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Music Appreciation
I’m 68 Re-Discovering Music
Surprise One: I love Blondie!!
I recently watched a movie called “Falling Off the Rails” featuring a trip down memory lane for three 50ish-year-old women. The soundtrack and plot line feature songs from Blondie’s heyday in the late 1970s-early ‘80s’.
I realized I was singing along to all the songs. To my surprise, I knew every word of “Call Me.” Unusual for me, I have recall issues.
Perhaps the Blondie allure ties me to the time I fell in love with a man nearly impossible to love. “Call me” lyrics resonate, as do the lines in “Heart of Glass.” Love is so confusing, sings Debbi Harry. I couldn’t agree more.
I shouldn’t be so surprised that I gravitate to Blondie’s music as they rose out of the New York Punk scene. Confession: I am a closeted punker!
Outwardly, I wear the trappings of an academic scholar: suits and cardigans. Inwardly, I dance to a punk band. I love getting lost in a hard-driving beat. Ssshhh (imagine pointer finger to lips) it’s a secret. Many years ago, several of my students were gobsmacked when they encountered me dancing at the local underground punk bar.
Blondie busted out of those underground bars with their blend of punk, disco, reggae, funk, new wave, and early hip-hop…
