Happy Birthday, Linda!

above: Phil & Linda & their mother, 1973.

Dear Linda,

You’ll already have a card and physical iteration of one of the musical compilations (below), but I thought you might want a more portable version (via Spotify), and I didn’t make CD mixes of the other two – though I can, if you would like them. I also thought that others might enjoy the music. Indeed, since we are a far-flung group – not just our family, but our friends – this blog post seemed a way to invite lots of people to your birthday party. I know that, during the last year, we have all seen less of each other than we’d have preferred. So, perhaps we can consider this a virtual, international birthday party? And, hey, everyone generally welcomes an occasion to celebrate, don’t they? So, I am inviting all who happen upon this post to celebrate your birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! CELEBRATE LINDA’S BIRTHDAY, ONE & ALL!

Let’s start with a playlist featuring one song from each year of your life!

Only one song per artist, and presented in chronological order from 1971 to the present! I did my best to choose songs that I know (or think) you like. Inasmuch as possible, there is some logic to the juxtapositions – so that, too, played a role in determining the musical choices.

And what songs were released in the year of your birth?

The above 50+ songs are but a sampling of music from 1971.

However, to arrive at the years when pop music more thoroughly embeds itself in memory, we need to fast-forward about a decade. Thus: the music of 1981!

This is a longer playlist not because the music of 1981 is better than the music of 1971, but because the music of 1981 is more embedded in my memory, too!

Have you heard or seen The Hood Internet’s clever, multi-song mash-ups of the years 1979 to 1989? I know mash-ups are more my thing than yours, but perhaps these will appeal to you, also. I find them an exercise in concentrated musical nostalgia. Simultaneously listening to many pop favorites woven together creates a more intense emotional experience. It’s like mainlining pop music from our formative years, if that makes sense (and it may not…). They include 60 songs for every year, and they devote only 3.5 minutes to each year.

If listening to an entire decade all at once is too intense, they also did video versions for each year of the above. So, you could experience them a year (or 3.5 minutes) at a time.

Or not. As I say, this might be more my thing than yours….

Hope the day is full of everything you enjoy – 

Happy birthday!!!

Love,

Phil

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