Songs that remind me of others

We all know my love for all kinds of music. Music has a way of sometimes conveying meaning way better than I could ever do in written form. I find it to be a fantastic outlet for my own personal ways of expression. Especially when it comes to my mood swings involving love, loss, rage, friendship and general happiness.

Let me give you an example. For instance, earlier today I was listening to the song "On The Hotline" by Pretty Ricky. It's about hot, passionate phone sex.

I'm a total whore when it comes to phone sex. It's true. Ask any woman who has been involved with me romantically and they'll tell you that I've seduced them more than once with phone sex.

This particular song by Pretty Ricky makes me think of my ex-girlfriend and born again Mormon, Amanda. Amanda and I had some hot phone sex. I miss her from time to time and sometimes wish we were talking. But I really miss the sex. We were totally in sync when it came to rubbing naughty bits and being naked with one another.

I also think a lot of my need to want to talk to her comes from my dry spell I'm presently having. I haven't had sex since October.

When exactly do I become a born again virgin? Like in a year? By the looks of it, I might go that long if not longer.

The song "Fix You" by Coldplay reminds me of my ex-girlfriend, the Starbucks barista. I miss her, too. But for different reasons. I'm actually looking at her right now here in Starbucks. She cut her hair. And she still has a great ass. I've also noticed that she doesn't wear her glasses anymore.

The reason that particular Coldplay song reminds me of her is because I heard it in Starbucks shortly after she dumped me. It made me miss her and long for the fondness I had for her when we were together. The song still chokes me up even now.

Want to get me to cry at a party? Play Coldplay "Fix You" and I'll well up with tears like you wouldn't believe.

There are several other songs that will do that.

Like Sarah McLachlan's "Do What You Have To Do". This song (and a couple of other of Sarah's songs) make me think of my relationship with another ex-girlfriend, Christina. Christina have known each other since I was 20 and she was 16.

One of the artists that always makes me think of her is Sarah McLachlan. We had an interest in a lot of the same music and Sarah McLachlan was an artist we both adored. Christina has been lucky enough to see her in concert, even.

Peter Gabriel's album, "Us", is another fine piece of work that conjures up some memories of someone. There was a girl I was kind of involved with but mostly friends with named Raemi. Her name was short for "Rae Michelle".

I met Raemi quite by accident due to a wrong number. I was trying to reach a different girl and accidently dialed Raemi instead. I used my charm during our wrong number conversation and made sure to brag I worked in radio because she sounded cute. And she totally was cute.

I could tell you of some of the mindless bullshit I pulled with Raemi that I'm sure made her think I was crazy. I was a dumb 19 year old guy that really hadn't found my way with the ladies yet.

Now that I think about it, I probably still don't know my way with the ladies.

Anyway, that album from Peter Gabriel not only reminds me of Raemi but reminds me of my own early adult life. I loved that album and still do. At the time, I really felt that this album was the best way to describe me as a person. I think that statement still hold true to this day.

The album "Give Up" by the Postal Service, anything by Slipknot, the song "Plowed" by Sponge and the song "It's Never Too Late" by Steppenwolf remind me of my deceased friend, Nick Danger. I miss Nick greatly. And the Steppenwolf song especially makes me ball or choke up when I hear it because I immediately think of him.

Many who also knew Nick would probably find it odd that I utilize a band like the Postal Service to mark my feelings about his death. I'm not so sure that it's the album so much as it was the music contained on it that hit a chord with me during the time of his death.

I remember listening to that album over and over and over while driving from Tucson, Arizona to Reno, Nevada for his memorial. If I wasn't listening to that, I was listening to the Steppenwolf track REPEATEDLY because that really encompassed how I was feeling about his death at the time.

It was odd, too. I was trying to keep from crying every 8 seconds on my drive back to Reno when I came upon the Grand Canyon. I had stopped playing the Postal Service disc because I noticed my car CD player was getting really hot.

So I turned on my iPod and hit "shuffle" so that it would mix up all the songs in my iPod in a random order.

I had just crossed the Glen Canyon Dam out of Page, Arizona as I started to enter the Utah border. The landscape in that area is just breathtaking. As I was processing the sheer beauty of everything I was seeing during my drive when Steppenwolf song came on.

I had to pull over because I couldn't control my emotions. There I was on the side of the road sobbing uncontrollably over the death of my friend in the middle of this grand landscape feeling completely overwhelmed with grief. And that song wasn't helping matters. Well, it was but it wasn't.

And then, quite suddenly, I snapped out of it. It was almost like I had a sense that Nick was there with me trying to calm me down. And I felt his presence with me for quite a while as I drove through Southern Utah on my way to his memorial.

There have been other times in my life when a certain song will either stop me dead in my tracks or make me lost in thought about where I was or who I was with when I heard it.

The album "Graceland" by Paul Simon, "The Joshua Tree" by U2, "Skylarking" by XTC and "Mosaic" by Wang Chung are just a few albums that remind me of my teen years and when I first started getting into music.

