Okay...let us show our age....

What was your first "MAINSTREAM" song that you memorized word for word? Mary Had A Little Lamb does not count!!!!

Mine was "Seasons of the Sun" by Terry Jacks, my second one was "Love Will Keep Us Together", my third was "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". I was probably the age of 7.

I haven't the slightest idea.

Sheesh, this is dating me big time; but I remember knowing most, if not all the words at one time to Daydream Believer (Monkees version) and Here Comes The Sun (Beatles); but the song I really remembered most from my childhhod was Don McClean's American Pie.

I'm embarrassed to say this but I think it was Britney Spears' "Oops I Did It Again". I don't think I have listened to that song since I memorized it....thank God!

I think it was "Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks -- I think it was back in the summer of 1982. I had no idea who Stevie Nicks was at the time.

I Will Survive and Last Dance ... let's just say, in my household, disco never died.

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ... let's dance! The Last daaaance ...

Seasons in the Sun, Billy Don't Be a Hero, The Night Chicago Died, Fly Away (John Denver), Kung Fu Fighting, Oh What a Night... Those are some of the songs that I memorized just from listening to them so much, but I probably didn't actually have all the correct lyrics memorized.

The first song that I purposely made an effort to read and memorize word for word was Bohemian Rhapsody, from Queen's Night at the Opera album.

How about this -- was there an entire album that you memorized word for word? I know I'm not the only one here who memorized the Grease soundtrack!

PRIVATE DANCER by Tina Turner. I could sing that thing from beginning to end! I played the cassette all summer long in 1984. "I can't stand the ra-a-a-ain against my window 'cause he ain't here with me...." How long did it take for my mom to figure me out?

[ January 28, 2004, 07:47 AM: Message edited by: bobby78751 ]

Love Child by Diana Ross and the Supremes.

Yes I know it was forver ago, but I remember buying the 45, and playing it over and over until my parents banned it from the house.

Probably "Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again" by Barry Manilow. I was 5, and just loved that song.

How embarrassing..........."Almost Heaven West Virginia" John Denver. Hey my parents only listed to country and big band music.

I think it was either Desperado performed by the Eagles or I've Had the Time of My Life from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack. Whenever I hear either song on the radio, I start singing along. *bows head in shame* Damn my older sister's love for the Eagles and all things Patrick Swayze.

Nick

Don't be ashamed, I used to love to sing along with "She's Like the Wind".

Please ... I listed 2 disco songs. That's nothing!

'She's Like the Wind'? That's pretty bad, although I may one up you with this tidbit. Whenever I bring friends home to meet my family, my mom and my older sister ALWAYS tell everyone about how I would dance around the house in my diaper whenever they would play 'Hot Stuff' on the record player. Whenever I hear that song, my face turns beat read.

Nick

Either "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies or "ABC" by the Jackson 5. And my mother claims I was obsessed with two songs that I sang all the time: Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual" and "The Bare Necessities" from the Disney film The Jungle Book...

Though, I should add, "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas was a song a group of us sang at a fifth grade class show.

I had a Close N' Play, one of those portable red plastic covered turntables that I took with me EVERYWHERE. That was the beginning of my days as a pop music obsessive...

[ January 28, 2004, 09:01 AM: Message edited by: CatcherInNY ]

"(I am) The Happy Wanderer" (.....with a knapsack on my back...) and "What's New Pussycat."

~Adam

I can't believe I'll actually admit to this, but "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice. It was early 90s and there was a lot of long roadtrips for football and basketball games. Montana's a large state to drive across so you get to hear that song many many many many times!! I still know the words...and sing them when nobody's looking!!

"Collaborate and listen, Ice is back with a brand new invention..." :mad:
BTW, Stinger, have you seen the filem "The Slaughter Rule"? It's a fictitious film about Montana high school football with a touch of gay and homophobia thrown in.

[ January 28, 2004, 09:42 AM: Message edited by: bobby78751 ]

How about "Enter The Young?" (The Association, c. 1967.)

Sorry!

There was a thread earlier at Outsports about six-man football in Montana.

High School Six-Man Football?

Reviews of "The Slaughter Rule":
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/TheSlaught...erRule-1113909/

http://www.offoffoff.com/film/2002/slaughterrule.php3

First song I can remember memorizing was "Freedom" by Wham! ("part-time love just brings me down..."). I even made up a hand jive to it, like faux sign language or something. The '80s made me do it.

