Zip-A-Dee-Do-Da

Last night I went with my roomies to Huka for Karaoke night. We got into a short little discussion about "oldies but goodies." We ended up debating for about 20 minutes who sang the old song "Yakety Yak." I remember when I was really little, my parents made me a mix-tape full of songs that were "appropriate" for a little tyke. I have no clue if they actually made the tape for me or if it was something that had been passed through my cousins and sister. Either way, I LOVED this tape! I would listen to it NON-STOP and had a choreographed dance for each song in the perfect style of a 4 year old. The tape basically consisted of songs like the aforementioned "Yakety Yak" .. "Lollipop ... "Great Balls of Fire" ... "Kokomo" ... etc. That tape was the world to me all summer long! I have looked for it several times over the past 15 years or so but have never located it. The great debate last night got me thinking about all the songs I listened to growing up and how they influenced me in one way or another.... So here is a rough list of my music idols over the years ... please don't judge :)

1. The Mix-tape -
... and the beginning of it all

2. Beaches Soundtrack -
My sister, cousin (Marti) and I would spend hours making up choreographed dances to the various songs! (Yes they are on videotape if you are ever bored enough to want to see them.) My 2 favorites were "Wind Beneath My Wings" (of course) and "Otto Tisling" (which I really had no idea what they were talking about but it was fun anyways) Looking back, I wonder if my parents thought it was weird when I was singing the words "Over the shoulder boulder holder" around the house.

3. Wildcat Wake Up -
The school wide twenty minute sing-song session they would have every morning. I was usually late to elementary school which meant I usually was dropped off just in time to catch the last couple minutes of it. (This was the beginning of my painfully shy era, so singing in public was NOT an option.) Anyways, there are several songs I still think about randomly at 24 years old... and will awkwardly belt out if the occasion arises.

For instance:
"Hagalina Magalina" was always sung around Halloween and was a song about a really ugly witch with incredibly smart lyrics like ... "She had 2 hairs on the bottom of her chin, one pointed out and the other pointed in"

"Albuquerque Turkey" was a song about a pet turkey that was always sang around Thanksgiving. More great lyrics .. "Albuquerque was a Turkey and he's feathered and he's fine. And he wobbles and he gobbles and he's absolutely mine! He's the best pet that you can get, better than a dog or cat. He's my Albuquerque Turkey and I'm awfully proud of that" .... Looking back, it's kind of morbid to have a song about a lovable pet turkey the month everyone goes home and eats one, but whatever.

"Rainbow Connection" ... yes the infamous Rainbow Connection... this song made me cry EVERY time ... no joke .. I cried. I also attribute it for starting my obsession with pirates because it talks about Sailors which I thought was SO cool and secretly wanted to be one.

"It's Ruff Being a Dog" was an instant classic... mostly because I LOVE dogs! But as I've come to find out as I have gotten older, VERY few people have ever heard of this song. Yes, I actually ask people... it's a classic. I mean you gotta love these lyrics: "It's ruff ruff ruff ruff being a dog. Eatin' dinner out of a can. Oh please take me to a restaurant to eat steak just like a man." Pure Genius. :)

4. The Little Mermaid Soundtrack-
My sister and I entered a contest where you could color a picture of Ariel and win the movie and tape. You better believe we won! Ursula's song was ALWAYS my favorite! That worried my mom a little. My sister and I can still sing all the words and perform the hand motions in unison to that soundtrack. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to witness our pure musical talent some day.

5.. Annie Soundtrack-
This was my one and ONLY record growing up. And when I say I loved it, I am being modest. I would act out the songs in my room with props and all. Yes, the ENTIRE record ... both sides.

6. The Talent Show -
1st grade, me and my best friend Lindsey Gregory made up a dance to "Ice Ice Baby" which was a huge hit ... or at least we thought it was. We almost went with Milli Vanilli "Blame it on the Rain" ... boy would that have been a mistake. Need I say more?


