In my room as a teen, I had a stereo. It consisted of a receiver with a turntable, two speakers, and an 8-Track tape player. I’ve always loved music, and my weekends were often spent writing down each of the songs Casey Kasem played during the American Top 40 Countdown. And when that was over, I loved listening to my 8-Track tapes.
I didn’t have a ton, but I had a handful of them. Soundtracks to some of my favorite movies were in my player, including those from “My Fair Lady,” “Camelot,” and “The Sound of Music.” For funk and rock, Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” and The Rolling Stones live album recorded in Canada entitled “Love You Live” rocked my room on Pointer Ridge Drive.
In today’s world of techno-music and bland, unimaginative songs that all sound the same, we stand to be blessed with a blast from the past; Stevie Wonder is coming to the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on November 9, and tickets go on sale tomorrow morning. When I heard this news, I immediately floated back to my apple green room, pink shag wallpaper, large Snoopy stuffed animal on my striped bedspread, and John Travolta’s poster on my wall. I can hear my friends knocking on my door, ready to play air guitar and act out scenes from one of the musicals as we’d put on shows or just dance in my room. Just hearing Wonder’s songs will bring me back to that innocent time when I was younger, carefree, and the sound of my 8-Track player filled the room with songs in the key of my life.
