The memories from an old record player

I sat on my sitting room floor, with my back rested against the bottom of the couch. The somber colored lights still glisten from my Christmas tree and the drafty floor didn't seem to disturb me. The room was quiet, with only the sounds of music transmitting from my Crosley record player. My children were off in their playroom, indulging in their childhood duties of play. My feet were stretched out onto my carpet as I was reading the back of my Rubber Soul album. I had about a dozen British Invasion records scattered on the floor before me, while my mind drifted off to the 60s. There's something magical about the sound of the needle grazing the grooves of a record. The low tones are more noticeable and the music is hazy. It's almost a feeling as if you're trying to remember your past memories from an era, that never really existed. 

The music takes me back to a time when I was 13 years old. I was dressed in 90s grunge attire and I always wore my John Lennon hat. My hair was curly and just about grazed my tailbone. My Birkenstocks were completely broken in and on sunny days, I had my round sunglasses donned. I wanted so badly to be a hippie out of the 60s. On my down time, I would play pool in our game room for hours on end, while listening to the Beatles on vinyl from my parent's record player. I always had a playlist that was routine and I was just about professional status with landing the needle perfectly onto the groove of the next track.

Like most people, music has always been a intricate part of my life. But for me, it's not current music as most would perceive. I was lucky to grow up with parents that were much cooler than I could ever dream of being in my lifetime. They were rock and roll band managers through the 70s-80s -In northern NJ and NY. So when I was a child, all I ever heard playing was 60s,70s, and 80s music.

Those songs resonated within myself and became a part of me. I then became a part of a simpler time and a time of great music. 

Growing up, it was nothing to have musicians in and out of our home; playing guitars and singing songs well into the night. Or us getting backstage passes to top bands. Or even me celebrating my 7th birthday on stage with one of my favorite local bands. It was so normal for me that I sometimes saw it as an inconvenience. I could remember being bored standing backstage at a Firehouse concert -Can you imagine that?

So, when I listen to 60s, 70s and 80s songs on my record player, it brings me back to a time where I actually feel like I lived. It makes me feel as if I almost have memories of myself sauntering through a meadow, wearing my flowy flowery dress, barefoot, with my VW bus parked alongside us. It makes me think of myself as a child, spinning and twirling around the living floor to the Rolling Stones. Or my dad and I going to the venues to hang posters during the day, while guns and roses played on the jukebox. A time when I wasn't in charge of my own life...

Now, when I play these songs, my children hurry out of the playroom and sit right beside me and ask questions about the album I'm holding. I tell them stories about their Poppy and Nana and about my memories these songs conjure up. My daughter randomly requests Herman Hermits, Henry the VIII and my son dances wildly to the Rolling Stones.

I'm hoping when my children are older and they hear these songs, they'll have similar memories. I realize they won't have the same stories that I have from my parent's cooler days, but, I hope my daughter remembers me rocking her back and forth during her colic hours, softly singing The Animals, House of the Rising Sun. Or our memories of dancing around the kitchen to Joan Jett and Suzie Quatro, with her playing pretend drums and myself playing the air guitar. And, I hope my son smiles when Rolling Stones, Satisfaction clicks on.

I want them to have an outlet where when they hear a certain song, it'll reminds them of a simpler time. Hopefully, it will remind them of a specific moment in their lives that brought them so much joy and happiness. It will always be a connection between all of us, that no matter how far apart we are, or whatever life has planned for us, our souls will all be intertwined through music and the memories that come along with it.


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