Pretty War

Music as Nostalgia

Recently I've pondered the sensation recieved from listening to the music of my youth, ie. 1976-1984. Back then I listened to primarily top 40, tempered with a little KSHE and a little Magic 108. Casey Kasem's weekly top 40 show on Sundays became my new church, and in those years, I didn't miss a service.
A lot of the music I listened to back then, I don't hear on a regular basis anymore, for various reasons. Mainly, I had them on albums and 45's and I don't have a turntable anymore. Also, because I don't really listen to the radio, other than KDHX, NPR and Cardinals baseball. So when I hear "Cars" by Gary Numan, "Steal Away" by Robbie Dupre or "Tired of Toein' the Line" by Rocky Burnette, I'm immediately 12 years old again, sitting on the shag carpet floor of my 2-story sided suburban home, spinning records and making mix tapes. Looking back, it doesn't matter if the songs were/are good, what matters is the memories they conjure up. It's one of the best features of iTunes/iPod. I can create a playlist of nothing but music from 1983 if I want, and relive that whole year of my life in an afternoon while barbequeing! Only the beer drinking is legal now!! Anyway, enough rambling ... what I wanted to get at was this excellent post by Kevin at Deviated Septum regarding what he calls "Mammalries".

excerpt:

When I hear "Miss You", I'm nine years old, dirty and dried-sweat, in the dying day of summer, spooked out of my skull by Mick Jagger, proud of my shared tree house accomplishment, wondering if I'm going to get my ass kicked for coming home... after dark.