Quaran-Tunes 2: The Songs We Love

Composing the Soundtrack of Our Lives (Part 2)

Note: Part 1 dealt with Fred’s early years. He also introduced the idea of how each of us has soundtrack/playlists of the music that were in the background of many of the major events of our lives and even shaped our lives with the messages and rhythms of the lyrics.

The Army Years

After college I was in the Army from 1968 to 1971. That was a time of transition for me during a truly turbulent period in American history.  The list of tunes from this period is diverse, reflecting the culture creating the songs of that day.  I was somewhat limited because I was stationed in Korea from late 1969 to 1971.  But American pop music made the trip across the ocean.  Here is my Army soundtrack/play list, BOO-YAH:

• “Hey Jude” – The Beatles, 1968
• “Sunshine of Your Love” – Cream, 1968
• “Born to Be Wild” – Steppenwolf, 1968
• “Piece of My Heart” – Big Brother and the Holding Company (With Janis Joplin), 1968
• Love Theme from “Romeo and Juliet” – Henry Mancini and His Orchestra
• “Bad Moon Rising” – Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1969

  

• “Time of the Season “– The Zombies, 1969
• “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – Marvin Gaye, 1969
• “25 or 6 to 4” – Chicago, 1970
• “We’ve Only Just Begun” – Carpenters, 1970
• “Fire and Rain” – James Taylor, 1970
• “Woodstock”- Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, 1970
• “Brown Sugar? – The Rolling Stones, 1971
• “Whole Lotta Love” – Led Zeppelin 1970
• “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” – Joan Baez, 1971
• “I Just Want to Celebrate” – Rare Earth, 1971
• “The Wedding Song” (“There Is Love”) – Paul Stookey, 1971
• “Riders on the Storm” – The Doors. 1971

The Disco Years

After Army duty came wife, career, moving, children.  The tunes of the 1970s and 80s have some memorable hits.  The dance craze of the 70s was disco, and despite what Matt Damon said about disco in his film The Martian, it remains one of my favorite dance fads.  Here is my soundtrack/playlist from those disco days and beyond:

• “Let’s Stay Together” – Al Green, 1972
• “A Horse with No Name” – America, 1972
• “Layla” – Derek and the Dominos, 1972
• “You’re So Vain” – Carly Simon, 1973
• “Rocky Mountain High” – John Denver, 1973
• Reelin In the Years – Steely Dan 1973
• “I’ll Be Around” – The Spinners, 1973
• “I Shot the Sheriff” – Eric Clapton, 1974
• “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” – John Denver, 1974
• “Radar Love” – Golden Earring, 1974
• “Lady Marmelade” – Labelle, 1975
• “Sister Golden Hair” – America, 1975
• “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” – Gordon Lightfoot, 1976
• “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” – Bachman Turner Overdrive, 1976
• “December 1963” (“Oh What A Night”) – The Four Seasons, 1976
• “Turn the Beat Around” – Vicki Sue Robinson, 1976
• “Dancing Queen” – Abba, 1977
• “Hotel California” – The Eagles, 1977
• “Lucille” – Kenny Rogers, 1977
• “Dreams” – Fleetwood Mac, 1977
• “Go Your Own Way” – Fleetwood Mac, 1977
• “Rubber Band Man” – The Spinners, 1977
• “Star Wars (Main Title)” – London Philharmonic Orchestra, 1977
• “Stayin’ Alive” – The Bee Gees, 1978
• “Old Time Rock and Roll” – Bob Seeger & the Silver Bullet Band, 1978
• “Miss You” – The Rolling Stones,  1978
• “I Will Survive” – Gloria Gaynor, 1978
• “Ring My Bell” – Anita Ward, 1979
• “Cruel to Be Kind” – Nick Lowe, 1979
• “We Are Family” – Sister Sledge, 1979

The Middle Years

The 1980s was a time of more moving, children going to school, growing up, focus on the job.  There were many great tunes in this decade.  Disco was fading but it wasn’t dead.  Some of the greats of rock and roll were still producing, but some new names were making it to the top.

