Music and Memory – an Old School Throwback Jam

Some of the greatest song quotes ever – “It takes two to make a thing go right…it takes two to make it outta sight…” –Rob Base  and “Don’t just stand there bust a move!” -Young MC and “If you gotta problem, yo I’ll solve it….Word to your mother…” -Vanilla Ice

Last Saturday night my husband and I and a big group of friends were able to go to the Old School Throwback Jam Concert which featured: Salt-N-Pepa with DJ Spinderella, Vanilla Ice, Coolio, Tone Loc, Rob Base, Young Mc, Color Me Badd, The Jets and Candyman. We all dressed up in appropriate attire for the concert – here are a few fun pics:

hip hop 2 hip hop hip hop 3 hip hop 4

Now anyone who was at son Dalton’s wedding and saw our Mother / Son epic impromtu wedding dance battle knows that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE all of that hip hop music from my teenage years!! When my son told me to pick out my favorite dance songs for our wedding dance together of course those were the songs I chose!  He refused to let us practice our dance in advance which made me nervous, but as soon as I heard those late 80’s early 90’s tunes playing all of the old moves came back to me 🙂    In case you didn’t get to see our battle here is a copy of a video someone shot on their phone that day…

It is honestly amazing how much music affects your memory. Hearing those songs doesn’t just trigger old dance moves, I literally can sing every word to the songs even after 26 years!  It is crazy!

Saturday nights Throwback Jam concert was SO MUCH FUN! I listened to all of those groups back in High School and College and hearing each of their songs again brought back so many fun memories for me. Oh to go back to the good ole days when our hair was hairsprayed to the extreme and the fashions were seriously hilarious. To go back to being a 17 year old girl that could hip-hop dance all night and never get tired! And who was glued to the TV when 90210 would come on….Good times…Good times…you gotta love and appreciate the power of music on memories…

Today I suggest you look up some songs from your senior year of high school or freshman year of college and jam out to them. Watch how quickly the words of the songs come back to you and how quickly the memories of the good ole days start flooding back…you’ll be amazed at how vivid the memories are when those songs start playing again…good times…

~Amy Rees Anderson

1 Comment

  • Jane says:

    Hahaha WooHoo love it! I bet Dalton wouldn’t practice with you because he wanted to surprise you a) with the throwback tunes and b) his expertise at throwback dance moves. You were both amazing. Let us know if you audition for Dancing with the Stars.

    On another note, studies have proven what you relayed as your secondary theme. Listening to music of their teens have made people feel younger and stronger. And it’s also proven that what we memorize as children doesn’t leave us. So memorizaturn is both easier and more embedded in memory when we memorize at a young age. I’m sure you already know all that. 🙂

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