Down Memory Lane

Our members here are from all over the world and from several generations. We all have experiences and stories that are illuminating, funny, interesting, and worth sharing. I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we did share stories from our past. As Freddy said in another post, we could go 'Down Memory Lane'.

Post your stories here. The topic is up to you.

I started a thread on LP's in this subforum and that got me thinking back to my past and why music is so important to me.

I grew up in Bombay, India in the 70's and 80's. Bombay was a lot different then. The suburb we lived in was full of cottages and people in the neighbourhood really knew each other. More on that at another time.

We had TV's, but when I was a kid we only had one state-run channel - Doordarshan. The shows on it were not really compelling, as they had no competition and they took a break every afternoon and night. Later they started a second channel, DD2 but things didn't start really changing until much later in my life, when cable TV was brought in.

Since our TV options were so minimal, we'd spend evenings taking to each other and listening to music. It seems strange in this day and age, but families actually sat around and experienced each other at that time. Bombay is hot, but it's an island. We'd sit on our veranda, on rattan furniture, and the sea breeze would cool us down a bit. My dad would mix my mother a whisky and soda and get himself a rum and coke and we'd turn on Nat King Cole or the Platters and we'd sing along or read and chat all the time.

People would drop by and sit down and chat. There was always news to share - just about what was happening in the parish.

I hadn't realized how much those moments influenced me until I left home and came to the US and started putting together my own music collection. I found myself buying CD's by Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Fleetwood Mac, and all the artists that my parents listened to. I also listen to artists that I developed a love for on my own, of course, but the music of my past brings up so many memories that it's important for me to listen to them as well.

I'm still in the US, and far away from my parents. The life in Bombay now is much different from when I was a kid. But listening to the music from that time brings those days back to me in vivid detail and I feel the the shadows of the comfort of my family (and friend) time that I experienced then.

That sounds like an idyllic childhood yohannrjm . We don't have communities like that anymore at least not around here.

Music was important to me growing up as well in Western Canada in the 1960s-70s. Our TV was a wasteland of three channels one of which was french language. I was a big Habs (Montreal Canadiens) fan then and I used to have to watch Hockey Night in Canada on the French channel because CBC always played the (hated) Leafs games or the then expansion Canucks. It was OK because I was born in Montreal and French was my first language. My dad wasn't a fan of tv so he wouldn't pay for a decent set, we had a 13" black and white tv and with really nothing to watch we spent very little time in front of it. Mostly we were outside running wild - there was a river nearby and plenty of fields and woods to explore and build secret forts in. As I got older I started to listen to music. My first record was a Beatles 45 with Come Together on one side and Get Back on the other. My mom's youngest sister bought it for me when she was out on a visit from Montreal - she was the cool aunt for sure. I had a friend down the street who's mother was a concert pianist and she had a cool studio with an awesome stereo system - it would have been called a hi-fi back then. We'd go up there and listen to all the records, Beatles, Elton John, Led Zepplin, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Queen, Supertramp, Fleetwood Mac and more. We toasted the speakers one evening - apparently the stereo system wasn't up to rigours of high volume for extended periods

I can remember very clearly the first time I heard Queen News of The World. A friend was in first year university and was living in res, i was visiting and we went downtown to buy the newly released Queen album. We went back to his res and put the album on the turntable.....WTF? It was the strangest sounding album I'd ever heard. That was at 3:00pm. By 11:00pm, after a few beverages, that album was playing, cranked to 11 and it was the coolest album I'd ever heard.

I also remember all the time and effort we used to put into making mix tapes - you didn't just mash together anything. Now with things like iTunes and genius nobody has to even think about mix tapes. Too bad.

I grew up in the 1950s in a house on a keyhole cul de sac in southern California, where every family had 3-6 kids, all around the same ages, and everyone knew too much about each other's lives. We kids published a monthly newsletter on a mimeograph machine, in which we described the vacation trips folks had taken and the latest pet litter news, and we had a twice-yearly neighborhood talent show showcasing our questionable vaudeville, magic, and musical talents. (Blackface makeup for the minstrel numbers was acceptable then...) Because of the talent show and family friends internationally I got to know (and perform) music from all over the world, including that of Harry Belafonte, the Everly Brothers, Lonnie Donnegan and Jimmy Young, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, Serge Gainsbourg and Edith Piaf, and Trini Lopez and Trio Los Panchos. My music tastes have remained a mixed bag since then.

I grew up in the 1950s in a house on a keyhole cul de sac in southern California, where every family had 3-6 kids, all around the same ages, and everyone knew too much about each other's lives.  We kids published a monthly newsletter on a mimeograph machine, in which we described the vacation trips folks had taken and the latest pet litter news, and we had a twice-yearly neighborhood talent show showcasing our questionable vaudeville, magic, and musical talents.  (Blackface makeup for the minstrel numbers was acceptable then...)  Because of the talent show and family friends internationally I got to know (and perform) music from all over the world, including that of Harry Belafonte,  the Everly Brothers, Lonnie Donnegan and Jimmy Young, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, Serge Gainsbourg and Edith Piaf, and Trini Lopez and Trio Los Panchos.  My music tastes have remained a mixed bag since then.

Harry Belafonte and the other artists I highlighted in your posts were artists that my parents listened to. It took some time for music from the USA to filter down to India in those days, so people there were frequently a few years behind the times. Import duties were prohibitive at that time.

