I would
like to welcome T. Wayne of ‘A Joyful Process’ to The Ledge. He is a music guru
with an encyclopedic knowledge of genres and artists. When I asked him to take
over my blog, he was more than willing. The topic is songs that you love to
hate or at least dislike mildly.
Before I
turn this over to T. Wayne, I just thought that I would put my two cents in.
This song is forever emblazoned in my memory banks. I don’t know if it was
because my roommate in college and her boyfriend played this incessantly or
whether Bonnie Tyler’s I-stuck-my-hand-in-a-light-socket hair do was
unforgettable. To this day, whenever I hear, ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ I
scream on the inside.
Now that
you all are better for having that information, take it away, T. Wayne!
Please
check out his thoroughly enjoyable material at: https://joyfulprocess.blog/
First, I would like to thank Susan here at the Woman on The
Ledge blog for giving me the opportunity to write here. I don't know if I have
anything I can write that is quite as humorous as what she does on the regular,
but here goes. I want to write about some songs from when I was younger that I
truly did not like, but now I like maybe a little. Maybe.
Over at my blog, A Joyful Process, I write a lot about
music. Music that inspires me, songs that I remember fondly, songs that make me
dance or put me in a good mood. A lot of the music I write about is older, and
goes back a generation or two. I've often told the story on the blog about how
an Otis Redding song was the first song I remember hearing as a child (his
iconic version of "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)), and that
a Marvin Gaye song is the second one that I can remember ("Too Busy
Thinking About My Baby").
However, there are some songs from those younger days that I
don't remember quite as fondly. In fact, as a child I didn't like them much at
all. One of the things I have mentioned before at my blog is that my mother was
one of the reasons I got into music. She had a lot of old 45's that she kept
and from time to time we would hear them playing around the house. A lot of
them were soul classics of the early 1970's, but a few were songs that I feel
got snuck in somehow and didn't really belong. One of those was "In the
Summertime" by British Band Mungo Jerry.
Now, the
statistics will tell you that this song was a top 3 hit back in 1970, but from
what I can recall, it was a negative 100 in my book. Though I can remember as
plain as day my grandmother getting up to dance to it, I seem to remember
frowning at her like, "what in the world are you doing? Sit down! Don't dance
to this!" But she kept right on going. Aging is a wonderful thing, because
if I hear it now, I can at least tolerate it. But I still remember that kid
with the frown on his face whenever it played back then.
Another
song that I didn't like but it seemed some in my family did was
"Sunshine" (Go Away Today) by Jonathan Edwards.
This was a
#4 hit early in 1972, but again, I just couldn't understand what was so popular
about it. I'd see my mother put this on the record player, and I'd get that
same frown I had when my grandmother would dance to that Mungo Jerry
foolishness. I'd be like, "why do you keep playing this? It's awful!"
But they kept right on playing it. At least it was short; just over two minutes
and change, so my still developing childhood appreciation skills weren't
damaged too badly. Again, aging is a wonderful thing; I just played it and it
didn't make me squirm...at least not too much.
One last
song that I couldn't understand when I was younger why it was popular was Brook
Benton's "Rainy Night in Georgia."
First off,
it was sloooowwww. At that age, if it didn't have an uptempo beat, I wasn't
having it. This was one of my dear grandmother's favorite songs, and I think
she tortured me on purpose by playing it often. I know now that Brook Benton
was one of early R&B's great singers, but then, I could have cared less. I
got tired of him moaning and groaning about this rainy night in Georgia. Was
Georgia the only place it rained? I didn't think so. This #4 hit from 1970 also
was a #1 R&B hit that same year. So, it was undeniably popular, but not
with me. One more time, aging is a wonderful thing; I've since heard Ray
Charles do a version of this which made me appreciate the original a bit more.
My face doesn't frown up now when I hear it. Or I don't frown quite as much.
So, those
are the songs that I didn't like from my earliest memories of music. Do you
have songs that you heard from the past that you truly do not like even as
you've grown and your sense of music appreciation has purportedly broadened as
well? Leave those horrible songs and memories in the comments. Thanks again
Susan for this opportunity; I hope I don't scare off the regulars that come by.
Love meeting new bloggers. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Captain. We appreciate the read! If you get the chance, check T.Wayne's site out. He's a great guy!
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