Our fondest and oldest memories are those of what mattered to the adults around us when we were children.

Every town used to have a radio station that played music like this all day long…

 

When I was a boy and dreamt of being a novelist, I would type at an old Underwood (that used to belong to Grandma and Grandpa Cairns) and listen to that station, which played Doris Day, Percy Faith, Dean Martin, Glenn Miller, and instrumentals like Hugo Winterhalter's Canadian Sunset; the station observed small celebrations like Secretary’s Day and would send bouquets and candy to offices that tuned them in; and they said nice things about Erie and smiled between songs.

You can hear a smile if you listen carefully.

It put me in the mood for old movies and faraway lands that hold the imagination of young boys.

That station was called “The Music of Your Life.” It’s still available in some markets, and you can stream it online here >

Unfortunately, The Music of Your Life is no longer the music of my life. As I’ve aged, they’ve modernized their playlist so a lot of the music is from my childhood, not my parents’ childhood, and that isn’t how I remember it, or why I enjoyed it.

 

I recall telling my Grandma and Grandpa Grandy (Mom’s mom and dad) about the station and how much I enjoyed it and thought they might too, but it would have been the same for them as it is for me now, and in fact Grandma Grandy didn’t care for it very much. Our fondest and oldest memories are those of what mattered to the adults around us when we were children.

Perhaps Grandma Grandy would have enjoyed Al Jolson, but nobody was playing Al Jolson then, or now.

Al Jolson - Brother can you spare a Dime

c0

I listened to the rock ‘n roll stations too, of course, K-104 (FM) and WJET (AM) were the most popular in town. K-104 is now Froggy FM and playing country/contemporary; JET is conservative talk.

When I was a kid, someone wrote an angry letter to the editor of the Erie Morning News, saying something to the effect “The last thing we need in this city is another long-hair rock ‘n roll station” (which were impossible to avoid nearly anywhere on the dial). That guy is probably long gone, but the day came in Erie and every other big city where programmed music scuttles between baseball games and political squabbling.

[2013-10-18]

c0