That sounds like an idyllic childhood yohannrjm . We don't have communities like that anymore at least not around here.

.....................
I also remember all the time and effort we used to put into making mix tapes - you didn't just mash together anything. Now with things like iTunes and genius nobody has to even think about mix tapes. Too bad.

My childhood was pretty idyllic by today's standards, but it wasn't all sunshine and roses. Tight communities come with issues of their own. However, with all its flaws, I'll take my childhood over what my kids have to deal with now.

Mix tapes were a big part of growing up. I remember choosing the track listing carefully and then spending evenings over at my friends homes making copies onto Philips and Memorex tapes. It was also a bit of a thing during courtship in my community. I remember making a couple of tapes for various girls I was interested in.

That tradition carried on with me and I made a mix CD or two for my wife when we were dating. She still has them, though she's never warmed up to Tom Waits. She made one for me too, which I still listen to.

Yohann, I agree with you about not wanting to change my childhood for what young people have today.  Of course, time has a way of softening the edges.  

Just one of many moments and memories:  It was at my bar mitzvah.  The synagogue was full with family, friends, and strangers and my reading was from Exodus.  I was up reading in front of all of those people when my friend and his mother walked in late and went to get seats.  Of course, from my position, I could easily see them.  They did not do anything at all extraordinary but for some unknown reason I had an almost uncontrollable urge to laugh out loud.  Truly that laugh had worked its way to the back of my teeth and was milliseconds from bursting forth.  All I could think of was how much I would embarrass my parents, as well as myself.  You have no idea how I asked for Devine guidance to help swallow that laugh.  Somehow, I did and to this day I don't know how and no one was the wiser.  Never was I ever so glad to finish my reading and safely go back to my seat.  I never thought I'd ever be able to talk in front of more than two or three people ever again so what did I end up doing... teach, addressing a roomful of parents twice a year for open house, and, frankly, being an actor, for that is part of being an elementary school teacher.  I guess when I was saved from imminent disaster, G-d decided that when it was time to have a profession it was payback time.

I love this thread. I need to do some noodling about how I might contribute, but until then I'll enjoy and think about your contributions. Thank you.

Music is better handled in another active thread IMO, so to return the thread to it's roots...

When I had just started in a job I was to retire from years later a marine and I (a paratrooper) would join heads and just look the eff out! We were dangerous when together.

We had a shutdown where everything was shutdown and many contractors were on site to do work that we couldn't do in a projected time frame. So our collective brains got in sync'. There was one major place to take a dump. We went into the locker room where no one locked up their company supplied boots and rubber gear and placed them in all of the hoppers as though every one of them was in use. It was hysterically funny as the contractors were seen (pissed off and cussing) as they left the mens room. The person in charge of cleaning it stated to us," I have no idea who did that, but I'm not complaining."

Then there was the "ask management" newsletter where I asked questions best left unanswered. To their credit they did (sort of), yet published the questions anyway. Since it was anonymous I asked incredibly stupid questions based on their incredibly PC statements.

Example: "We reserve the right to inspect your vehicles". To which I asked, "If we don't pass inspection can we get the mobile garage to do the work required to get us to pass inspection?". It was published.

Another time I put into management mail boxes a notice that bicyclists were no longer allowed to go through the high pressure car wash. Yes some in management actually read that during morning meeting to their workers. I laugh to this day! As do the folks who know who did it.

Another time I did a notice, again read by management in the morning meeting, that Rx safety glasses would only be given out off clock on Saturday and by a hated person in management and out of their garage. That was possibly the best yet since it had the workers cussing and PO'ed.

When I got to my new job that I bidded on, my reputation preceded me but no one knew who I was until I retired and I told coworkers what I had done. I suspect some of them may have figured it out since I brought in the sound of a machine gun with brass clattering to the floor that I'd play during shutdowns when management was having their big meetings. It would be broadcast over the PA system. That might get one in deep doo-doo today.

That sounds like an idyllic childhood yohannrjm .  We don't have communities like that anymore at least not around here.  

.....................
I also remember all the time and effort we used to put into making mix tapes - you didn't just mash together anything.  Now with things like iTunes and genius nobody has to even think about mix tapes.  Too bad.

My childhood was pretty idyllic by today's standards, but it wasn't all sunshine and roses. Tight communities come with issues of their own. However, with all its flaws, I'll take my childhood over what my kids have to deal with now.

Mix tapes were a big part of growing up. I remember choosing the track listing carefully and then spending evenings over at my friends homes making copies onto Philips and Memorex tapes. It was also a bit of a thing during courtship in my community. I remember making a couple of tapes for various girls I was interested in.

That tradition carried on with me and I made a mix CD or two for my wife when we were dating. She still has them, though she's never warmed up to Tom Waits. She made one for me too, which I still listen to.

How could she not like Tom Waits?? Seriously though, a lot of time and thought went into those mix tapes. Some people were renowned for being masters of the mix tape. They probably went on to become DJs.

Its true that we tend to filter out the negative when reminiscing about the past - I can recall those hot summer days when a gang of us neighbourhood kids would run down the street in the cool mist of the DDT fog that the City used to spray on the trees. They just drove trucks up and down the streets fogging the trees, and us kids running behind too and anything else that got in the way with toxic pesticide . And they wonder why cancer rates are so high.