December 1984

I've previously written about a few of my adventures during my first semester in college in this post. But as Christmas approaches, I'm reminded of my first winter break in which I returned home for 4 weeks from mid-December 1984 to mid-January 1985; a guest in the house I grew up in. It's a strange feeling, isn't it? I had been home twice during the fall semester, once for a weekend visit and once at Thanksgiving. I didn't often drive home from college because it was a 6 hour drive each way.

Anyhoo, I distinctly remember finishing my first semester of college with an English 101 final, which I finished early then walked across a cold, eerily deserted campus listening to the decidedly un-Christmas tune "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by J.S. Bach on my trusty Walkman WM-10.

I quickly packed and headed home for the holidays, finding myself a much different person than when I'd left: I had traveled 350 miles to a university where I knew nobody prior to matriculating, I had joined a fraternity, I had met a girl 4½ years older than me who thought we were going to marry (we didn't), I had met another girl 13 days younger than me to which I've been married since 1989, I had experienced ill-fated attempts at growing a mustache and piercing my ear, and, most importantly(?) had completed 17 credit hours. Most all of these events happened in the university's music building, seen here:

Undated postcard. The back caption reads as follows:
MUSIC BUILDING as seen from the terrace of the Art Building.
It is soundproof, air-conditioned, and houses all music education
and music activities including a complete radio studio.

That building was eventually demolished which is for the best because it was a dump back in the '80s so I can't imagine how bad it must have been decades later. Here's what that building looked like the last time I was in Commerce:

November 2013

But I digress (as I'm wont to do). Let's talk about music. When I returned home to my old room to my old bed, I wanted to hear some tunes so I turned on my old Marantz clock radio because my Fisher stereo was left in my dorm room. To my delight, a new local station had gone on the air, KMKS. It was the city's first FM station and its format was adult contemporary, a format which perfectly suited my mood at the time (still does). What follows is a Mixcloud show with an annotated playlist of tunes that remind me of those few weeks at home in December 1984. I specifically remember the Julian Lennon and Jermaine Jackson tunes being played on heavy rotation on my new FM radio station. Good times. Enjoy.

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"Valotte"
Julian Lennon
From the album Valotte
Written by Julian Lennon, Justin Clayton & Carlyon Morales
Produced by Phil Ramone
Hot 100: #9
Adult Contemporary: #4
Mainstream Rock: #2

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"Method of Modern Love"
Daryl Hall and John Oates
From the album Big Bam Boom
Written by Daryl Hall & Janna Allen
Produced by Daryl Hall, John Oates, and Bob Clearmountain
Hot 100: #5
Adult Contemporary: #18
R&B: #21
Dance: #15
Mainstream Rock: #42

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"Do What You Do"
Jermaine Jackson
From the album Dynamite
Written by Ralph Dino & Larry DiTomasso
Produced by Jermaine Jackson
Hot 100: #13
Adult Contemporary: #1
R&B: #14

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"Like a Virgin"
Madonna
From the album Like a Virgin
Written by Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly
Produced by Nile Rodgers
Hot 100: #1
Adult Contemporary: #29
R&B: #9
Dance: #1

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"Foolish Heart"
Steve Perry
From the album Street Talk
Written by Steve Perry & Randy Goodrum
Produced by Steve Perry
Hot 100: #18
Adult Contemporary: #2

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"Love Light in Flight"
Stevie Wonder
From the soundtrack album The Woman in Red
Written by Stevie Wonder
Produced by Stevie Wonder
Hot 100: #17
Adult Contemporary: #10
R&B: #4
Dance: #6

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"After All"
Al Jarreau
From the album High Crime
Written by Al Jarreau, Jay Graydon & David Foster
Produced by Jay Graydon
Hot 100: #69
Adult Contemporary: #6
R&B: #26

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"20/20"
George Benson
From the album 20/20
Written by Randy Goodrum & Steve Kipner
Produced by Russ Titelman
Hot 100: #48
Adult Contemporary: #15
R&B: #15

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"Missing You"
Diana Ross
From the album Swept Away
Written by Lionel Richie
Produced by Lionel Richie & James Anthony Carmichael
Hot 100: #10
Adult Contemporary: #4
R&B: #1

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"Solid"
Ashford & Simpson
From the album Solid
Written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson
Produced by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson
Hot 100: #12
Adult Contemporary: #34
R&B: #1
Dance: #15

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"No More Lonely Nights"
Paul McCartney
From the soundtrack album Give My Regards to Broad Street
Written by Paul McCartney
Produced by George Martin
Hot 100: #6
Adult Contemporary: #2
Mainstream Rock: #16

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"What About Me?"
Kenny Rogers with Kim Carnes, & James Ingram
From the album What About Me?
Written by Kenny Rogers, David Foster & Richard Marx
Produced by Kenny Rogers & David Foster
Hot 100: #15
Adult Contemporary: #1
Country: #70

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"Misled"
Kool and The Gang
From the album Emergency
Written by Ronald Bell, James Taylor & Kool And The Gang
Produced by Ronald Bell, Jim Bonnefond & Kool And The Gang
Hot 100: #10
R&B: #3
Dance: #9
Mainstream Rock: #1

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"Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four"
Eurythmics
From the soundtrack album 1984
Written by David Stewart & Annie Lennox
Produced by David A. Stewart
Hot 100: #81
Dance: #2

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