Hey!

While working on a longer post that touches on my love for music, I thought I'd take a break to create another Three Tune Tuesday post (originally introduced to Hive by @ablaze). In this post, I want to share some of the songs that were significant to me when I was a kid, offering a glimpse into my early musical influences.

I was an avid music listener since a small toddler, and after I had set the volume knobs in my father's old radio and cassette recorder to the max, and broke the speakers, my parents decided to upgrade to a stereo system with a turntable, because my dad had some vinyl records he'd brought from the U.S. where he'd spent a year as an exchange student in the early 70s. I immediately discovered the joys of vinyl records, and I was constantly playing my father's collection to the point my parents would eventually get bored. They had to think of a solution.

I got a portable Crown cassette player as a Christmas present when I was somewhere around 4 years old.

I actually found the exact model with a web search!
It seems you can find almost anything these days.
They sell furbished sets at 122€, but they are
currently Sold Out.
(The photo is also theirs.)

I had already learned how to read, so I was always with my nose buried in a book, so adding constant feed of music to the equation and completely closing myself off this world and into the world of music and literature came pretty easily.

My favourite books at the time (before school) were the adventure series by Enid Blyton, and both Tarzan and the Mars book series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I also liked Donald Duck comic books.

I wasn't the kind of kid that'd succeed in daycare, so my Dad used to take me with him whenever he'd go to the University to study biology, or to the hotel where he worked as a consierge. I wasn't a bother to him or anyone really, because I was always reading. Even when we walked in the city, I'd have my other hand in my father's hand, and other one holding a book.

When it would sometimes happen that a book was over before my dad's businesses did, he'd rush to the nearest kiosk and buy me either a new book in the Magnificient Five series, a Donald Duck book, Adventures of Tintin, or an Asterix. I never quite had a boring moment. Or so you might think. It wasn't always possible for him to leave his duties, and I was left with some hotel customers or staff to care after me. Gladly they were not bothered too much. Times seemed somewhat more relaxed then.

One of the songs I used to listen was on the A-side of a C60-cassette, taped probably by my father from the radio. It was the "Something", by The Beatles. George Harrison wrote it originally inspired by the Krishna, since he was a devout follower of Hare Krishna movement. I knew nothing about his original ideas for the lyrics about pomegranates instead of lovers, and probably wouldn't have noticed anyway, as I was just a little Finnish boy with no comprehension of English.

Anyways, I was just 4 years old when I heard on the radio that John Lennon had been murdered. It was one of those moments that shattered my world. Even though I didn't fully understand the significance, I knew that something terrible had happened. The Beatles' music had been a big part of my early life, and hearing about Lennon's death left me feeling a sense of loss.

The Beatles – Something

I didn't always know which song was John's, or someone else's, because The Beatles (or their recording studio) had a habit of attributing each song to John and Paul. I also often didn't know which Beatle was singing in each of the songs. Thus I thought "Something" was also written by John and Paul.

"Something" was an interesting song, even when I didn't understand the language, it still brought chills to my spine, and that made it always feel special.

The next piece was also something I used to listen to, on a tape likely recorded from radio by, this time by my mother (I really have no clue, neither of them remembered which one had taped the music). This tape was full of 50s rock-and-roll. Here's one of the songs I remember listening to while tagging along with my father at his jobs and studies.

Dion and The Belmonts – Teenager in Love

I can't say much about Dion and The Belmonts, because I didn't even know what the bands were on the tape, as whoever recorded it, hadn't written any relevant information (like band or song names) on the sleeve. I'm also a bit too lazy to pick up that information for the same reason. 50s music didn't influence my musical tastes too much, as I had already become a Beatles fan at an early age, and stayed that way for a long time to come.

I can still however vividly hear the music in my ears whenever I pick up and read a book by Enid Blyton, or Edgar Rice Burroughs.

The last one in this set of Three Tune Tuesday, was on the B-side of the first cassette tape. While the A-side was full of The Beatles, the B-side was recorded full of songs by Elton John. Here's one of them:

Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

I later learned that the lyrics for "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" were written by Bernie Taupin, who was Elton's long time collaboration as lyric writer, but as a 4-year-old, I was more focused on the catchy tune and the imagery it evoked while I read my books.

There were more songs I'd like to mention, but since I've got to leave it at three, I think I'll come back to this subject some later date.

I hope you liked my story so far. If you did, you'll be pleased to know there'll be more stories to come.

What are your favourite childhood songs?