Ecce Signum

August kept up the momentum of July and we are fast approaching the end of summer, in intent if not in fact.

1977: Glen Campbell, “Sunflower”

“Sunflower” is a joyful, fun, catchy tune which I have no memory of having heard before. It is also the kind of song which an adult would have ill-advisedly sung to a tired or sulky child in order to break a bad mood, but which would instead have only made things worse.

1982: Marshall Crenshaw, “Someday, Someway”

I have heard this one before, but the muscle-memory of my mind is feeling more nineties than eighties, so I probably heard it on a TV show or as part of a movie soundtrack. “Someday, Someway” is fun and bouncy and feels like a throwback to the sixties. Which, considering that it was recorded as a take on Gene Vincent‘s “Lotta Lovin’” which was released in 1957, I guess that makes sense.

1987: Smokey Robinson, “One Heartbeat”

That combination of keyboard and saxophone is unmistakable. I would have been winding down my first summer at the godawful pickle factory and looking forward to my first break in seven years from milking cows on Sunday mornings. So I would have been emotionally receptive to the beautiful grooves of Smokey Robinson.

1992: U2, “Even Better Than the Real Thing”

This whole album was so damn big that I don’t remember when I first heard any one of the songs therefrom. Probably on MTV, considering MTV was still playing music videos back in 1992. Or while cleaning up the kitchen at Jose Babushka’s at the end of a shift.

1997: Mr. President, “Coco Jamboo”

Lessee…1997 I was still working at the bookstore, playing a lot of Vampire: The Masquerade and Dungeons and Dragons, and practicing martial arts for about 15 hours a week. So where would I have heard this song? Probably in my car, on the way to a Renaissance Faire. Or maybe on MTV, if I was lucky enough to be watching TV during one of the increasingly rare blocks in 1997 which had music videos. It’s a catchy tune and Judith “T-Seven” Hinkelmann has a helluva voice.

And suddenly, August arrives.

1977: The Isley Brothers, “Livin’ in the Life”

“Livin’ in the Life” is funky and groovy and fun, but this is the first time I have heard it.

1982: The Gap Band, “Early in the Morning”

Dang! This is an odd one. I distinctly remember the video, but have no memory at all of the song. Given its popularity I don’t see how I could not have heard it at some point. So along with all of the other odd coincidences and discoveries that this project has brought about, it has reacquainted me with the most excellent Gap Band.

1987: Whitney Houston, “Didn’t We Almost Have It All”

Ah, Whitney. You left us far too soon. In the summer of 1987 Whitney was huge and this song was everywhere. I have no specific temporal associations with “Didn’t We Almost Have it All,” because the song has received steady play for over thirty years. So it’s more a case of dividing my life into “pre-Whitney” and “mid-Whitney.” I say that because, even though Ms Houston died over a decade ago, her songs are still on heavy rotation so we are not yet close to “post-Whitney.” And that is a very good thing.

1992: Shabba Ranks, “Mr. Loverman”

“Mr. Loverman” is smooth and oh! so sexy, but I don’t think I heard it before now. Obviously, this means I wasn’t going to the right parties back in 1992.

1997: 98 Degrees, “Invisible Man”

98° was inescapable for much of the late 1990s and early 2000s, but I was listening to Tom Waits and various mixes of punk, folk,and world beat at the time, so I might have heard this, but it was not something I would have sought out. It is a decent enough song but nothing about it really stands out, beyond it being a decently good example of this style of music,.

As we approach the end of July the end of summer appears on the horizon and if, like me, you looked forward to a new school year starting, you feel a sense of anticipation (possibly leavened with some dread) as well as a sense that, well, summer just isn’t long enough to pack in all the things which make summer summer. Thus the end of July is a time of contrasts.

1977: The Floaters, “Float On”

“Float On” is smooth and groovy and oh, so seventies in both tune and lyrics. I probably heard this at some point in the past, but likely not when it came out, as the only radio stations which were played around our house at the time had taglines like “No punk, no funk, no junk,” which basically meant only (white) rock and country music.  This was the Floaters’ only hit song, which is unfortunate as they sing beautifully.