• “Call Me” – Blondie, 1980

  

• “The Rose” – Bette Middler, 1980
• “Sailing” – Christopher Cross, 1980
• “Heartbreaker” – Pat Benatar, 1980
• “Heartache Tonight” – Eagles, 1980
• “Refugee” – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1980
• “Won’t Back Down” – Tom Petty
• “Bette Davis Eyes” – Kim Carnes
• “Jessie’s Girl” – Rick Springfield, 1981
• “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” – Pat Benatar, 1981
• “Start Me Up” – The Rolling Stones, 1981
• “Hey Nineteen” – Steely Dan, 1981
• “Eye of the Tiger” – Survivor, 1982
• “Jack and Diane” – John Cougar, 1982
• “Chariots of Fire” – Vangelis, 1982
• “867-5309” (“Jenny”) – Tommy Tutone, 1982
• “We Got the Beat” – The Go-Go’s, 1982
• “Somebody’s Baby” – Jackson Browne, 1982
• “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson,  1983
• “Beat It” – Michael Jackson, 1983
• “Maneater” – Hall & Oates, 1983
• “She Works Hard for the Money”  – Donna Summer, 1983
• “Africa” – Toto, 1983
• “Sexual Healing” – Marvin Gaye ,1983
• “When Doves Cry” – Prince, 1984
• “Footloose” – Kenny Loggins, 1984
• “All Night Long” – Lionel Richie, 1984
• “I Just Called to Say I Love You” – Stevie Wonder, 1984
• “Borderline” – Madonna, 1984
• “Legs” – ZZ Top, 1984
• “I’m So Excited” – The Pointer Sisters, 1984
• “Holiday” – Madonna, 1984
• “Don’t You Forget About Me” — Simple Minds, 1985
• “Smooth Operator” – Sade, 1985
• “We Don’t Need Another Hero”  – Tina Turner, 1985
• “The Power of Love”  – Huey Lewis and the News, 1985
• “Addicted to Love”  – Robert Palmer 1986
• “Higher Love”  – Steve Winwood, 1986
• “You Give Love A Bad Name”  – Bon Jovi, 1986
• “Danger Zone”  – Kenny Loggins, 1986
• “Small Town”  – John Cougar Mellencamp, 1986
• “Walk This Way”  – Run-D.M.C. featuring Aerosmith, 1986
• “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) ” —  Whitney Houston, 1987
• “Livin’ on a Prayer”  – Bon Jovi, 1987
• “The Lady in Red”  – Chris de Burgh, 1987
• “ (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life”  – Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, 1987
• “La Isla Bonita”  – Madonna, 1987
• “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”  – Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine, 1987
• “Sweet Child O’ Mine”  – Guns N’ Roses, 1988
• “Simply Irresistible”  – Robert Palmer, 1988
• “Don’t Worry Be Happy”  – Bobby McFerrin, 1988
• “Kokomo”  – The Beach Boys, 1988
• “Candle in the Wind”  – Elton John, 1988
• “I Won’t Back Down”  – Tom Petty, 1989
• “Wild Thing”  – Tone Loc, 1989
• “Love Shack”  – B-52s, 1999
• “Funky Cold Medina”  – Tone Loc, 1989
• “Welcome to the Jungle”  – Guns N’ Rose, 1989
• “Love in an Elevator” – Aerosmith, 1989

About the image of the Modern Dancer, but Keep Reading below this table for More Soundtracks/Playlists:

The Aesthetic and Cultural Significance of Modern Dance: American Dance Festival 1984 50th Anniversary Program
Creator	Myers, Gerald; Myers, Martha; Reinhart, Charles L; Reinhart, Stephanie K; American Dance Festival
Title	The Aesthetic and Cultural Significance of Modern Dance: American Dance Festival 1984 50th Anniversary Program
Description	Generated by “The Aesthetic and Cultural Significance of Modern Dance,” a project made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Humanities Council.
Date	1984
Collection	North Carolina Humanities Council
Source/Photographer	This file was contributed to Wikimedia Commons by North Carolina Humanities Council as part of a cooperation project. The donation was facilitated by the Digital Public Library of America, via its partner North Carolina Digital Heritage Center. Source record: https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/26004 DPLA identifier: d553bf84cc19848f03a2389d24a16460
Permission (Reusing this file)	This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1925, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal. See this page for further explanation. This image might not be in the public domain outside of the United States; this especially applies in the countries and areas that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works, such as Canada, Mainland China (not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany, Mexico, and Switzerland. The creator and year of publication are essential information and must be provided. See Wikipedia:Public domain and Wikipedia:Copyrights for more details.

