Tuesday, June 7, 2011

music memories - a little experiment



Last week when I posted about music as a soundtrack to my life, I loved reading all the comments about songs that recall certain memories for you guys, and how they vary from person to person. I love that while I was breathing in the smell of new construction at my brother and sister-in-law's new suburban California house and listening to John Mayer, Casey was smacking her Discman and breathing in the smell of the seats on her school bus.

So I thought it might be a fun idea to make this a weekly topic, with participation from anyone who wants to share. Once a week, I'll post a song (maybe two) or an artist and write about what rush of senses it brings back for me, or maybe tell you a story about that song. At the bottom of the post, I'll have a widget so you can do the same and paste your link at the bottom. If you don't have a blog, you can write your story in the comments if you want to share.

I haven't thought of a good name (my ideas are tending toward cheesy - Throwback Tunes Tuesday? Vomit.) or a button but hopefully that will come soon if you guys like the idea.

For today's song, I opened my 90s playlist in iTunes and chose the first song I saw that gave me that knock-you-out rush of nostalgia that I love:

No Doubt - Just a Girl


Just a Girl -- and the entire Tragic Kingdom album -- revolves around my dad's home office. In the days of one-computer-households, our computer was kept in this cluttered corner of our house. The internet was just becoming a thing, and as a middle schooler whose friend count was slim to none, I graduated from Baby Sitters Club books to websites for products that were supposed to make me popular.



My magazines (I think YM was my publication of choice at the time) were dog-eared; any beauty ad with a URL at the bottom was marked so I could get to the website later. No doubt (ha!) it would have tips on "how to be beautiful in 5 easy steps". Noxzema and Bonne Bell were two of my favorite early websites (and the thought of my favorite sparkly mint chocolate chip LipSmackers chapstick just adds to this whole memory).
A little Lipsmackers and Noxzema and I would have been a beauty queen

For a year, most of my free time was spent in this cold, crowded office surrounded by National Geographic Magazine, marathon memorabilia, and the beeps of the modem connecting. And that entire year, my bright orange No Doubt CD stayed in our CD drive.


Now I want to hear your stories! Add your link below when you post to your blog. And if you have any song suggestions for future posts, e-mail me at werejustdandy@gmail.com.







11 comments:

  1. This album reminds me of so much, I was going into my Senior year of high school the summer that this was on repeat. Spiderwebs was my favorite song on the album.

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  2. "don't speak" takes me back to New Years Eve 1995/6. I was at my neighbor's house for the night hanging out with one of my best friends (who was 4yrs older) while she...babysat me. This story just got really sad.

    Anyway, she passed out by 10pm, but I was wide awake playing "Don't Speak" on repeat, standing on a skate board in her bedroom at the foot of her bed belting out Gwen Stefani and doing a sad version of an interpretive dance singing into a plastic gold-glittery microphone. Ahh the 90s.

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  3. This song reminds me of my sister. She LOVE this cd. It also takes me back to my first beeper. I left the Spiderwebs as my greeting. How cool was I?

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  4. David: I want to go back in time and be your babysitter. Is that the creepiest thing anyone has ever said to you??

    V: YOU HAD A BEEPER. You are officially my new favorite person!

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  5. I loved that whole CD. I have a very specific memory of listening to it with my sisters up in my bedroom. And I'm Just a Girl was popular at the time of one of the very few 7th grade dances that I went to. Those were so incredibly awkward. During that song, all of the guys stood in a big circle and just jumped up & down wildly, it was pretty ridiculous.

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  6. hang on...trying to find a link to The Carpenters and I know you can't wait! Gosh, I can still feel the weight of that clunky 8-track....that was about the same time that our oldest brother made me watch him practice The Bus Stop while he sported his groovy coke bottle glasses!
    Yep, your dad's office was "the pits"

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  7. Michelle... I want to learn the bus stop! New activity for me and the kids next time we see each other! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLZZ3u-Gtwc

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  8. also....said babysitter had a beeper. I was insanely jealous.

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  9. This is one of my favorite songs EVER. I bought the cassette single in 6th grade (still have it), and it was one of the first singles that I ever bought. My dad told me about an article in the Times about this new band No Doubt from Orange County, and they were supposedly this up and coming band that was going to be huge. I had to buy 2 copies of Tragic Kingdom because I wore the first one out! Love love love it :) .

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  10. Not related to your post at all... but nice to blog meet you! Glad you found me - I always enjoy commiserating with a medical spouse, especially one with similar reading taste :) (LOVED The History of Love.)

    p.s. I have to add: your "about" page cracked me up - it about sums up my blog too. Somehow it all ends up being about medicine or the dog.

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  11. I listened to the Better Than Ezra Pandora station on my drive home today. Lots of nostalgia circa 2002...the time we saw BTE with Guster at Tulane, the time the Gin Blossoms played at Groovin, nights of downloading songs on Kazaa and talking on AIM.

    I have a very distinct memory of the first time I heard "Spiderwebs". I was at Camp Marydale for summer camp in one of the tree house cabins. This very cool girl (who wore actual makeup, not just colored chapstick) had it on her discman and let me listen.

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