Remember When Songs Told a Story 2

Remember the Times

I don’t know about you, but music was everything to my friends and me.  (See: Remember When Songs Told a Story – posted: July 13, 2013).  One post and even 20 posts on this subject wouldn’t do it justice.  I can’t decide if all of my favorite songs that I grew up with were favorites, because of the music or the lyrics (message).

Music was the center of everything, every day of your life.  If you were sad, it seems that a song would come along on the radio that would remind you of the loved one you just lost, or broke up with.  Likewise, if you were happy almost every song gave you a reason for further celebration.  The popular artists of the time almost always sooner or later would record some religious music (Green Grass of Home-Elvis Presley), so even when the occasion was sad, you could always go to your favorite artist for the right message.

If you had a car that you were proud of and wanted to just drive and enjoy, what better way than to have the radio on full blast (careful not to blow the speakers).  Radio speakers back then were not meant to handle the music love awakening of the Baby Boomers:  I don’t remember being aware that I was a part of the Baby Boomers growing up but I was a part of it, and dang proud of it.

In our youth, we didn’t only listen to the music, we actually sang along with it: We knew the lyrics and didn’t care who saw us singing along. Many years would go by before we started tuning in to the special radio stations that carried our type of music, and even further down the road before our music became known as Oldies. 

I’ve even thought of opening a franchise of diners that catered to the Baby Boomers, selling only pizza, hamburgers, fries, and milk shakes (maybe a salad bar for special diets), and providing a disc jockey to play music from the 50’s and 60’s, on Friday and Saturday nights.  On Sunday night we would offer the same menu of food and music, with the addition of 70’s, and 80’s.  We could stay open from 6 pm for dinner with music starting at 8 pm, and closing by 11 pm, by closing early no one has to be embarrassed that they had to leave early.  Can you imagine dancing to; At the Hop-Danny and the Juniors, Under the Boardwalk-The Drifters, or I’ll Remember (In the Still of the Night) -The Tokens.  The possibilities are enormous.  Let’s not forget that Col. Sanders was 65 when he started the successful franchise known as KFC.  The best is yet to come…