THE WORDS & MEMORIES ORBIT

A life, on the record.

Songs that bring you back. People who stay with you. Wander through Nick’s writing, one memory at a time.

51 storiesNEWEST MEMORIES FIRST

Fifty to 50Dec 21, 2015DAY 0

Finale [In The Heights]

Of all the music in all the genres from all the time eras, it’s been REALLY difficult to cull down 50-ish songs as favorites. I love music. Music is joy and sorrow, an outlet and a hope chest. Songs…

Fifty to 50Dec 20, 2015

DAY 1

Kiss On My List

My number one song is not my very favorite for any other reason than the way it makes me feel. It’s not about the lyrics, it’s about the melody and the earnest eighties sound. Heavy pounding on the piano, a…

Fifty to 50Dec 19, 2015DAY 2

Total Eclipse Of The Heart

Hormones. Confusion. Sexual awakening. A dark, lonely closet. A Total Eclipse Of The Heart. It was my first time ever away from home, the first semester of my freshman year at the University of Scranton. I…

Fifty to 50Dec 18, 2015DAY 3

Have You Never Been Mellow / Suddenly

The voice of an angel. A.M. Radio’s sweetheart. Olivia Newton-John, who is also MY sweetheart. As a little boy, I recognized the gift she gave us with her voice. Chris and I had an opportunity to meet her a…

Fifty to 50Dec 17, 2015DAY 4

Express Yourself / Crazy For You

She only needs one name: MADONNA. I can remember vividly the first time I heard of this chick. She was aloof and her sound was bouncy and happy, and she was just what was missing from American pop music…

Fifty to 50Dec 16, 2015DAY 5

This Time I Know It’s For Real / On The Radio

She was the Queen of Disco and I had to listen to her albums secretly because, by the time I had really discovered her, disco was dead and I was living in the Poconos where Lynyrd Skynyrd was king. Sounds…

Fifty to 50Dec 15, 2015DAY 6

Who Knew?

He passed away in the summer of 2006. We kind of knew the end was coming but we didn’t want to accept that. We just wanted more time. In his passing, he gave me so much. He brought Lusty back into my life,…

Fifty to 50Dec 14, 2015DAY 7

Chains Of Love / A Little Respect

Another double feature by a new wave group formed from Yaz and Depeche Mode, here comes Erasure! Song after song after song, each one better than the last. And then came The Innocents, and in a flood of…

Fifty to 50Dec 13, 2015DAY 8

Hotel California / New Kid In Town

People can argue the validity of my next statement, but among the many perfect albums out there, the Eagles’ Hotel California is one of the very best, perhaps THE best. From 1977, one of the most…

Fifty to 50Dec 12, 2015DAY 9

Rock Lobster / Love Shack

The first time I heard Rock Lobster, I think I may have stopped breathing for a full minute. It was the strangest, most amazing cacophony I had ever heard and I knew it was going to be a piece of music that…

Fifty to 50Dec 11, 2015DAY 10

Honesty / An Innocent Man

Billy Joel. Choose any song from any album between 1971 and 1983 and I will tell you how much I love it and exactly why. I will remember where I was when I first heard it, and talk about how I wore down the…

Fifty to 50Dec 10, 2015DAY 11

I Will Always Love You

This one’s gonna be tough. I talk a lot about my loves; it’s hard to think about that one, though. The one that got away, because I pushed him and let him. It was 1990. I was a baby. I didn’t know any…

Fifty to 50Dec 9, 2015DAY 12

It Don’t Matter To Me / Everything I Own

Bread, with lead singer David Gates whose voice is pure perfection, might be one of the lamest A.M. Radio bands of the seventies, but as you already know, that shit’s right in my bucket. And anyone who’s…

Fifty to 50Dec 8, 2015DAY 13

Smile A Little Smile For Me, Rosemarie

This post needs no blog entry, really. She was the most beautiful girl in the world, said I when I was only in kindergarten. She was my big sister and there was a song on the radio about her! Smile A Little…

Fifty to 50Dec 7, 2015DAY 14

Flashdance What A Feeling

he’s a scared, talented kid with a gigantic voice. Her voice is so infectious you MUST sing along. You are compelled to sing with Irene Cara when she belts out her disco-pop monster hits Fame and What A…