Ecce Signum

At the start of Autumn, music transcends the boundaries of the senses and the right tune at the right time can taste like apple cider and smell like corn stalks and hay bales. And also the smell of brass instruments and dew on cold autumn mornings as we practiced our marching band routines.

1977: Linda Ronstadt, “Blue Bayou”

Oh my god, this song in her voice. I certainly heard it when it was first released, and regularly for many years thereafter. I probably haven’t heard it for at least a decade, and when I pulled it up in the process of writing this post, I was suddenly, immediately, in my aunt’s house on a small lake in West Michigan, hanging out with Dad and my brother, noodling around in a canoe and catching bluegills. I don’t think I will ever not love “Blue Bayou.”

1982: Willie Nelson, “Let It Be Me”

This is the third week in a row(!) that this song was #40 on the charts.

1987: Bruce Springsteen, “Brilliant Disguise”

Getting a handle on being away from home for an extended period for the first time in my life, trying to sort out who I actually was, and who I could be, as an adult in college and well away from the unpleasantness of the hometown. “Brilliant Disguise” played often on MTV and on the stereos around campus. It’s a good one and I am happy to have been reminded that it exists.

1992: Babyface Featuring Toni Braxton, “Give U My Heart”

This is a repeat from a few weeks back, so please enjoy this live version of “Give U My Heart!”

1997: Coolio featuring 40 Thevz, “C U When U Get There”

I think I heard this one, once upon a time. It would have to have been on MTV and possibly lightly sampled on commercials for Nothing to Lose. I’ve always liked Coolio, and this song is most excellent.

[2022.09.29 UPDATE: Artis Leon Ivey, known to his fans as Coolio, died Wednesday, September 28, in Los Angeles. Rest in power, Mr. Ivey.]

1977: Brick, “Dusic”

I’m pretty sure the first time I heard “Dusic” was while compiling this post. It’s, well, funky! And O, that sax. And O, that flute!

1982: Willie Nelson, “Let It Be Me”

This is a repeat from last week, so here is Willie singing “Let It Be Me” with Cheryl Crow.

1987: Go West, “Don’t Look Down – The Sequel”

1992: The Cure, “Friday I’m In Love”

I listened to “Friday I’m in Love” on heavy repeat during a 10-day road trip to Denver and environs in May of 1992, between my fifth and sixth years at GVSU. “Friday I’m in Love” will forever be associated with college.

1997: Mack 10, “Backyard Boogie”

Well into September now, typically adjusting to the abrupt change in location, schedule, and possibly job, depending on the year.

1977: The Alan Parsons Project, “I Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You”

Since I was in third grade in this week of 1977 I am pretty sure that, if I heard this song, it was while visiting someone with more modern tastes in music than my parents. Therefore the first time I heard it where it stuck would likely have been in high school when I was listening to a rock station. when listening to this one I feel a faint deja vu for cold weather and apple cider.

1982: Willie Nelson, “Let It Be Me”

I would certainly have heard “Let it Be Me” when was released, given the realities and culture of living in rural Michigan in the early 1980s. I’ve always liked Willie Nelson, and this tune is just beautiful.

1987: Michael Jackson, “Bad”

I remember seeing this video (long version here) on MTV in the public lounge of third-floor Copeland at GVSC. A lot. I also remember several football player types and some of the more redneck-ey students bristling at the idea of Michael Jackson flexing. Like, they felt threatened by MJ being bad. The reaction was amusing back then, and the memory is hilarious now. I really like “Bad” but I have heard the Weird Al Yankovic parody a whole lot more than I have heard the original.

1992: Celine Dion, “If You Asked Me To”

Ah, Celine Dion in the nineties. All over MTV back in the day, so undoubtedly that is where I first heard Dion’s version of “If You Asked Me To.”  I am much more familiar with Patti LaBelle‘s version from 1989, which was on the soundtrack of License to Kill. Of the two, I much prefer LaBelle’s version.

1997: Hanson, “Mmmbop”

Despite its overwhelming popularity at the time, I don’t think I heard it until years later, as during the late nineties I was listening to The Pogues and Tom Waits. Having now heard it, “Mmmbop” is light and fun and kind of forgettable. So maybe I did hear it when it was first released.

Well and truly into September. Days are getting shorter but not yet shorter than the nights. The last few weeks of summer weather tempered by cooler nights which means sleeping is more comfortable but waking times are earlier because of SCHOOL.

1977: Ronnie McDowell, “The King is Gone”

First week of September 1977 I would just have been starting third grade in Parma. This would also have been the beginning of the last school year there, as we moved to the farm in Springport in summer 1979. I have no memory of this song. Then again McDowell sounds so much like Elvis (or would have, to eight-year-old me) that I likely wouldn’t have known the difference. I imagine this was a popular song for its time, but having heard it now, I don’t like it.

1982: Juice Newton, “Break It To Me Gently”

As a kid I had a serious crush on Juice Newton, thanks to “Angel of the Morning” and “Queen of Hearts.” This week in 1982 I was just starting eighth grade, and probably overwhelmed with being 13 years old. So the merest hint of Newton’s voice would have put me in a hormonal fugue state of dissociation from the mundane realm. We’ve all been there at some point.

1987: Bryan Adams, “Victim of Love”

Bryan Adams was HUGE in the late eighties, so I night have heard “Victim of Love” at some point, though I have no specific memory of it. The video is familiar, though, so it was probably playing on a TV somewhere on Grand Valley’s campus.

1992: Mary J. Blige, “You Remind Me”

I think this is a first listen for me. Neither the song nor the video strike any nostalgic chords, though the style is familiar, in the manner of early 1990s videos. I would have been at the beginning of my last year of college when this song charted.

1997: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, “Look Into My Eyes”

Another first-listen for me here. The harmony on the chorus feels familiar but reminds me of another song which I can’t place right now.