We Go Together

This spring I mentioned that the mini van came equipped with satellite radio. The van's former owners said we'd have to start footing the bill in February if we wanted to keep it on but it's 10 months later and Sirius is still goin' strong. Sure, we should fess up, but they left the country after selling us their used car - at least that's what they told us. Now, when I get tired of WMVY (or when they play Hey Joe again), I switch on Sirius to see what's playing on "Big 80s" and "70s on 7." You would not believe how many hit songs Duran Duran had. You think there was only Rio, but you're wrong my friend, there were many, many, others.
The DJ on 70s at 7 is obnoxious in my opinion, which I find surprising since I consider the 80s to be a far more obnoxious decade of music than the 70s.
It's interesting the memories that songs of these two decades conjure up. I won't bore you with the details of my high school days but what I've noticed is that having graduated in 1986, songs from the Big 80s often remind me of a specific places, the movie theater (St. Elmos Fire, Don't You Forget About Me), the prom (Heaven), junior high school dances (Centerfold), that dance I went to with my Nova Scotia cousins (anything by Duran Duran since they all sound the same), driving my boyfriend to the bus station (So Far Away From Me) Whoops, I did say I wouldn't bore you didn't I?
The 70s on the other hand remind me of college because that's when I branched out from top 40 music and did what many other impressionable students have done before me, which is to embrace music of another generation.
What's funny about both stations is the often inappropriate juxtoposition of songs. For example last week the 70s station immediatelly followed Led Zeppelin's "D'yer Mak'er" with Michael Jackson's "Rock With You." Yes, both songs were released in the 70s but that's where the similarities end. There would not have existed a radio station in the 1970s that would have played both of these songs.
It's like being at the zoo, sure you can put the polar bear exhibit next to the giant tortoise, but you'd never find them hanging around together in nature.

song: We Go Together • musical: Grease