First album I memorized is definitely Kick by INXS. Played that tape constantly. I can still sing every word of "Mediate" without hearing it. Hallucinate, desegregate, mediate, alleviate, try not to hate... And I won't explain the hand jive I still do to "Need You Tonight." I was a weird kid.

[ January 28, 2004, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: FeverDog ]

My brother (twin brother) and I had to learn "Eye of the Tiger" and do this stupid little dance when company came over. My aunts would dress us alike and make us sing the song and do this idiotic routine. To this day I remember the moves and all the words. Before me brother died we would always reflect on how awful that was. We had to be about 3 or 4 and I was born in 1979, so I think the song had been out for a couple years by then. The first songs I remember learning my self were "Let's Wait Awhile" by Janet Jackson and "You Give Good Love" by Whitney Houston.

Da Kid.

I'm sure there's a previous song, but the earliest I can remember is "Movin Right Along" (I think that's the title) from The Muppet Movie. We did it for our BYF group's talent show in the basement of our church.

"Moving right along in search of good times and good news
with good friends you can't lose
this could become a habit!

Opportunity just knocked let's reach out and grab it
together we'll nab it
we'll hitchike, bus, or yellow cab it!

Moving right along
footloose and fancy-free
I'm ready for the big time is it ready for me..."


and on and on.

I'll be singing this all through my shift tonight.

And plotting my revenge on whomever started this thread wink

Cue glitter balls, roller skates and fog machine.

Ah one, ah two, ah one-two-three-four

Xanadu

Xanadu-u-u (now we are here),

in Xanadu-u-u

Xanadu your neon lights will shine, for you Xanadu-u-u

Thankyouverymuch

God bless you Mother Olivia of the Newton-Johns.

[ January 28, 2004, 02:39 PM: Message edited by: Mixie ]

It was in Nov 2002,in Australia at the Gay Games. It came to me in a flash! "Kookaberra Sits In The Old Gum Tree". Taught to me by my mother!

Since The Monkees were the first band I responded to in late 1966, it was probably Daydream Believer, like Timber07. First "real" song? In-A-Gadda-Vida by Iron Butterfly, all 17 minutes of it.

I have a great musical memory--I have thousands upon thousands songs on tap in my memory, I can hum entire operas from beginning to end, I can recite reams of lyrics instantly, I can hum entire guitar/keyboard solos and so on. Can I remember to turn the lights off on my car or what I ate 3 days ago? No, I have my priorities in order.

Madonna's "Lucky Star"


even back then I was "doomed".

There was a little five and dime type store in my hometown that used to sell their older 45s for something like 10 for $1 in the late 70s-early 80s. So I would save my pennies and buy some of them when I could to play on my Winnie the Pooh record player. And play them over and over...and some of them are burned into my memory even to this day:

Boogie Nights - Heatwave
Turn to Stone - ELO
Emotion - Samantha Sang (covered by Destiny's Child recently)
Dancing in the Moonlight - Harvest King

And bunches more, but I could never tell you which one was first.

And there is one I can't remember right now, but the record was made out of red plastic. I thought it was cool. But apparently the record itself was more memorable than the song.

Does marching band count? My elementary school, that's right, elementary school had a marching band. Run by this big bull dyke. There were 50 of us or so, and in the Spring, she would have us out there every weekday morning for 90 minutes before the start of school. Mind you, we had to come early, buy the uniforms and all. We were hot, one of the only marching bands in that age group in the country. We travelled quite a bit, sort of a circus oddity act.

Oh, and we had to memorize 5 marching/performance songs. So, my first would be "If My Friends Could See Me Now", of all things.

"Obladee, Oblada", the beatles tune, in third grade music class. We were all so giggly because we got to sing a dirty word in the song, and we would sing it as loud as possible, "... life goes on, BRA, fa-la how the life goes on."

Oh how the times have changed.

[ January 30, 2004, 09:00 AM: Message edited by: bballrob ]

I think mine was "Mandy" by Barry Manilow, when I was a wee lad my sister got a turntable and several albums, some Manilow collection was one of them. To this day that song almost makes me cry. I mean, she came and she gave without taking. And he sent her away! Bastard. "Mandy" and "Weekend in New England" I learned at a pretty early age.

[ January 30, 2004, 09:19 AM: Message edited by: William1865 ]

How about Grease 2???? I just watched it twice on HBO tonight. And yes....I haven't seen it for years....and still knew all the words! Now thats embarrasing! eek!