Friday, August 26, 2011

Fact: it is Friday. {Cassettes}

Fact: it is Friday: Where I talk about myself. On Fridays.
I don't talk about my babies, unless I want to, which sometimes I might. But mostly Fact: it is Friday is when I'm going to maybe tell you something you didn't know about me.
Or maybe a story from my bucktoothed-childhood or bratty teenage years.

Becky Fact 9: I still nurse a soft spot for my first favorite "band," the Backstreet Boys.

As a child I had a boom box, and it did not play cds. (Of course, I was only 11 when that was rectified and I got a new boom box that could play my Brittany Spears and Spice Girls cds.)
Before I got my own cassettes and cds, I had a few of my mother's cassettes with songs from the 70s like "My Boyfriend's back," or "Little Runaway" (which is why I know all the words to the songs that they play at DI).
I would listen to the cassette from beginning to end and then have to rewind it to start again.
I would move around my room, from lying on the bed, to the sitting on the floor (probably drawing pictures of cartoon animals) - although most of the time I was in front of my full length mirror shaking my thang and singing my tone deaf heart out to my reflection. 
I had a few blank cassettes and I would listen to the radio, waiting for songs that I liked and try to record them. I ended up with several mixed tapes, in which the first few seconds of all the songs were missing.
But I didn't mind. 

Then, one fine day (in probably fourth grade) I went to a super awesome birthday party at the roller rink (do you miss the 90s or what?) and I came home with a brown paper goodie bag.
Stuffed inside was a cassette.
My first cassette that wasn't a musical hand me down.

It was the Backstreet Boys. 
And HOLY COW. Those boys could sing. I was mildly obsessed. 
I knew every single word of every single song and I would listen, rewind. Listen, rewind. Listen, rewind. ALL DAY.  Nothing got on my nerves like hearing my mom or sister singing those songs with the wrong lyrics. What was wrong with them?
For my cousin Chelsea's birthday that year my aunt Diane took us to the Backstreet Boys Millennium Concert.  
They were all in white jumpsuits. They threw roses out at the audience. And I knew that if they could just meet me, they would know how awesome I am. 
And they would fall in love with me.
And we would have a long and beautiful romance followed by a spectacular wedding. (Yes. In 2000, I was 11 years old. What of it?)
And the world has left cassettes in its dust, just like the 8 track. (Records have not been left quite so far behind, because people still think records are cool, even if they're pretty obsolete.)
And I can't lie and say that I miss cassettes, although sometimes I feel bad for the youths of today.  Listening to music just doesn't require any effort. All you have to do is get your booty on to Pandora and have the air around you filled with a constant stream of music, which you can allow yourself to tune into or ignore.
There's no rewinding. No stopping, playing, rewinding a little further, stopping, listening, fast-forwarding a little. 
You know.
Unless of course, you are bit younger than I am.

So what was your first cassette or cd? What do you still know all the words to?

Friday Fact. Write one.


 




*       *        *
Fact: it is Friday. 
I think you should do it too. 
And here are your instructions (not really rules...):

1. Write a fact about yourself.
2. Elaborate.
3. It can be long or short, detailed or not.
4. Don't write about your kids. (Unless you want to. Because, I mean... it's your blog. I can't stop you from writing about your kids.)
5. Link up to this blog, so we can all read some facts, and not feel bad that we dropped out of school to be stay-at-home moms. (Since if we're reading facts, then we are still learning.)
6. You're not a dropout like me? Or a stay at home mom? No biggie. You can still play.

Can't think of what to write? Start like this:
Fact: When I was a kid I was really good at...
or
Fact: My biggest pet peeve is...
or
Fact: I have a third nipple.
Etc.

Fact: I would love it if you clicked below to vote for me:


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11 comments:

Molly S said...

Hanson, Hanson, and more Hanson. My family was too poor to buy a CD boombox when they came around, so I had tapes. Didn't care. I was such a fan, in fact, that they had a secret track on their CD, and even though I didn't HAVE the cd, I still knew every word to THAT son, too. I'm still not sure how I did that. I'm just impressive, I guess.

Chris said...

I listened to Bill Cosby standup on a little record player in my room. I knew the entire routine when I was 12 years old. Then one of your uncles got a Led Zeppelin album (IV) and listened to Stairway to Heaven an hundred time in a row. You can always find the track on a record because the grooves have rings where the songs change.

Aimee said...

My first cd was actually backstreet boys millenium. i got the cd and a cd player/boom box for my 11th or 12th birthday. i remember trying to record smash mouth's allstar off the radio and rewinding the tape so i could memorize all the words.

good times

-Danica- said...

Hanson!! I planned on marrying that Taylor. So beautiful to a 10 year old heart. Every time I hear mmmbop I can't handle my excitement.

Polly said...

I just want to clarify that I didn't have a cassette tape of My boyfriends back that song is way older then me. My first cassette was Diana Ross singing "Fools Rush in" and I was in 5th grade. I remember singing it while sitting on the top of the monkey bars. We still listen to your Spice Girls CD in the car, we just introduced Kathryn to it a few weeks ago and she loves it! Also I tried to get records from my grandpa for you but he said "don't rush me" he is only 88 and they've only been in his garage for 35 years so they are probably warped anyway.

Wendy said...

I am a child of the 80's so my very first cassette was "Thriller". I memorized every word of every song and I can still belt out a pretty mean "Beat It"!

Jessica Elyse @ Memoirs of a Mommy said...

I loved me some mixed cassettes. I made them on everything and who cared if the first few seconds were missing. You still got to listen to them over and over! My first CD was Brittany Spears back before she got trashy. Loved that CD and N'Sync. I listened to those for hours!

mjlliving.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Oh how funny! I totally remember the mix tape! I would sit by the radio in the evenings when they did the "top 8 at 8" or something like that and obsessively record! My best friends and I were obsessed with N'Sync...in fact, when we were in high school, we went to their concert and screamed louder than any 11 year old girl there. Still have a soft spot for JT. I'll admit - Backstreet Boys Millennium was pretty good too. Major crush on Brian. Ah, the good ol' days! Thanks for the memories :)

Teeners said...

I think my first tape and my first CD were Mariah Carey. Although, I liked the Backstreet Boys too. They were pretty awesome, I thought!

Allyssa said...

I still like the BSB. My friend and I were planning on locking our husbands in the back seat of my car and playing BSB to bug them ^_^ mwahaha!

Marge Bjork said...

I actually had a boyfriend make me some cassettes a couple of years ago.

I taped songs off the radio as well, including Pearl Jam's Last Kiss–which I looooved–and which, strangely enough, I heard a Spanish version of after the incident in Paraguay. I mean directly after. As we were driving away in a car.