"Purple Rain" and "Around The World In A Day" by Prince, "She's So Unusual" by Cyndi Lauper, "Dream Of The Blue Turtles" by Sting, "12 Greatest Hits, Volume 2" by Neil Diamond, "Let There Be Music" by The Orleans, "Whipped Cream & Other Delights" by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and "Greatest Hits" by Simon & Garfunkel are just some of the albums that remind me of my mom and my childhood.

The song "And So It Goes" by Billy Joel reminds me of a girlfriend I had in high school named Brenda Shortt.

The albums "Rhythm Nation 1814" by Janet Jackson, "World Clique" by Deee-Lite, "Pretty Hate Machine" by Nine Inch Nails, "Cosmic Thing" by the B52's, "Pump Up The Jam" by Technotronic, "Gonna Make You Sweat" by C + C Music Factory, "Girl You Know It's True" by Milli Vanilli, "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" by M.C. Hammer and a host of other albums from the early 90's remind me of my high school days at Central High School in South Salt Lake.

The song "I Will Never Let You Down" reminds me of a girl I was seeing briefly in Reno, Nevada by the name of Angelina Morris. I really liked that girl a lot. I even remember telling my deceased friend Nick that she was going to be my wife.

That, of course, never happened because I pushed her away. So, the irony here is, I did let her down.

Another girl I pushed away from Reno, Nevada was Lisa Champion. She and I were a lot like Amanda and I. We were really sexual with each other but had more things in common. She was a sweet girl and she was totally into me. But I let her down because I was too self absorbed to take anything seriously. Including relationships.

With regard to Lisa, I'm not sure what song reminds me of her. But I do think of her from time to time without the help of music. Actually, I would have to say that "Lullaby" by Shawn Mullins reminds me of her. I met her during the time I was working at Magic 95.5 and that was a song that was hot at the time getting massive airplay.

Speaking of massive, another song that reminds me of someone (or something, at least) is "Teardrop" by Massive Attack. Not only is it the theme to the television show "House" it is also the song that was playing when I first drove my bosses truck at the railyard.

Thanks to Brooke Ricketts and his music tastes, I was able to find out who did that song. Also, whenever I hear anything by Bob Marley or the Grateful Dead, I think of Brooke and the railyard I worked in.

I really miss it there.

Another song that reminds me of the railyard is "Laffy Taffy" by D4L. You couldn't escape that song when it first came out. I remember it well during my training for the railroad job in Wilmer, Texas. My co-workers and I always seemed to come across that song somewhere during our two weeks in Wilmer, Texas (which is about an hour outside of Dallas/Fort Worth).

Another song I gained a new appreciation for while we were training there was "I've Been Thinking About You" by Londonbeat. On one of our trips back to our hotel room from training, we were very tired and still had the long drive to look forward to after work.

Upon scanning the radio stations, my co-worker Seth (who was driving), stopped on the Londonbeat song. I remember all of us in the van joining in and singing along to the tune.

Good times.

A song that reminds me of my time at the radio station 94.9 KZHT (Hot 94.9) here in Salt Lake City, Utah is "Mr. Wendal" by Arrested Development.

A song that reminds me of my time at the radio station 104.5 KDOT (Pure Rock 104 DOT 5) in Reno, Nevada is "My Goddess" by The Exies or "Faint" by Linkin Park or "Killing Time" by Hed PE or "Bad Religion" by Godsmack or "Lit Up" by Buckcherry or "Liberate" by Disturbed or "The Call Of Ktulu" by Metallica or a bunch of others.

A song that reminds me of 93.3 KLZX (Z93) which was a station I never worked for but always wanted to here in Salt Lake (and home to the morning show that made me want to get into radio in the first place, Jon & Dan with Clyde Lewis) is "Blinded By The Light" by Manfred Mann.

A song that reminds me of my time at 92.7 KJQN (KJQ) in Salt Lake City, Utah is "Trampoline" by Julian Cope or "There's No Other Way" by Blur or "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam or "Lightning Man" by Nitzer Ebb or a bunch of others.

A song that reminds me of my time at 93.9 WRPL (The Planet 93.9) in Erie, Pennsylvania is "Wish You Were Here" by Incubus.

A song that reminds me of my time at 96.1 KLPX in Tucson, Arizona is "Dreams I'll Never See" by Molly Hatchet.

A song that reminds me of my time at 105.7 KOZZ in Reno, Nevada is "Hocus Pocus" by Focus or "Stay With Me" by Faces or "I'm Going Home" by Tens Years After or "Roundabout" by Yes and a few other great classic rock tracks.

A song that reminds me of my former program director, Jave Patterson, at 104.5 KDOT in Reno, Nevada is "Liar" by Moke. At the time, this song really summed up my anger with Jave over how I felt he stabbed me in the back. I've forgiven him since then but I still think about him when I hear this track.

