I don't quite understand why I like listening to the 80's station here. In the 80s, I was 6 - 16, depending on the year. In the early 80s, I was all about Michael Jackson's Thriller. I was bored one day while visiting my grandmother in Oklahoma. So, I went outside with my walkman and was transported to my own little concert stage. I don't know how long I'd been singing, but my father had to come outside to shut me up.

My first cassette tape was Prince's 1999, as far as I can remember. Santa gave that to me one year. I don't think he knew exactly what he gave me. I didn't realize it either until I found that tape a while later and REALLY listened to "Little Red Corvette."

The point I am trying to make is I don't know why I like the 80s station. They don't play any of the songs I used to listen to in the 80s. I never hear the words "mama say mama saw ma ma coo saw." I never Wang Chunged in the 80s. I was just a kid.

Yet, somehow, "I'll stop the world and melt with you" gets my feet moving and sets my mind a-drift. Somehow, "now I run to you with open arms" and "I'm forever yours...faithfully," has me pining for the roller-rink. I don't get how I'm so in love with all these songs that I never really listened to until the damn decade was over. I mean, did you realize what "dancing with myself" really meant? I didn't until the song played on the way home from work recently and I got to listen to Billy Idol Sweat Sweat Sweat Sweat...

Here's my theory on 80s music. Yeah, ok, alot of it sucked. Alot of it sucked hard. But, why I love it all so much is because artists, musicians, people were playing all kinds of weird stuff, experimenting with all kinds of different sounds. And best of all, it was fun. It wasn't deep. You really didn't have to think about a song to get what they were saying. You just listened because it was fun. And that's lacking in alot of today's music. Sometimes I think the only person having fun with their music today is Eminem. That's probably why I have a shrine to his blondness in the bedroom closet (just kidding mom, really)...

Don't get me wrong. I like my songs to be deep and have meaning. Take a gander at the some of the musicians to your left and you'll see some heavy, thoughtful muthas. But, music is also about having some fun with life. Ah-well-a, you might think I'm crazy, but I really think some of the best music ever came from the 80s...