Your Younger Brain and Music

[AARPRachelA]

In The Powerful Link Between Music and Memories, cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Levitin shares that our musical tastes form early, including a crucial period from around the age of 11 to 14. During that time, our musical tastes really take form and we hold onto those for the rest of our lives.

Music has always been a big part of my life, and it was especially important during my brooding teen years. Pop was a genre I embraced, and it's still one I adore today. One pop album I spent a lot of time with, learning the words and singing to myself in the mirror, was Michelle Branch's Hotel Paper, especially the song "Breathe." I recently relistened to the album and was transported back to my angsty, younger self.

What album or song did you love when you were younger?

[1supreme]

My years were 1974-1977, so I liked anything danceable. I hated heavy metal; I still do. My favorite singers were disco divas Diana Ross and Donna Summer. My favorite groups were Blondie, Foreigner, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Bee Gees, and Chrissy Hynde and the Pretenders. Disco was my favorite sound back then. 

[70sClassic]

I liked heavy metal the few times I saw it live didn’t ‘buy the album’ lol. My dad was a drummer (side job) what they called ‘dance music’ back in the day so I liked to watch a heavy metal drummer. Why I have tinnitus now in my late 60s wasnt from loud music tho ?!?!

[70sClassic]

@1supreme.  I’m with  with you on every one you named!  Great list ! thank you !

[AARPRachelA]

I love disco! I listened to a lot of Donna Summer when I was in high school 💃🕺

[Tonster521]

I will say the Ventures, an instrumental rock band, that had a huge hit with the song Walk Don't Run in 1960. They rerecorded the song in 1964 and had a second success. As I recall, there album, Ventures 64, which I still have, was probably bought by most newly inspired electric guitar players. I still occasionally hook up with another guitar playing friend; and, we always play, guess what, Walk Don't Run. 

[MistyK475166]

I love playing that song! It's one of the first oldies I learned on guitar, and Wipe Out!

[Tonster521]

@MistyK475166 Was your intro to Walk Don't Run A,G.F E or Am, G, F, E? I play it Am, G, F, E.

[Tonster521]

@MistyK475166 The Ventures also played/covered  Pipeline which was another "surf" song that was along the same theme as Wipe Out. If you recall the song, Pipeline, the intro was a bass guitar. Sad news, I just read that the last founder of the Ventures, Don Wilson, passed on January 22, 2022 at age 88. What a life!

[gm5271]

@MistyK475166 

Wow

Wipeout .... that was huge in my day... guys used give us 'red bellies' playing it on our stomachs... wow

Take care

Ginger  :  )

[Tonster521]

@gm5271 And I was always looking for someone with drums. Little did I know.

[PauladR727803]

I was a baton twirler and we twirled to Walk Don’t Run in competition. 

[Tonster521]

@PauladR727803 You must have been in a forward thinking group. Great song to twirl to.

[wn32547663]

I remember always listening to Leroy Anderson's recording of "Blue Tango" on my aunt and uncle's fancy record player/radio console in the 1950s. Then Dean Martin's "Memories are made of This." I was fascinated by the sounds I heard. I grew up to be a musician/singer/pianist/vocal music teacher. 

[AARPRachelA]

You all are giving me great music suggestions to check out - there's so much to discover!

[JMCJONES4]

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John

[ss14147012]

Having been raised in the church, I find myself singing "How Great Thou Art" while driving to work, and I'm always amazed that I know every single word.  Same for all of those amazing 50's songs that I played over and over on the 45!!

[2Papa]

Bill Haley and the Comets, "Rock Around the Clock"!

[robertc526695]

I discovered my Dad's Beatles albums when I was in 8th grade (this was back in 1980). I have enjoyed listening to other albums and bands over the years but my deepest passion for music will always be The Beatles. They remind me of the heady days of my teenage years. Their songs never grow old. The Beatles are that one band that found a way to be timeless. 

[c577738g]

The Beatles were Fab4ulous, do watch the Get Back series on Disney +. So good. Makes you understand the talent of all 4 Beatles, and the actual love and respect that they had for each other. They actually enjoyed making their music and writing their music together. Something not brought out during their years in the press. I got to see Paul McCartney in concert and he told a lot of truths about the Beatles and their music, but this live (at the time) documentary , made it real. Enjoy another side of the Beatles, see Get Back. No I don’t get paid to endorse Get Back, I am just a fan showing another fan a new chance to get back and immerse yourself in this masterpiece of musicality wonder, and because Paul is sooo cute.

[AARPRachelA]

Watch the "Get Back" documentary if you haven't yet!

[r76479s]

It was riveting and amazing. To see them play together. Keep your eye open for the IMAX movie.

[GinaG28321]

I memorized all the Christmas carols on a popular Christmas LP when I was 8-12.  A group of us would go caroling ip and down our street every December.  We challenged ourselves to learn all the words to all the verses of many carols.  Every year we added a new song to our list.. 

[dn3371]

Ten Years After was a relatively obscure British band.  They blew the doors off the place at Woodstock in 1969 when I was 11 years-old with "Goin Home", and the world got introduced to Alvin Lee, known as the "Fastest Guitarist in the West."  My favorite rock band of all time, and I still listen to them to this day.  Another favorite TYA song:  "50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain."  Psychedelic rock at its best. 

[rufrt]

Album wise: The Beatles Rubber Soul, and Fleetwood Mac Rumours." However, I would choose the second movement of Bach's Italian Concerto in F Major, if I had to choose just one piece to listen to for the rest of my life.  It seems to have the remarkable capacity to elicit each type of my emotional responses.  Also, because there are no words, it does not create the unfortunate sense (for me) of endless repetition.

[AARPRachelA]

Don't judge, but I finally listened to Rumours for the first time last year! It really is a musical dance as depicted on the album cover.

[gm5271]

@AARPRachelA 

Rachel yes I love Fleetwood Mac 

Was my dating songs me & future husband played 8 tracks of them & Elton John and Linda Ronstadt while out on dates... my youngest son named his daughter Stevie from Stevie Nicks... he used play in band & loved her music

Enjoy your discovery of all the music being shared here

Ginger  :  )

[TomW178779]

I liked Fleetwood Mac better before their "Fleetwood Mac" album (1975).  They were really great in the late 60's to '74, when they were pretty much unheard of in the US.   When Nicks & Buckingham came along, then they became more commercialized and "bubble-gum".   Those two were good but not as great as before.

[rockaria]

First of all, I have to say I've been thoroughly enjoying the mini concerts that AARP has provided.  Thank you for that entertainment.

Now.... don't laugh....  In my younger years, I listened to The Partridge Family and The Bay City Rollers on LP.  I now have those gems on CD and listen to them in my 60s.  Good, fun music.

[gm5271]

@rockaria 

Hey no laughing loved them too & also their albums... every once in while catch an episode of The Partridge Family on Antenna TV & David Cassidy is still a cutie in them

Ginger  ;  )

[c577738g]

Every Friday night my sister and I walked to the minute market, got a slushy/Icee, and a bag of cheese Puffs. We would go back home, go to our room, grab our pillows, sit on the floor in front of the TV, and watch The Partridge Family. Really good, innocent times!