As I'm typing this, I wonder what songs make people think about me. Hmmmmmm...

A song that makes me think of Reno, Nevada is "Lights" by Journey. That song also makes me think of my childhood.

An album that reminds me of one of my first times having sex is "Singles 45's And Under" by Squeeze. I don't remember the girls name but I remember the sex since it was like my second or third time. This album was playing in the background while we were getting it on in my room while my mom watched television downstairs.

A song that I could totally lip-sync (and did so in front of all my classmates on the school bus ride home from high school one day) is "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel.

A song that reminds me of the original Vortex nightclub here in Salt Lake is a dance remix of "White Horse" by Laid Back. It was at the Vortex I purchased a really cool Dole banana neon sign for 20 bucks that I would later sell to my deceased friend Nick nearly ten years later. Actually, I think I gave it to him. I wonder what ever happened to that neon banana?

A song that reminds me of a high school crush I had on a girl by the name of Jennifer Miller is "Erotica" by Madonna. For a long time, I had crush on her. We stayed friends for several years after high school and she did something naughty in my presence during this song. I often wonder what happened to her and where she is now. Last time I talked to her, she was in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A song that reminds me of my friend Clint and our times doing The Darker Side is "It's A Fine Day" by Opus III or "Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)" by The The.

Another song that I just thought of that also reminds me of my ex-girlfriend Christina is "Bluer Than Midnight" by The The.

A song that reminds me of a stripper I was seeing in Reno, Nevada named Corina is "All My Life" by K-Ci & JoJo.

A song that I can always totally relate to is "Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush.

A song that still makes me cringe whenever I hear it (and also reminds me of my early days starting out in radio at 96.1 KZOL {K-96} in Provo, Utah) is "Too Many Walls" by Cathy Dennis. I've never liked this song.

Other songs that remind me of K-96 are "Heart & Soul" by T'Pau, "The Promise" by When In Rome, "Cherry Bomb" by John Cougar Mellencamp and "Candy" by Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson.

A song that reminds me of when I went under the knife in a surgery to remove a benign tumor from my right breast (no joke!) when I was 15 is "The End Of The Innocence" by Don Henley.

A couple of songs that remind me of this girl named Sherri Kinder that I used to date in high school are "The Valley Road" and "Across The River" by Bruce Hornsby & The Range, "Orinoco Flow" by Enya and "Mayor Of Simpleton" by XTC.

A song that reminds me of the girl I lost my virginity to (the day after my 16th birthday), Lisa Lendall, is "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leppard. Incidentally, I've never liked the band Def Leppard.

An artist that reminds me of when MTV was fun to watch is David Lee Roth.

A musical artist I've masturbated to the thought of... Madonna. The video for the song "Open Your Heart" where she is working in the peep show booth always made me hot when I was a kid. I would open up my pants and explore my young lust.

I also recall having a thing for Lita Ford and Samantha Fox.

I will say that I have a boner for Norah Jones, Joss Stone and Sarah McLachlan now.

A song that reminds me of my friend Adam Smith in Reno, Nevada is "St. Anger" by Metallica.

A song that reminds me of both Las Vegas and my friend, Malayna Kerton, in Reno, Nevada is "Con Te Partiro" by Andrea Bocelli.

Another song that reminds me of Malayna is "Cream" by Prince.

A song that reminds me of my time with my deceased friend Nick, his girlfriend Brieanna, our friend Adam and the time we spent in the Peppermill Hotel & Casino is "Pass The Dutchie" by Musical Youth.

I distinctly remember this song playing overhead during one of our many visits to the Peppermill. I'm not sure what brought it on but Nick and myself started to jokingly sing "Pass The Douche-y". I still giggle at that when this 80's New Wave hit comes up on my iTunes.

A song that reminds me of this older, petite, redheaded woman named Debbie I used to have sexy time with when I lived in Reno, Nevada is "Ain't Goin' Down ('Til The Sun Comes Up)" by Garth Brooks. she loved this song and was quite the wild girl for being 43. I was working at 94.5 KHXR (94.5 The Mountain) when I met her. I think I was 26 or 27 when we were boning one another.

A band that always reminds me of Reno, Nevada are The Saddle Tramps.

A couple of guys that make me want to rock out and play the piano is Ben Folds and Harry Connick, Jr.

A song that will always be my national anthem is "Better Days" by Citizen King.

A song that reminds me of my longtime friend, Shawn Spring, is "Thank You" by Boyz II Men. It also reminds me of the times we were working together at 94.9 KZHT the second time around. He was doing middays and I was doing afternoons. The band "The Jets" also comes to mind.

I could go on and on but I need to give this subject a rest because I'll be here all night talking about all the songs I'm fond of and who or what they remind me of.

I'm also getting carpal tunnel syndrome.

-Mike The Janitor
©2007
Millenoma Publishing