A to Z Theme 2016

For my 2016 A to Z theme I used a meme that I ran across on the blog of Bridget Straub who first saw it on the blog of Paula Acton. This meme is a natural for me to use on my memoir blog. It's an A to Z concept and it's about me. No research and nothing complicated. I'm given twenty six questions or topics to discuss that are about me.

In April I kept my posts short and uncomplicated. In the midst of it all you might learn a few things about me that you didn't previously know.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

This Music Magic Moment

Trans-Canada Highway at dawn in Chilliwack, BC.
Trans-Canada Highway at dawn in Chilliwack, BC. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

        In my most recent post at Tossing It Out I discussed the topic of why we prefer certain songs and particular genres of music.  I have often discussed music on all of my blogs as music is a topic that is very dear to me.  Today at Wrote By Rote I will be looking at one particular magic moment of my music history.

        In July of 1982 the theater company that I then managed was in the middle of a ten month tour with the stage production of The Magic of Cinderella.  This would be my fourth tour with the company and the second run of the Cinderella show   By mid-summer we were in the western United States and had presently begun a three week tour of the western Canadian provinces.

        Prior to my accepting a job with The World of Fantasy Players I had worked a couple seasons with a touring magic show.  During that stint I developed a keen interest in stage magic and illusions. The theater stage production was of a similar vein as it incorporated stage illusions and magic tricks into the Cinderella story setting.  In essence we were a magic musical stage show with a story.  The production included song and dance numbers and was primarily geared toward family audiences or, more specifically, children.   The nature of the show being as it was kept me with a continued interest in anything related to theatrical magic.

        Our first date after having crossed the border into Canada was Lethbridge, Alberta.   There were two shows scheduled in Lethbridge after which we were making a jump to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan which was about 350 miles away.   After packing up the show we set out for the next town at about 9:45 PM which meant we would be at our motel no later than 3 AM.   This was not too unusual though we typically tried to avoid such jumps at night.   However since we had another two show engagement the following day, the jump was preferred over rising early to make the trip.   We would be able to sleep in the following morning which was a schedule more suited to show folk such as us.

         The night was warm and pleasant   The Trans-Canada Highway was not particularly well traveled this late at night so the trip was easy.   On this night I decided to listen to the radio rather than cassette tapes as we usually did.  Reception was good in these parts.   I always liked to listen to the Canadian radio stations as they often played some good music.   This night was no exception.

           Sometime around midnight there were flashes of lightning on the eastern horizon that we were headed toward.   It was possibly heat lightning since rain had not been expected.  The dark skies above us were cloudless.

          As I drove and watched the lightning flashes ahead of me, a song that I had never heard before came on the radio.  It was a very catchy bouncy tune, pleasant to listen to.  The singer had a familiar sound, but I couldn't identify who the group was.  My ears perked when the chorus began.

          "Abra-abra-cadabra, I wanna reach out and grab ya"

         My head was bobbing and I was getting into the song. Magic!  I wondered how this song might be incorporated into a magic routine.   What a great sound.  After the song ended the announcer identified the song as the Steve Miller Band.    I was not an exceptionally big fan of this group, but now I had a reason to like them a bit better than I had before.

        That song is not high on my list of favorites, but it is a song I like a great deal.  Now whenever I hear Steve Miller Band's "Abracadabra" I remember that magical music moment driving down the Trans-Canada Highway in July of 1982.   What a great time it was.

          Is there a special magical music moment that you can recall in your own life?   Did you listen to much pop radio in your younger days?    Have you traveled the Trans-Canada Highway?

14 comments:

  1. There are so many songs that remind me of specific times and events and things in my life....too many to mention. I have at least one song from trips to Victoria that remind me of those visits. I've only been on a tiny bit of the Trans Canada Highway, the portion on Vancouver Island! That is where Mile 0 is. I would've thought Mile 0 would have been in the Maritimes and work it's way west, rather than the other way around.

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    1. JoJo, it does seem rather odd that the highway would be mile-marked from west to east. Yes, I too have so many songs attached to so many memories. It's fun to listen to one and think back.

      Lee

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  2. I too have memories of that song... A certain young lady, a summer on the lake... Unfortunately it was Steve Miller's swan song on the charts. So did you ever manage to work it into the show?

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    1. CW, never did find a way to use the song, but I had nothing to do with songs used in the productions. I just managed the show on the road after it had been put together.

      Gosh, you mean Steve Miller never had any hits after that? He sure does get played a lot on the radio--even now on certain stations.

      Lee

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  3. Have you ever heard this song?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvuyradfFGY

    I think it speaks to a song holding a memory. Sometimes it's a memory that we forget until the song triggers it.

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    1. Robin, you never fail to amaze me with your ability to come up with a song that fits the topic at hand. You are so in tune to what songs are saying and do so well remembering those songs.

      This Trisha Yearwood song is so beautiful and it expresses so much of what I was thinking about when I wrote my post. I'd never heard this song before as far as I can remember so thank you for introducing me to it or reminding me of it whatever the case may be. Songs are so powerful in filling parts of our lives and then bringing those parts back to us when we hear those songs again.

      I guess these posts that I've been doing are snippets of life remembered and in a sense parts of a life soundtrack.

      Thanks for providing these moments of reflection for me on a Saturday morning.

      Lee

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  4. Being a 70's youth, I'm a rather good fan of the Steve Miller Band. - The farthest north I have been is the San Francisco Bay area. - As you know, I did all Musical Memories for my A to Z theme, so I have oodles. One song, "Everybody's Talkin'" by Harry Nilsson, always makes me feel like I'd love to be all alone on a small sailboat just laying back watching the water and the sun. The truth is, I'd be absolutely terrified to be out there like that. But while that song is playing, in my mind, I am there and loving it!

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    1. Barbara, I think it would probably be easy and fun for many of us to do a blog that was nothing but musical memories post after post. It does make for a great April A to Z theme.

      "Everybody's Talkin'" first of all reminds me of going to see the movie Midnight Cowboy. The was played a lot after that. Yeah, I'd be scared to be out in the water alone like you describe, but it does sound very peaceful and relaxing. I can easily picture that scenario with the song playing behind it.

      Lee

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  5. I have a few songs which will take me back in time. Some songs take me back to times where I had battles to fight. I've always listened to music to escape stress.

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    1. Ann, music makes a good escape. I've done the same.

      Lee

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  6. Omg Lee!! You can't imagine my excitement when I saw the picture of the Trans Canada highway through Chilliwack. That's my town! I thought you were going to mention a song by Chilliwack the band. I never was really a big fan of Steve Miller either, but I do like some of his stuff.
    Music has always been a great escape for me, I don't think my life would be the same without it.

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    1. Eva, I didn't find any images of TC-1 between Lethbridge and Moose Jaw so I settled for a night time image of the highway. "Abracadabra" was the first Steve Miller song that really grabbed me. I kind of like some of his stuff, but not overwhelmingly so. Without music, my life would be very very different.

      Lee

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  7. I remember the two songs that were most popular when I came to Canada, and that a Captain Midnight was the popular DJ in Vancouver at that time. I also remember the blues songs and music I discovered when going through a divorce (the blues were before the divorce not after. . .); and I remember all the jazz musicians we met when we used to hang out at a jazz club in Vancouver. Music is important to me too, Lee!

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    1. DG, I'd say music plays such a huge role in most lives of people of that past 100 years since it is everywhere. I life without music would be akin to a movie with no musical soundtrack. All talk and action but kind of flat in the feelings department.

      Lee

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