song who lied about having terminal cancer. It’s a great song!
I always get songs from Toon Town stuck in my head and I sing them all week
Scott, no I completely missed that one.
“Proud Mary” will always, always, always, bring thoughts of Brandi Cleveland Hughes. That girl could work it!
“Lost Without You”-Love. It.
My Ipod has a bunch of oldie goldies from the seventies (think college here), beach music (college and medical school) and, yes, I’m probably the only fifty-five year old woman who has downloaded the whole soundtrack from “Legally Blonde.’
Obviously I spent too much time with Mackenzie this summer. Go, Diego, Go runs through my head way too much! Or, the Beatles, Kenzie’s favorite group because of the Return. I usually put on praise music to run this out of my head. As to contemporary music, well, the tape player in my car says it all….
Betsey…..Brandi is still working it…she is too funny and cute…i do always think of her when i hear that song…
David Crowder, U2, Leona Lewis, Donna Lewis, Rich Mullins, U2 again, oh and U2. There’s others, but not near as cool as Bono
I don’t have any 8 tracks left. Memba them? I have about 5 cassettes but no cassette playa cuz they don’t make cars with those anymore. I used to collect videos and now that my VCR is busted I’m stuck with about 100 videos (my favs) and no way to watch them and I’m not buying them in DVD because if I do, they come out with something that replaces DVD’s, right? On the lighter side, my sons plays music that I used to listen to when I was his age but he seems to think that his generation invented these songs. OY!
“I’m a little bit country, I’m a little bit rock n roll” – Donny and Marie… thats what my playlist looks like. I don’t actually have that song.
this is actually shari. not mikey. my playlist is jason mraz…love that boy
Natalie, I get this crazy feeling you’re a U2 fan. Maybe it’s just a feeling.
Hope, I DO memba 8 tracks. Kudos on your son’s taste in the classic….even if he is a bit confused as to their origin.
Sharon, I KNOW you are. And, I hope you don’t have that song.
Shari Lynn, I LOVE that Jason Mraz. Kind of a new little Jack Johnson, if you will.
And, didn’t you just love to get mix tapes from boys!! omg… i remember the boy i loved when i was 13 -it was on again off again, but “REUNITED” was on that one he gave me… i get chills just thinking on it!!! Oh, and i think the pirated cassette tapes i have from the 1990 Grateful Dead concert that i went to in Denver were recorded on your tape recorder — getting that Play/Record stuff together was difficult! BU –I had all Kasy Kasems stuffed recorded on Sundays countdown!!!!(less the first 10 secs of every song) — good memories!