Fresh Air with Terry Gross. From WHYY. Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. Tumblr curated by associate producer Nell Boeschenstein with contributions by associate producer Heidi Saman.
Today on All Things Considered, Broadway star Audra McDonald begins a new series: Mom and Dad’s Record Collection. She shares the story of how a music box’s “Edelweiss” melody became her first audition with her dad at the piano.
We want your stories, too. What song did your parents introduce you to? What’s the memory attached to it?
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robertleo answered:
My mother will sing “Birthday” every year as well. I’m glad I’m not the only one.
robertleo likes this
tobyansen answered:
Octopus’s Garden. My siblings and I would twirl around as fast as possible in the living room, then fall dizzy, for what seemed like hours.
ericareads answered:
Baba O’Riley, The Who, and Benny and the Jets, Elton John. We’d dance and run in circles around the living room.
rainbowlite answered:
Al Green, Barry White,Marvin Gaye, Teddy Pendergrass
the-semblance likes this
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grahammuzik answered:
Monday, Monday - Mamas and the Papas. My mothers early-90s land rover had 6-disc CD player, but at 5yo I would play that song over and over.
jhawke answered:
Don McLean’s “American Pie” back in the 1970s when we lived in Southern California.
rlreevesjr answered:
My mom loved to get the house rocking with her old Jerry Lee Lewis LPs she’d spin on a gigantic Magnavox Hi Fi
sailwiththesound answered:
For me, it was Elton John on trips to Grandma’s house in Boston with my mother. Everytime I hear his music, I go back to childhood summers.
robina answered:
Any early Beatles song, really. My mom still had her records and would play them from time to time, particularly Meet the Beatles.
leegj answered:
Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel
ericzuther answered:
“Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty! We would always listen to Full Moon Fever on tape at the recycling center when I was younger. Good times!
meganlives likes this
asinglehand answered:
“straighten up and fly right” by nat king cole. i remember my dad putting me on his shoulders and dancing as i watched us go in the mirror
thelearningmama answered:
There is no one song, but I have a healthy love of bluegrass and folk because of my parents.
jen22201 answered:
My parents would do their Saturday morning housecleaning and blast Bob Dylan - so I would wake up to his strange but wonderful musings.
oinonio answered:
“Then Came The Children” from Woodsmoke and Oranges by Paul Siebel. The memory: sitting in the front seat of a station wagon, watching rain.
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chillphil15 answered:
Crawling by Linkin Park was my first introduction (that I remember) to rock music that has so changed my life. A little kid into “hardrock”..
maevegreen answered:
Bob Dylan’s Route 66 and Donovan’s Mellow Yello albums. Informed my entire musical life since. First intro to my son? Metalica Black album
final-battle-of-penthesilea answered:
Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes. My mom has always been weird. She used to sing the song while dancing around the kitchen.
anotherchancetogetitright answered:
My parents had four kids by age 27, but I believed them when they sang “everything is easy ‘cause of you” to us. (“Our House”, CSNY)
justshe likes this
happywandererintaiwan answered:
Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill
sabistan answered:
Go Your Own Way -Fleetwood Mac. Dad’s 1st fave song in US after immigrating for college from Pakistan, where Gen. Zia-ul-Haq banned pop music
ebbingusually answered:
“Wild Heart” by Stevie Nicks
letusbeitall answered:
Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd was the song we’d always listen to on road trips.
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robsplantz answered:
Allen Sherman’s ‘Camp Grenada’ - we always laughed when we sang it!
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misterandre answered:
Bob Marley - Buffalo Soldier (amongst others)
chorypdx answered:
Nancy Griffith’s “Love at the Five-and-Dime,” when it was on PBS’ “Austin City Limits.” Began for me an adoration of folky singer-songwriters
theycallmegomer answered:
“Love Me Tender” Elvis Presley. Mom and Dad danced around the living room.
toastertoad answered:
Alice’s Restaurant and The Motorcycle Song by Arlo Guthrie. My dad was drafted and we talked about the war protests.s
gamutcomma answered:
best of michael jackson album
jasonpwoodbury answered:
Dad loved Boston, the whole catalog really, but especially the debut, with “More Than a Feeling.” He taught me how to play air guitar.
mscake reblogged this from nprfreshair and added:
Listened to this on the way home yesterday and, man, I had so many thoughts. For me it was Benny Goodman and Tommy...
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longlostpal answered:
When I was a baby, my parents would play “You Can Call Me Al” by Paul Simon and we’d dance around the house. The only way I’d get to sleep.
loveisloves-critique answered:
At age three, I knew all the words to the Counting Crows’ “Mr. Jones”. I considered this Mr. Jones to be a friend.
jocelynsanchez answered:
GVBX1`
m-colby answered:
I remember my mom driving me to Kindergarten listening to Air Supply’s greatest hits cassette and I have LOVED “All Out of Love” ever since.
kickyandfun reblogged this from nprfreshair and added:
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones, played or sung by my parents whenever I tried really hard to...
