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Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time and author Jim Adams from A Unique Title For Me is our current host. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

This week’s theme is  “Touch/Feel.”

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While we’re much maligned these days by younger generations, I love being a boomer. We’ve seen and experienced more than any generation in modern times, and no other generation will probably ever get the opportunities we’ve had.

Technically, baby boomers were born from 1946 through 1964 and came of age from 1964 through 1982. We can remember when there were no microwaves, cellphones, or Internet.  Our first televisions were boxy with a picture tube and broadcast in black white.  Seat belts weren’t standard in automobiles… but ashtrays in the back seat were.

In my opinion, we also had the best music. From post-war quartets to high energy disco, some of the best songs and biggest artists happened during the boomer’s heydays.

And we listened to our music in more ways than any other generation. We had vinyl in 78, 33, or 45 speeds, reel-to-reel tape, 8-track tape, AM radio, cassette tape, CD, MP3, and now we stream from our phones and tablets. I haven’t met a boomer yet who hasn’t mentioned their favorite songs from back-in-the-day AND how they listened to it. A former coworker could never mention her beloved Beach Boys without including a mention for the stacks of 45s and her pink record player. An old neighbor loved Saturday nights in the park… with Motown hits on 8-track.

I was a typical preteen/teen girl, accumulating 45s as fast as I could. Somewhere in my mid teens, I switched to buying albums only, regardless of song or artist and amassed quite a collection. However, with going away to school and moving around the country, moving my albums with me was becoming work. I switched to audio cassettes, but can still remember the last three vinyl albums I bought; Funkadelic’s One Nation Under a Groove, Heatwave’s Central Heating, and Barbra Streisand’s Wet.

I can’t remember the song that hooked me on Barbra Streisand, but I do know I was in grade school. I was mesmerized by her big voice and ability to hold a note!

Wet was her twenty-first studio album, and probably best remembered for the #1 duet with disco queen, Donna Summer, No More Tears (Enough Is Enough). I loved that song but my favorite cut on the album has always been Kiss Me in the Rain.

In the song, the singer has reached a point in life where because of disappointment or simple ennui, they long for the innocence and feelings of their youth. It’s a really beautiful song I fell in love with while still in my teens and all these years later, it still feels timeless.

FUN FACTS:

• While it didn’t receive a wide release, Wet was an Adult Contemporary Top Ten hit.
• Wet is a concept album of sorts with all the songs referring to, or expressing different interpretations of, water. Wet is also the first and the last word sung on the album.
• The studio musicians on Wet was a melting pot of amazing talent like  Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro from the rock band, Toto, Grammy winner Larry Carlton, super music producer and composer David Foster, composer Lalo Schifrin, best known for the original theme from Mission Impossible, and composer Marvin Hamlisch, one of only fifteen people to win Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. This collection of all four is referred to as an “EGOT”. He is one of only two people (along with composer Richard Rodgers) to have won those four prizes and a Pulitzer Prize (“PEGOT”).

Enjoy!

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection for FeliciaDenise.com.

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Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.

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