Ever hear a song and have it take you back to a moment in time? I'm sure you've had it happen to you...I know I have many times. I love that about music. It can take us back to our childhood, to a favorite vacation, to a special place, or to a special time. It can also remind us of someone we love(d). Well, I had one of those "take-me-back" moments earlier this week, all because I watched "The Voice." And it all started with a Linda Ronstadt song.
As a child of the 70s, Linda Ronstadt and her music were a big part of my younger years. And just seeing her name or hearing one of her songs always takes me back to one moment in my life...So let me take you on a journey.
This journey takes us back to 1978. Life was simpler and I was much younger. The digital age hadn't arrived, but we still loved our music and tried to find ways to carry it with us. I had received a cassette recorder the previous Christmas and I was determined to get some of my favorite songs recorded.
Oh the fun I had with this awesome piece of audio equipment. A modern day marvel! I'd sit next to the radio in my room listening to the local radio station always ready, just waiting for the moment when one of my favorite songs would come on the radio. I'd hit record as fast as I could, sometimes diving across the room to get there to start the recording, hoping that I wouldn't miss too much of the beginning of the song, crossing my fingers that my mom wouldn't suddenly start vacuuming or that my brother wouldn't make any noise, and then I'd sit as still as possible, being as quiet as possible until the song ended and I could press on the stop button-having now recorded this song for posterity. What could have been better than that?
In the years before Napster, Limewire, iTunes, Google Play, before MP3 players, iPods and Smartphones, this is the way we got our music. With the end of one song overlapping the beginning of the next, with the DJ talking, with the beginning of a commercial, and with all of the sounds of the outside world ready to be picked up on our little cassettes. But boy was it marvelous! I had so much fun with that tape recorder. I'd carry it out into our yard, full of all of those awesome recordings, and I'd sit on a blanket under our Sassafras trees with a case full of Barbie Dolls or with a good book, sometimes with an annoying little brother tagging along when I really just wanted to be left alone and sometimes with a dog following me. I could sit there for hours in the summer just listening to music and enjoying the day.
So there I was. It was Summer break, 1978 and an 8 year old me was in my room listening to the radio. Oooh, there it was, the song I'd been wanting to record and I hit record. And then it happened. Just 40 seconds into the song. The neighbor knocked on the door and the dog ran through the house barking. Right in the middle of my recording. I can still hear it. Boy was I upset...but in those days there wasn't much that could be done. So every time I'd listen to that recording I'd listen through the barking. And to this day, I can't hear this song without expecting the barking...it just seems like it belongs there.
That barking dog was my first best friend, Mandy (named for the Barry Manilow song...my mom was a huge fan). She was the first dog I had...and she was a spotty dog too. She was just a pup in 1978 when I recorded that bark. She was an awesome dog who lived a good, long life. Many times as I sat out under the trees listening to the music I'd recorded, she'd be out there with me. She was my regular companion. We grew up together. She lived to be nearly 15 years old and died just a month before my college graduation. And when I think back to that moment when her bark interrupted my recording, I can't help but smile.
That barking dog was my first best friend, Mandy (named for the Barry Manilow song...my mom was a huge fan). She was the first dog I had...and she was a spotty dog too. She was just a pup in 1978 when I recorded that bark. She was an awesome dog who lived a good, long life. Many times as I sat out under the trees listening to the music I'd recorded, she'd be out there with me. She was my regular companion. We grew up together. She lived to be nearly 15 years old and died just a month before my college graduation. And when I think back to that moment when her bark interrupted my recording, I can't help but smile.
It's not often that I hear a Linda Ronstadt song these days, but every time I hear a song or see her name, I think of that day and I think of Mandy. I wonder what happened to the recording because I think it would be pretty awesome to hear it right now. But even without it, I'll always have the memory. A moment in time captured for eternity. A moment given to me by music. And how can that not make you smile!