More Life Changes

The 90s were a time of transition for me. We moved to California in 1981, and I moved to Dallas in 1995.  Soon after the move, I divorced, with all the trauma associated with that.  I also changed jobs with the move to Dallas. I met and fell in love with my lifetime companion

The songs from the 90s were much less to my taste, but there were some that caught my attention and entered the soundtrack/play list:

• “Cradle of Love” – Billy Idol, 1990

  

• “We Didn’t Start the Fire” – Billy Joel, 1990
• “Ice Ice Baby” – Vanilla Ice, 1990
• “U Can’t Touch This” – MC Hammer, 1990
• “Free Fallin’” – Tom Petty, 1990
• “Losing My Religion” – REM, 1991
• “Something to Talk About” – Bonnie Rait, 1991
• “Gonna Make You Sweat” (“Everybody Dance Now”) – C+C Music Factory
• “Tears in Heaven” – Eric Clapton, 1992
• “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” – George Michael & Elton John, 1992
• “Bohemian Rhapsody” – Queen, 1992
• “Please Don’t Go” – KWS, 1992
• “I Can’t Dance” – Genesis ,1992
• “I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston, 1993 (Especially meaningful to me.)
• “Whoomp (There It Is)” – Tag Team, 1993
• “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” – UB40, 1993
• “The Sign” – Ace of Base, 1994
• “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” – Elton John, 1994
• “Baby I love Your Way” – Big Mountain, 1994
• “All I Wanna Do” – Sheryl Crow, 1994
• “Waterfalls” – TLC, 1995
• “Up Town Funk” – Bruno Mars, 1995
• “Happy” – Pharrell Williams, 1995
• “Macarena” – (Bayside Boys Mix) Los Del Rio, 1996
• “Give Me One Reason” – Tracy Chapman, 1996
• “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” – Madonna, 1997
• “Candle in the Wind” – Elton John, 1998
• “Truly, Madly, Deeply” – Savage Garden, 1998
• “My Heart Will Go On” – Celine Dion, 1998
• “Cruel Summer ”– Ace of Base, 1998
• “Believe” – Cher, 1999
• “Livin la Vida Loca” – Ricky Martin, 1999
• “Smooth” – Santana featuring Rob Thomas, 1999

The Tweenty-First Century to Date

(Note: During the 2000s, Fred was diagnosed with cancer.  He wrote Grace with Meals about his experience, just like he wrote Standing Tall and Looking Good about his US Army days.~~Valerie)

The 2000s included second marriage, several moves, and the arrival of many grandchildren.

The new music of this decade didn’t move me greatly.  I began to rely increasingly on my decades earlier Soundtrack/Playlist. The 21^st Century Soundtrack/Playlist:

• “Breathe” – Faith Hill 2000
• “Oops!…I Did It Again” – Britney Spears 2000
• “Give Me Just One Night”  (“Una Noche”) – 98 Degrees 2000
• “I Gotta Feeling” – Black Eyed Peas 2009
• “Never Say Never” – Justin Bieber
• “More Than A Feeling” – Boston 2017
• “Peace of Mind” – Boston 2017

 

Special Soundtracks

Country Soundtrack/Playlist

I grew up in the Deep South.  In fact, I was born in LA (Lower Alabama).  Country music was a constant background many times in my life.  There are some country songs that are on my comprehensive soundtrack, but there are others that deserve special mention.

