How Music can spark up Great Memories

Discussion in 'Movies, TV and Music' started by Alex_1, Sep 19, 2003.

  1. Alex_1

    Alex_1 Member

    Mar 29, 2002
    Zürich
    Club:
    Grasshopper Club Zürich
    Nat'l Team:
    Switzerland
    So I was just curious - you know how there are tracks and tunes that kind of bring up great memories to you - so much so, that you can envision the place, person or time of that memory - Almost feel it? The music may be from the time which the memory is sparked, or it could be from a totally unrelated time period - but I think(hope) you get the picture.

    Well, I have that with some songs/cd's that I own. And they are some of the cheesiest cd's that I own. Everytime that I break out the CD, I get a very strong sense of nostalgia.

    For me, the cd's that do this to me are of all things, "Top of the Pops" vol. 3 from 1998. lol I bought it when I was in college, and when I lived in Birmingham, England. Yeah, I didn't want a US school in England, so I went to a British school where I was maybe 1 out of 7 Americans in the 20K student population. So I think of the utter culture shock that I felt when I arrived at Gatwick, by myself mind you, holding a giant suitcase and laptop bag not knowing what the hell I was doing. :D

    The memories that I also get are of my flat, friends, cloudy days, good alcohol and even the smell of the flat that I lived in (which wasn't bad - I did eventually live with the new girlfried). And, well, I also think of where I may have gotten it by New Street station downtown. But moreover, I remember the sense of freedom that I had at the time and the great times I had studying and meeting the people there, the endless adventures from a "crazy" Jamaican cab driver to the "incident" with a magazine called "The Sport".

    Definitely, when I listen to this cd, artists like the Lighthouse Family, etc. and some of the silly cuts, the memories swirl. I guess it also doesn't help since I'm probably moving back to England in 2005... but I remember everything about the first adventure - from the English and Swedish guys I befriended that always supported me to the girls that also felt the need to "look out for me", to the stranger who gave me 50p to buy a soda on the train ride. Ah, the stories I could tell! The CD itself isn't so great (it has that ridiculous England World Cup song from 1998) but the memories it brings I wouldn't trade for the world - maybe explains why I always feel that England is a second home for me.

    Another one for me is Towa Tei's "Future Listening". It isn't meant as a bias, but many of my friends are from Japan and Thailand and Towa Tei is a Japanese DJ (the DJ from Dee-Lite actually - remember "Groove is in the Heart"). And in school in Boston, many Asian students lived in the Quincy area. This CD was released in 1995 actually, the time I was just entering the University, and it reminds me of hanging out with them and all that in Quincy... actually right before I moved abroad.

    Well, that's it for now. But yeah, some cd's are like that - I guess that's one reason why I'm so into collecting music. Don't know why I felt the need to share it, but just thought it was always interesting how some songs, cd's can spark off such good memories.
     
  2. nancyb

    nancyb Member

    Jun 30, 2000
    Falls Church, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Devo, "We're Through Being Cool," reminds me of a fun, drunken weekend with the gang at a summer house near Front Royal, Virginia. We drank, danced, played cards and made a fire while listening to that sang. I remember my friend Shawn's dancing quite clearly.

    The B52's first record was a long time favorite of our crowd and each time I hear it, I remember back to the year my husband and his friends graduated from law school. We partied almost every night, it seemed, and we would dance and sing to "Girls of the USA."
     
  3. Michael K.

    Michael K. Member

    Mar 3, 1999
    There or Thereabouts
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think we're about the same age, and I had a lot of the same sort of experiences. Cheese like The Lighthouse Family will always have a place in my heart.
     
  4. 655321

    655321 New Member

    Jul 21, 2002
    The Mission, SF
    I like having anal sex to Black Flag.
     
  5. Dr. Wankler

    Dr. Wankler Member+

    May 2, 2001
    The Electric City
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Thanks for wrecking every association (and I do mean association) I ever had with Black Flag's music. Now I can only think back to Henry Rollins' spoken word performances... and those memories are even more horrendous.

    I listened to Laurie Anderson's Big Science again recently. It's not my all time favorite by any stretch, but a friend of mine would put it on the turntable at 2 a.m. It was excellent for clearing the dregs out of your parties. The people who stuck around were a lot more interesting than those who left. Of course, that's in Macomb, Illinois in the early-mid 1980s. Might not work as well today.

    Throbbing Gristle worked pretty well, too. Though the people that stuck around were more likely to consider killing you if you passed out.
     
