Traditional Friday Morning Stomp Song

That’s not the name of the song.

It’s actually called “Swing” and it’s by the Ray Anthony Orchestra.  After all, credit where credit is due.

When I was in high school, this was a song the morning disc jockey played every Friday.  It was part congratulatory for getting through the week, and part celebration because it was Friday and the weekend was finally here!

My friends and I got so much joy out of this song, which is really just Ray’s take on Glenn Miller’s “In The Mood”, jazzed up a bit and modernized for 1980.

You may be thinking, “Ray Anthony? Glenn Miller?  Jazz?  What teenagers would be interested in that?”

To which I will simply join countless teenagers (past, present and future) and simply say, “You don’t know us at all.”

This was the morning deejay playing something for us, sharing something with us, that he thought was cool and fun. And if any other adult had suggested it was cool and fun, they would have gotten an eye roll, at the very least.

But this was the guy who was always introducing us to cool and fun new music, our music.  He was the one who first shared “Cadillac Ranch” with us.  And “Back In Black”.  And “Once In A Lifetime”.

And he broke the news to us that John Lennon had been killed.

We loved music when we were teenagers.  It became an important part of who we were, especially since we were discovering a lot of it, and it was all so different than what our parents, or even our older siblings, listened to. 

And, yes, back then, “discovering” music came mostly from listening to the radio.

It doesn’t really matter where we found it, or where we find music today.  Music has power.  It really connects us all, even if some only refer to it because they don’t like it.  Or, at least, don’t like what you’re listening to.

It makes us feel. Music is probably the only form of art that elicits an emotional response so quickly.  You love it.  You hate it.  You quickly hit the back button to replay that song you love (or you Shazam it so you can get a copy of your own later).  Or you quickly hit “skip” or change the station when that song you don’t like comes on.

It can make us laugh or just feel good, in a fast three minutes.  Or it can makes us melancholy in the same speedy amount of time.

And music is a time machine.

Nothing captures the essence of a particular period of time like music.  You can instantly be transported back to a concert you attended in your early twenties, or vividly recall that first record or CD your parents gave you when you were just a kid.

And while couples may have memorable romantic dates at the movies or restaurants, or even Disneyland, more of them have one particular piece of music that they each recognize as Their Song.

The same song can have so many different meanings and memories attached to it, for each one of us.  And they don’t always have to be momentous occasions.  Some may bring back memories of family trips.  Some may remind you of a friend or family member.  Some might take you back to a certain job or school.

And some may just take you back to when you were in high school and you were getting excited about the weekend.