7. The Third Grade Play -
Our class was assigned a song called "Chocolate" ... everyone loves chocolate! I was dressed as a bright red M&M and had to do a handstand where a fellow classmate (Stacy Roberts) split my legs and peaked through at a critical point in the song AND the choreography. (Stacy, if you ever read this, I apologize for you being instructed to stick your face out over my crotch and smile). This is the song I quote most from those days... every time I eat chocolate the lyrics pop in my head. No joke. It must be some sort of sickness. But come on, you can't beat.... "I used to think that moose was an animal, rocky road was just a rough place to ride, black forest was somewhere very far away, and chip was a good friend of mine. Now I've developed such a craving that you'll always hear me raving about a certain food that's high in calories. " Looking back, it's sad that calories were brought up in a kids song but the chorus is even better... "Chocolate! Give me Chocolate! I don't think I can live without it! In a sauce or in a shake, or a german chocolate cake! It's chocolate chocolate CHOCOLATE!"

8. Amy Grant-
I've decided you can't grow up in the bible belt and not have owned Amy Grant. I was always intrigued by the song "Hats" ... and of course "Grown-up Christmas List" also made me cry pretty much every time.


9. Paula Abdul-
"Cold Hearted Snake" ... one of my first obsessions which I find intriguing now at the age of 24 when I have a deathly fear of anything resembling a snake. And I loved the 80's-esque "c-c-c-cold hearted sssssnake. He's c-cold as Ice" ... Amazing. And of course "Opposites Attract" ... you can't be a kid in love with Paula and not adore the song with an animated cat in the video.


10. Garth Brooks-
One again, you can't live in the state with Garth Brooks Boulevard and NOT listen to good old Garth. You just can't! "Lonesome Dove" was usually almost always on repeat.... Repeat of course meaning as soon as the song ended you promptly walked over to the tape player, rewinded, and played again. That's commitment.


11. Pretty Woman Soundtrack and Coca Cola 1992 Olympics CD-
When my mom bought our first car with a CD player in it. It was BIG TIME! I'm putting these 2 CD's together because they were switched in and out constantly. We listened to the Pretty Woman Soundtrack SO often that I could sing EVERY song. My favorite was Red Hot Chili Peppers verse "In a world that can be so insane, I don't think it's very strange
For me to be in love with you. I wanna know more than your brain" from the song "Show me your Soul" ... I guess it was a good thing I didn't have a clue what it meant. The Coca-Cola CD was a free sampler we got with the car. It only had 5 songs on it from different parts of the world, but you better believe I had every word memorized to them all ... even the spanish love song entitled "No se tu" ... I still don't have a clue what it means. My favorite song was "Free Your Mind" by En Vogue b/c i thought it was powerful and they said "prostitute" ... Come to think of it, both CD's incorporate "prostitutes" ... interesting. The Coca-Cola Cd was eventually stolen and I was DEVASTATED.


12. Backstreet Boys -
Yes ... I was a TeenyBopper to the core. I met them 3 times. I fell on my face in front of one of them. I knew sign language to their songs. I learned all their choreography (which was played in front of my entire school at our last school assembly senior year... thanks guys.) Due to humiliation reasons, that's all I will say.

13. Ballet Teacher Gone Bad-
JANET JACKSON. I wanted to be her.... in every way! I used to tell my dad I was going to grow up to be her back-up dancer. Every summer our gymnastics coaches would hire a ballet teacher, and we would have to take ballet on top of going to our usual work outs. One ballet teacher decided she would rather teach us something fun, so she taught us a dance to "If" by Janet Jackson. It is one of my top 15 favorite songs to this day! The coaches eventually found out and she never finished teaching us the dance.


14. Van Halen - "Right Now"
One of my teammates chose the instrumental parts of this song for her floor music. (Once gymnasts reach the Optional Levels, the routines are choreographed for them individually. The floor exercise is put to music and then the choreography is created to match the style of the music.) I was OBSESSED with her floor music. I remember LOVING the sound of the guitar. There is that messy guitar sound in the song where you can hear their fingers sliding on the strings. Most people edit it out, but they played it up and I was hooked. Changed my whole perspective on music.


And ... for anyone who actually read this entire thing, "Yakety Yak" was by the Coasters. I know you were just dying to know.