• “I Fall to Pieces” – Patsy Cline, 1961

  

• “Amarillo by Morning” – George Strait
• “The Chair” – George Strait
• “Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone” — Charlie Pride, 1971
• “Take Me Home Country Roads” – John Denver 1971
• “Man of Constant Sorrow” – Dan Tyminski (George Clooney?)
• “Do Not Forsake Me” – Tex Ritter
• “The Perfect Country Song” – David Allan Coe
• “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down)” – Hank Williams, Jr.
• “Harper Valley PTA” – Jeannie C. Riley, 1968
• “Family Tradition” – Hank Williams, Jr., 1979
• “Jolene” – Dolly Parton

Christmas Soundtrack/Playlist

I have loved the holiday season all my life.  A big part of that enjoyment has to do with the music.  Here is my Holiday Soundtrack/Playlist.  Everyone should have one.

• “Adeste Fideles”  (“Oh, Come  All Ye Faithful”)
• “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” – Bing Crosby
• “The Christmas Song” – Nat King Cole
• “Santa Baby” – Eartha Kitt
• “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” — Andy Williams
• “O Tannenbaum”
• “Little Drummer Boy” – Harry Simeone Chorale

  

• “Riu Riu Chiu”
• “Aspen Glow” – John Denver
• “Santa Claus Is Back in Town” – Elvis Presley
• “Under the Mistletoe” – Justin Bieber
• “Merry Christmas from the Family” – Robert Earl Keen
• “What Child Is This” – The Brothers Four
• “A Hard Candy Christmas” – Dolly Parton

 

Here is my folk song Soundtrack/Playlist

As I was hitting my teens the folk music craze spread at top speed.  There were television shows like Hootenany in 1963-64 that featured some of the leading folk singers. 

• “MTA” — Kingston Trio
• “Remember the Alamo” – Kingston Trio
• “Fast Freight” – Kingston Trio
• “Greenfields” – The Brothers Four
• “Blue Water Line” – The Brothers Four
• “Michael Row the Boat Ashore” –  The Highwaymen
• “The City of New Orleans” – Arlo Guthrie
• “Both Sides Now” – Joni Mitchell
• “Turn, Turn, Turn” – The Byrds
• “Scarborough Fair” – Simon and Garfunkel
• “The Boxer” – Simon and Garfunkel
• “Mr. Tambourine Man” – Bob Dylan
• “500 Miles” – The Kingston Trio
• “City of New Orleans” – Arlo Guthrie
• “Puff the Magic Dragon” – Peter, Paul, and Mary

Our Songs

(Note: This is a brief list, but the relationships that foster Our Songs are illustrated in the passages of Fred’s memoirs, Standing Tall and Looking Good and Grace with Meals, as well as The Dark Angel Turned Away.~~Valerie)

My last category for the Soundtrack/Playlist of my life is Our Songs.  These are the songs that have special meaning for you and your special friend/lover/spouse.  The songs that brought you together, kept you together, or make you nostalgic for lost love when you hear them played.  This is the list I share with Melody.  These are our songs and each one has a story:

• “Let’s Stay Together” – Al Green

  

• “Something to Talk About” – Bonnie Raitt
• “Unchained Melody” – The Righteous Brothers
• “Give Me One Reason”  — Tracy Chapman

The Soundtrack of One’s Life Should Be Dynamic

The Soundtrack of Our Life should be dynamic.  As I reviewed my playlist, I found there were songs that I left out that I definitely wanted to be included.  There were also some that, on second thought, didn’t make the cut.  This is as it should be with your list, complete with additions and subtractions.  Some of the songs you included may be a surprise to family and friends. That’s alright.  The song may have some special meaning to you.  Some they thought you should have included can go on their lists.

Always Be Tuneful

I hope you enjoy the exercise of putting the music of your life down for the future use of your friends and family. I think it might be fun to get together with others and compare lists to see how much they coincide and how they differ.  It may give you recommendations for additions to your list. Of course, they will vary considerably, depending upon age and parts of the country where one was living over the years.

The tunes of your life are like your memories.  Indeed, they are a still a living part of your history. The lyrics and the sounds of these songs evoke for me memories and feelings that I will never forget.  Some I have tried to forget, but all are part of what made me who I am.

One of my buddies in the Army wrote me a note he left inside one of those cheap, box record players before he shipped out for Vietnam.  He included a few 45s that we loved playing in the barracks.  He said, “Always be tuneful.”  I’ve tried to do that all these years.

• Fred Zuker
• October 2020
• (Formatted and lightly edited by Valerie)