1979

My 30 year reunion is being organized. So funny that just a few days ago I was laughing at Cedric the Entertainer's joke about old school music. He sang a piece of Peaches & Herb's "Reunited" then joked, "Makes you wanna get your hair done in the kitchen, don't it?" (For those who don't get that reference to black southern culture, we ladies used to sit in the kitchen while our mothers heated a pressing comb on the stove to straighten our hair.)

Anyway, I started remembering how good life was back then. Young folks won't remember any of this, except for hearing their parents talk about it all, but I remember:

• My parents listening to Moms Mabley, Redd Foxx and Bill Cosby records. We kids were always supposed to be out of earshot, but we'd sometimes manage to sneak and listen in. That Moms Mabley was one nasty-mouthed chick, and Redd Foxx was NOT Fred Sanford when he got loose on his real jokes.
  
• Earth, Wind & Fire when Maurice White had an afro and Philip Bailey was thin and had a falsetto like a little girl. THIS was my favorite song of theirs. Don't laugh, but I used my pillow to practice kissing to this song! And, oh yeah, I was going to marry Maurice and we were going to have all these beautiful babies together. **sigh**
• Mother Theresa was a huge deal during this time. I remember seeing pictures of her.
• The Shah of Iran - who was popular here - was overthrown. (I remember when my family was stationed at Webb A.F.B., and the Iranian pilots who were training there would hand out candy and even money to the base kids... What a different world then. (And, remember, if you can, that this is the same time that Saddam Hussein came into power. Weird.)
  
• I remember hearing a lot about Margaret Thatcher and Idi Amin.
  
• Garfield the cat (yep, he of the cartoon) started back then.
• Muhammad Ali was trying to retire. I don't think he really did it, tho. I DO remember that my parents and everyone still sometimes called him Cassius Clay.
• Older people were all talking about this great movie, "Kramer vs Kramer."
  
• The Bee Gees were very hot then, so was Rod Stewart. I was still listening to a lot of Al Green and The Emotions and Sister Sledge. (And, of course, I was still in love with Michael Jackson. These were his best days & I had ALL the posters.)

It's just amazing how much has changed in 30 years. I'm staggered (and a little bit depressed!) but I'm glad I survived my youth. I did have a little jaunt down memory lane today, so I posted about it over at BeingFree too.