172900
5
(my age)
1. Michael Jackson thriller - 12/2/1983 (7) Everyone in America watched it - at school the next day our teacher said it was amazing, my grandfather said it was amazing, even at church people were talking about it - that will never happen again.
2. Prince purple Rain - 1984 (8) on my porch in a suit - in the middle of the summer during the middle of the week. Miami vice was popular, so I didn't have any socks on, just penny loafers. A WTLC radio personality named Vicki Buchanon rented the house next door (the house on the left if you're facing the fairgounds, or her mother lived there - I'm not certain - I was 8 - lol). I had a crush on her, and she mentioned that she liked Prince on the radio. So I borrowed Johnny's boom box and waited for her to come home from her radio shift, to wave hi to her - and blasted a cassette tape recording of Purple Rain on the radio to get her attention and say hi.
3. The Fat Boys are Back - 1985 (9) A rainy Saturday afternoon, hanging out in my older brother Johnny's room. I got to be the DJ - playing records, recording songs off the radio onto cassette tapes - we had an actual record (12" vinyl) of the Fat Boys are back - Human Beat Box (no instrumentals) I spent hours replaying the same record while using a toothbrush to cleaning my canvas Nikes, while Johnny was at his desk working on his latest art project (in about three hours, he turned a Jacks pizza box into the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars!)
4. Earth Wind & Fire -1981 (5) Sitting in the back of our VW Bus eating a peanut buster parfait without peanuts (yeah, I was a picky little guy). I heard, ...Let this groove set in your shoes, stand up, alright. The boogie down... let's groove tonight! The speaker in cars in the 1980's did not do that song justice, when every I hear that some on the radio, I still lose my mind! Mom was taking us to Dairy Queen after going swimming or going to the movies (can't recall which).
5. Computer Love - 1986. (10) At the Skating rink, I just figured out how to skate around the rink without falling down - and then I heard - "Hey lady, let me tellll you why, I can't liiiive my life, with out you! I was like, who/what is this?" Computer love - Zapp - Classic!
6. 1st concert UTFO - Roxanne Roxanne - 1984 (8) - We were going to my first rap concert, and UTFO was coming to town. We went to either Value City or Lafayette Square, and Johnny and I got track suits - mine was dark red, and i thing Johnny's was dark blue. WTLC didn't play rap music at the time, but I remember dad dropping us off at the Hoosier Dome, and hearing "Roxanne Roxanne" live.
7. 1986 Black Expo free outdoor concert (10) I had heard Rufus' "Tell me something good" before on the radio, but, at that concert, standing near a speaker, the bass line bounced around my chest - and the breathing part was crazy - whoo-ooo-whoo-whoo-ooo-whoo. I remember everyone was just dancing and having a good time.
8. Sophomore year Navy Midshipman cruise 1995 - San Diego, CA (19) on a bus driving back from a long day at the marine corps base (after running 10 miles in combat boots and in full gear with a rifle) back to the Navy base for the weekend - 50 college kids from different schools, races and backgrounds, we're all just glad it was the weekend. I heard one kid tell the driver turn it up, this is my jam. Immediately, everyone on the bus started all singing along (at the top of our lungs) to Seal's Kiss from a Rose. It was my second favorite Navy moment.
9. 2000 - USS Halyburton (FFG 40) - (24) We were just returning home from a 6 month Counter Drug Operations deployment off the cost of Columbia. Everyone was home sick and anxious to get back to Mayport, FL. A few nights before we just completed the 24 hours needed to transit through all of the Panama Canal's water locks. I had the morning watch (4am-8am), as the officer of the deck (OOD), and lead a crew of five guys on the bridge while Captain and the rest of the crew slept. Every morning, the OOD got to wake up the crew by playing a song of their choice over the 1MC (a PA system for the ship). Keisha had sent me a CD with a bunch of Motown songs a few weeks before, and I choose "Signed Sealed Delivered" by Stevie Wonder. Everyone from the captain to the cooks in the kitchen thanked me and said that I pick the best walk up song ever! - the highlight of my Navy Career - lol.
10. Happy Birthday - Steve Wonder - January 1983 (7) - Mom and Dad took us out of school, and we drive to Washington DC in a VW Bus. We kept playing Steve Wonder's song on the radio over and over again - there and on the way back. I don't remember much about the rally other than how cold it was. But I remember the song.