1982: Herb Alpert, “Route 101”

Ah, Herb Alpert. He and his band the Tijuana Brass were ubiquitous through the early parts of my life. I heard “Route 101” when it hit the charts, which would also have been about the time I started playing the trombone in junior high and listening to other artists like Chuck Mangione. I am a little irritated that I associate wonderful songs like this with distinctly unpleasant parts of my life like milking cows in the early morning, but at least down in the pit, covered in manure and either sweating or freezing, I had music like this to distract me.

1987: Danny Wilson, “Mary’s Prayer”

I definitely heard this song at some point, I just couldn’t say when and where. We couldn’t listen to music on the floor of the pickle factory, and it probably wouldn’t have gone over well with the inmates therein. Boy howdy, that was a terrible job.

1992: Rozalla, “Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good)”

I don’t know how I missed this one, back in the day. If I was more of a club-goer I would probably be more familiar with Rozalla, but then again this was the only one of her songs which made much of a splash in the US. She was much more popular in the UK and in her native Zimbabwe. I admit I am intrigued, and will definitely seek out more of her music.

1997: Warren G. featuring Ron Isley, “Smokin’ Me Out”

One of the best parts of this project is the way it is serving as a crash course/deep dive into R&B and Hiphop, two genres of music where I am woefully uninformed. I have heard of most of the artists in these lists (like Warren G.) but the songs, at the time (like “Smokin’ Me Out”), went right through me without leaving much of an impression. Which is unfortunate, because now that I am better about getting out of my own way, I really like the music.

There comes a certain point in any given summer when the excitement of “Hey! It’s summer!” wears off and every opportunity to do something fun comes with a slight note of “I’m kind of tired. Let’s not.” Or maybe it’s just me, here at the tail end of a two-week vacation which was so crammed full of peopling that I am in more need of a vacation now than I was two weeks ago. And two weeks ago I was in dire need of a vacation.

I have given up on trying to associate specific songs with specific times of the year other than in the purely nostalgic sense. Songs are written, recorded, collected, and released over weeks to months to years, and that often months or years in advance of when they appear on the radio (or streaming services). So other than the occasional song which is written for or about specific times of the year, the association between song and season is coincidental.

But that doesn’t stop them from carrying nostalgic weight.

1977: Cat Stevens, “Old Schoolyard”

I love love LOVE Cat Stevens, and have heard him enough over the years that, if I didn’t hear this song right about the time it came out, I surely heard “Old School Yard” at some point in my childhood. I just don’t remember exactly when. More recently, Stevens was part of the soundtrack of a long camping trip around Lake Huron a decade ago, and his music has been a constant in my life ever since.

1982: Eddie Money, “Think I’m In Love”

Yeah, Eddie Money was ubiquitous throughout the eighties, and “Think I’m In Love” was on heavy rotation throughout the decade, and still is, on classic rock stations. Definitely heard this one when it came out, and heard it a lot in the milking parlor in the mornings, and on the bus ride to and from Junior High.

1987: Dionne Warwick & Jeffrey Osborne, “Love Power”

“Love Power” doesn’t trigger any memories, deja vu or nostalgia, but I could listen to Dionne Warwick all day. It is likely that I missed this song in the midst of all of the harder rock which hit the charts during the summer between high school and college.

1992: Mr. Big, “Just Take My Heart”

Let’s just take a moment and listen to that amazing guitar. I have heard of Mr. Big, but I don’t remember this specific song. “Just Take My Heart” would have charted while I was looking for a new job to get me out of the third-shift assembly line hell I was stuck in after my fifth year of college. Actually I might have already found a new job at Jose Babushka’s, but I was not in a good frame of mind for the appreciation of power ballads at the time.

1997: Joe, “Don’t Wanna Be a Player”

I have no memory of “Don’t Wanna Be a Player,” but it is a lovely song.