Life-Changing Music

Another fun post from the archives. Back in 2005, in response to a challenge by Shotgun Daddy, I made a list of my ten "life-changing" albums:

1. The Banana Splits
The first album that I can remember owning. I still have it somewhere. There was nothing better than sitting my 5-year-old self down in front of the TV on Saturday morning and watching hour upon hour of mindless entertainment. Fleegle, Drooper, Bingo and Snorky were my favorites. The music was pure bubblegum pop.

2. An Evening With John Denver
This was the only cassette tape my mom seemed to own, and we listened to it endlessly in her car. The song "Grandma's Feather Bed" scared me a little bit because I had no idea why all those people were sleeping in the same bed.

3. The Beatles 1967-1970
This is where my life got good, musically speaking. I found this on the shelf of my brother's room after my mom took me to see the stage show Beatlemania. This is probably the most important album in my life simply because it opened up a whole new world of music to me. Everything started with The Beatles.

4. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Soundtrack
The very first album that I purchased with my own money. I was quite proud of myself, but it didn't take long for me to realize how lame these cover versions were. Except for Steve Martin's take on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and Earth Wind & Fire's "Got To Get You Into My Life" the songs on here are forgettable. But I'll always remember it as the beginning of a very expensive music habit.

5. The Knack - Get The Knack
"My Sharona" was my first experience with a monster radio hit that everyone got excited about. I heard it at summer camp and knew instantly what it meant for a song to have a killer hook.

6. Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
This album got me out of my Beatles rut. And it was the soundtrack to the beginning of real life (those years after high school).

7. R.E.M. - Murmur
This one got me through college and the suicide of a friend. R.E.M. taught me that music can reflect emotions.

8. The Proclaimers - "Sunshine On Leith"
The soundtrack to courting my wife. "When I come home, oh I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you. And if I grow old, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you."

9. Crowded House - "Woodface"
This one represents the first part of our marriage, the eight years we had before the kids came along. And it was just so great to have Tim and Neil Finn back together again. "Weather With You" is my idea of the perfect pop song.

10. XTC - "Apple Venus"
XTC took seven years to release a new album, and when they finally got back into the studio they created a thing of beauty. My wife and I also waited a long time to create something wonderful. I remember holding my baby son in my arms while listening to the first notes of River of Orchids (which my son now calls "the drip-drop song"). A perfect moment, a perfect album. The soundtrack to the rest of my life.

Let me know if any of these albums hold special memories for you. It would be nice to see other mom and dad bloggers reminisce about the music in their lives.