Thank God It’s Friday or so the saying goes – and boy am I ever!
Today here in Blogland I thought it might be fun to take a look at a few things I found recently that will bring back some fond memories for those of you who were music fans in the ’70s and ’80s.
It’s sort of a virtual musical dumpster dive into my grab bag of weird items I’ve saved forever for no apparent purpose other than to fill up this blog lol.
So let me take you back about 37 or 38 years or so. Back to a time before cell phones – can you believe there was such a time? Back before personal computers, Google, Netflix and certainly back before downloading.
You see back in my late grade school and high school days (1978-1981) music shopping for me meant haunting department stores to get my current music fix.
Of course looking back it makes perfect sense. I didn’t have my driver’s license until 1981 and since I was usually going with a parent or friend’s parents to department stores that’s where I found most of my music and records.
Back then I followed the Top 40 religiously and knew every artist and new song and kept track of every chart movement and every stat of my favorite groups much like a rapid sports fan.
I loved to listen to Casey Kasem on American Top Forty on the radio and that show pumped me up for my record shopping excursions.
Nowadays I’m lucky to even recognize anything in the Top 40 but for a few short years I loved all the current hits and bought a good share of them as well.
What I usually did whenever I went to say a Kmart or Montgomery Wards store was march over to the record section and grab a few flyers advertising the latest hits or the most popular hits at that particular store.
Most of them were just printed on flimsy pieces of colored paper that I’m sure didn’t survive the passage of time, errr in normal households.
I, of course, did manage to save a few of these lovely flyers which is really a nice time capsule as it takes me back to that time in a vivid way. Makes me want to grab for a frozen Coke which I often did while reading them back in the day.
Oh, the other thing that I want to share (see photo above for front and below for rear) is a rack card for a Flashback 45 of The Monkees “I’m a Believer”.
This is my earliest item here today and it was purchased in the mid-1970s from a grocery store not a department store.
I distinctly remember a local grocery store stocking several of these hit 45s which were part of a series called “20 Years of Gold – Gold Hit Records from the Past”. Remember those?
The store had a huge display filled with these cards which had the 45 shrink wrapped on them near the bottom of the card.
For some reason I kept the card for “I’m a Believer” but I also remember buying some Mama’s and Papa’s 45s as well as The Association. My packrat ways must have been started then as I felt the need to keep this card for The Monkees but there you go lol.
Below you’ll find a few of the music flyers I kept from department stores.
They are fun to look at and when I do it doesn’t seem quite possible that they were from so long ago – could it possible be over 35 years ago?!! Maybe you’ll spot some favorite songs as well.
Until next time be well and relax, it’s Friday!!!
Records, CDs and Music: 