My Blue Box Record Player

1.  People by Barbra Streisand

2.  Second Hand Rose by Barbra Streisand

3.  He Touched Me by Barbra Streisand

4.  Free Again by Barbra Streisand

5.  Don't Rain On My Parade by Barbra Streisand

6.  My Man by Barbra Streisand

7.  The Way of Love by Cher

8.  Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves by Cher

9.  Fire and Rain by Cher

10.  He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother by Cher

I can't remember if I received this record player for Christmas or a birthday.  All I remember is that it was one of my all-time favorite gifts from my childhood.  It was a heavy cardboard type of material covered with this candy blue paper.  It had pink and white accents.  It played 33's (vinyl albums), 78's (smaller albums from really old days), and 45's (the small vinyl records with an A and B side).  Mine was a bit larger than the one in the photo but it was very portable. And it got used!!!  It was such an important part of my becoming who I am.  Maybe that seems silly to you, but it was!  And the reason it was is because it allowed me to take my affinity for music and my tendency to place myself into the music into the privacy of my own room.  Pre-blue box record player days forced me to listen to my music in the living room where everyone was around.  Come to think of it, I'm not sure I even HAD my own music prior to this.  I think I probably listened to what everyone else had - which is not bad, mind you.  I enjoyed their music, too.  But it was a reflection of them and their choices, not mine.  The box record player came at about the time I was earning money for babysitting and, like any respectable girl approaching her teens, I used my money to buy records!  And then . . . the record player came. So I took my purchases into my bedroom and listened and listened and listened.  I noted every inflection of their voices, and time after time after time, I tried desperately to reproduce that same quality with my voice.  I can only imagine the many times my family must have been outside that bedroom door, holding their sides and laughing that uproarious silent laughter that you do when something is so funny but you have to be quiet - like in church.  Of course, inside the bedroom, it was all serious.  I mean, SERIOUS!!!  I had to get this stuff DOWN!  I was going to be a big star someday and I had to know how to do this stuff!  I think I ended up doing a pretty good imitation though.  That ended up being my problem when I started actually performing with the family band, though.  I had spent my time learning to copy instead of figuring out how I should or would sing the song myself.  Still, it is what it is, and they were glorious moments in my life.  I'm sure that you'll notice that there are no Osmonds songs. There was at first, but then it soon became apparent that that would have to be its own playlist. What remains are songs from the two albums I listened to over and over and over again that were NOT of Osmond origin.  And these two women mesmerized me!  Babs and Cher!

Some people might think these odd choices for a young girl.  I'm pretty certain that Barbra was a result of the influence of my parents, more so my mother.  I don't think I gravitated toward her myself although she was big on the scene at the time.  Cher, though, was mine and purely mine.  We watched the Sonny and Cher show at home all the time and enjoyed it. I'm not sure how my parents felt about Cher as a solo act.  All I know is that I loved Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves on the radio and I HAD to have it!  The first album on the scene was Barbra's, though, so let's talk about her . . .

                           

The album Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits opens with her rendition of People.  Cue the flute. Then the strings start with their beautiful strands, add more flute ~ wide, sweeping notes.  The curtain opens ~  the spotlight snaps on and there I am on the stage - all alone - just me and the spotlight.  My mouth opens and out comes the word "People."  Pause (for dramatic effect.) More violins.  "People who need people."  Then you let the song flow freely from you.  This was how I listened to this album.  It was me on that stage, not Barbra.  "What stage?" you ask.  Why the one that was in my bedroom!  Nobody else ever saw it, but it was there all the same!  And I sang on that stage many, many times!  Oh, I had rave reviews and demands for encores!  It was a great world there in my room with my record player and albums.  I could connect with each and every song she sang but these on this playlist were my favorites from this album.  They were very theatrical and, I can assure you, I gave it my all!  They say that when you die your life flashes before your eyes.  Well, if that's so, I hope I can hit a pause button and enjoy watching myself in my room with my record player.  It will be a blessed moment of joy and laughter - before I plummet down to hell! 

                                                                           

My Cher album, Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves, demanded a different sort of performance.  I'd say it was more like a prelude to today's music videos.  It was probably greatly influenced by the skits and song production numbers I'd see on the weekly variety shows that were so popular at the time.  But, when I sang the title song, I was walking through a gypsy camp ~ or what I envisioned a gypsy camp to look like!  It's funny to listen to the song now and remember how I knew what the song was talking about but I was pretty sure my mom didn't know what they were talking about.  You know how parents are clueless and all.  They don't understand such things ~ clandestine meetings, the seedy side of life.  As a twelve or thirteen year old girl, you're much more hip to such themes.  Still, I sang this song at the top of my lungs.  As I did The Way of Love.  Now, the meaning to that song flew right by me!  Listen to the words sometime - it's dealing with a subject that was just on the brink at the time but a mainstream topic today.  I'm curious to check out this album.  I mean the actual physical album.  As I look at the songs on it I realize that I am only acquainted to about half of them.  I'd be willing to bet that I only listened to one side of the album!  

Nothing against Cher, but being where I am today and knowing artists as I do, I'm a little sad to note that my introduction to the songs Fire and Rain, and He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother were not from James Taylor and Neil Diamond - it was from Cher.  And, as it goes, the person who introduces you to a song, in your mind, is the original artist.  It usually takes alot to convince you otherwise.  I'm happy to let you know that I have been successfully reconditioned now to recognize Cher's covers for what they are - just covers.  But her covers will always be dear to me.  And, I think, prove what is true - that a good song is a good song, no matter who records it.