something that you told me stayed in my head
you wanted me to love you
When I was in high school, we had a musical extravaganza.
It was the 1980s. We had Prince. We had Michael Jackson I used to listen to Michael Franks, and the Police, Patrice Rushen, Teena Marie, Rick James, Heatwave, Teddy Pendergrass. Really, back then it was Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Theodore Pendergrass.
Somebody’s radio was always on.
Headphones were for audiophiles and weirdos. It seemed like everybody had shelves of vinyl, and they were precious about how the vinyl was organized. Alphabetically. By genre. Solo artists vs. groups — whatever. My Aunt Victoria had no such meticulousness. I lived with her for most of my 9th grade, and I could play whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. She had Enchantment’s 1977 Once Upon A Dream, so I wore out “It’s You That I Need.” She had Tapestry so I wore out “Way Over Yonder” and “So Far Away” — and wrote1 about Carole King just a few weeks ago for the New York Times. Vi…