  6. Labdarugo

    Labdarugo Member

    Dec 3, 2000
    Downwind
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thanks Alex. Great topic.

    Yaz "Nobody's Diary" off You and Me Both

    Brings back the vivid memory of sitting on a couch in the living room of a fourth floor walkup in Budapest one evening in August 1984 and knowing right then and there that I'd always remember that moment.

    First date with my wife.
     
  7. art

    art Member

    Jul 2, 2000
    Portland OR
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Sailing a 27-foot boat from Antigua to St Thomas after Antigua Race Week in 1997, all me and my buddies had for the 180-mile journey was 3 cases of Wadadli beer, a bag of sun chips, some cigs, and "American Beauty" by the Grateful Dead, which was played non-stop. That album always reminds me of that trip.
     
  8. The Double

    The Double Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 11, 2002
    Denver
    I lost my virginity to "Lets Get It On"
     
  9. sinner78

    sinner78 BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 7, 2001
    anything out of the mid-90's bring back memories for me..
    The whole Britpop era as well as the cheesy dance tunes from that time.
    oasis ,blur ,kula shaker ,ocean colour scene,....
     
  10. Alex_1

    Alex_1 Member

    Mar 29, 2002
    Zürich
    Club:
    Grasshopper Club Zürich
    Nat'l Team:
    Switzerland
    Re: Re: How Music can spark up Great Memories

    We definitely are dude. I remember the Smoke City story that you told me - that's why I just thought of this thread. The Lighthouse Family especially has a spot in me too. LOL What that song "Question of Faith" reminds me of is right before I returned to the US for Christmas holiday, I tooled around London for a few days to do some Christmas shopping, etc. There's a Simply Red song on the CD that's not so great, but it's only good because of that time period. :D

    Actually dude - you should check your PM's this afternoon.
     
  11. Alex_1

    Alex_1 Member

    Mar 29, 2002
    Zürich
    Club:
    Grasshopper Club Zürich
    Nat'l Team:
    Switzerland
    Oasis and Blur... I remember Blur's "Pop Life" cuz it was played aaaalll the time! CHeesy dance tunes though. Remember "Horney" By Mousse T' or let's see, the 10 thousand remixes of Olive's "You're not Alone", and that Underworld track from Trainspotting. I remember a few - I still have the trance cd's from then. Camisra was huge...
     
  12. sinner78

    sinner78 BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 7, 2001
    Horny was a late 90's tune..
    Im talking about stuff like...

    n-trance - set you free
    Bobby brown - two can play that game
    montell jordan - this is how we do it
    corona - rythmn of the night
    outhere brothers - wiggle wiggle
    the real mcCoy - another night

    etc,etc...
     
  13. Alex_1

    Alex_1 Member

    Mar 29, 2002
    Zürich
    Club:
    Grasshopper Club Zürich
    Nat'l Team:
    Switzerland
    Aaaaah - I know the sort of cuts now. WOW! I had forgotten about that "Total Eclipse of the Heart" track. Cotton Eye'd Joe, Scatman, etc. And Gina G... jees - now you're doing my head in with that time period. I was just entering University at that time. I remember the Coolio tracks too. I did pick up one of the In The Mix cd's - but it is the 1998 one when I lived in Birmingham - looking back, picking up some of those comps was probably the best thing I did in England as I knew they'd be special (to me) later in life.

    You'll love these - probably the US equivalents were from the MTV franchise at the time:

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_7/102-2565382-4577707?v=glance&s=music

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_8/102-2565382-4577707?v=glance&s=music

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_6/102-2565382-4577707?v=glance&s=music

    And one of my personal favorites - Euro Dance! :D This features a shameless rip-off of Robert Miles Children, but Gala's "Freed From Desire" was big time in 96'.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. sinner78

    sinner78 BigSoccer Supporter

    Nov 7, 2001
  15. 655321

    655321 New Member

    Jul 21, 2002
    The Mission, SF
    My whole 9th to 12th grade existence was spent listening to Madchester baggie stuff, Factory, Meat Beat Manifesto and the Beastie Boys. Oh, and learning how to drink and take drugs correctly.
     
  16. BlueMeanie

    BlueMeanie New Member

    Apr 1, 2002
    EastSIIIIDE
    Great thread title. Not often you see "spark up" and "memory" used in the same sentence.
     
  17. Michael K.

    Michael K. Member

    Mar 3, 1999
    There or Thereabouts
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thanks for mercilessly sticking 'Freed From Desire' in my head, guys.
     

Share This Page