DAY 12: A SONG FROM YOUR PRE-TEEN YEARS.

In considering this, I had to think about what was meant by 'pre-teen' years. I have a daughter who'll be turning 13 in just a few weeks, so it was easy for me to get a reference. If I think about the point where she stopped being a 'little girl' and started to develop as a pre-teen (or 'tween' as they are now called), I figured that was around 10 or 11.

So now I had my age group, 10-12. What years were these? For me, this was 1984-85.

I searched through my music collection for music from these years. I have a lot of albums that were released during this time, however much of it was not what I knew or listened to at the time. In those days, the only exposure was through FM radio and TV. This was also just before the time I started to buy albums from single artists. So any music was from compilation albums that record labels released annually that showcased the artists who had big hits.

And then I came across this hit.

The Power of Love by Huey Lewis & the News
from the soundtrack to Back To The Future

image source

I was so into this movie. It was brilliant, and continues to be a favourite today, still being one of the highest grossing films.

Michael J Fox was seemed to be heart-throb for all the girls, and an inspiration for the lads. We all started wearing jeans, denim jackets with parka vests, and basketball hi-tops after this movie came out.

Having grown up with Star Wars, Dr Who, and Star Trek, Back To The Future continued to cement my love and fascination with Science Fiction. The idea that history could be altered with disastrous results due to mucking around with time travel made an impression, and I remember thinking about what would one have to do to be able to travel through time and not muck up the time-stream.

But also, consider the places you could go and what you could see. Imagining different eras became another fascination, and that (as well as Indiana Jones) was probably the major influence for my love of history.

My interest in music history probably also began here too, as I started to explore the music of the 1950's. By this time, my musical tastes were starting to develop, and I began to realise how banal and mediocre most commercial music was. I was craving for tunes that grabbed my imagination, and other than the odd new release here and there, I began searching through the music of my parents' generation, raiding my folks' small record collection for gems.

I had to laugh watching the video for this song. That hair! Those clothes! And all that cheesy acting!

But nonetheless, as far as one-hit-wonders of Rock, this one is one of the better ones. Not sure whatever happened to Huey Lewis... but this song still endures.

And what about the "power of love" that "makes the world go 'round"?

It's an interesting sentiment; many cultures articulate that the notion of 'love' is something uniquely human. I like to consider it as an understanding of the force of attraction. In this sense, this is a power that bring people together and allow us to come together in a way that is highly creative.

Like the lyrics say,

Tougher than diamonds and stronger than steel

Enjoy!
😊🙏🏽☯️