Pandemixtape #2 — High Risk (Oldies)

That’s a record player. On which we used to play records. In the olden days.

Due to the massive popularity of my Pandemixtape #1: It’s Global — World Music (a whooping total of 9 Likes (2 of them my sister) and 1 share (by my daughter (because she felt sorry for me))), I’m rolling out my second in the series, aptly named Pandemixtape #2.

The theme: Higher Risk (cuz these are oldies, y’all!) Well, some of these are older than others. And most will definitely date me (not as in going out on a date but rather as in placing me in the olden days or should I say dayz to lop of a few years?) Anywho, these are some personal favorites. At least ones I could find videos for on YouTube. I wanted you to be able to see them as well as listen.

Oldies are, no doubt, subjective — depends on when you came up, in what community, what part of the country, hell, what country for that matter. Each radiates a personal memory of a moment in time. Some of you will likely share the flashbacks. Perhaps they’ll inspire you to seek out your own favorites. And remind me of ones I forgot to include.

So as I go into week 6 of sheltering in place (here is the Bay Area we started physical distancing before the rest of the state which was weeks before other states, which even now, some are still resisting (not as in revolutionary resistance but as in resisting cuz you’re ignorant — yes, I’m looking at you Florida governor Ron DeSantis who said on April 9th, when considering opening Florida schools again, “I don’t think nationwide there’s been a single fatality under 25,” or later, when he finally announced a (somewhat) stay-at-home order because he’d just learned the coronavirus could be passed along by people without symptoms (!).

Ok, I digress — let’s dig into the music (in no particular order). And away. We. Go!

· Jeffrey Osborne “Stay With Me Tonight” — He is one of my all-time favorite singers! Used to sing with LTD before going solo.

· Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) “Wild World” — Ew baby, baby, it’s a great song!

· Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe “Che Che Cole” — Ok, who did not have this in their collection?!

· Boyz II Men “End Of The Road” — A newer oldie, but always one that gets me belting it out in my car.

· Foreigner “I Want To Know What Love Is” — A classic from a band that I just found out is still touring (well, not during the pandemic of course)!

· Philip Bailey & Phil Collins “Easy Lover” — Magic happens when a singer from Earth, Wind & Fire joins the singer/drummer from Genesis for a duet!

· Temptations “My Girl” — Everything they did was stellar!

· Tom Browne “Funkin’ for Jamaica” — He was a jazz trumpeter who crossed over and hit the charts with this in 1980.

· Aretha Franklin “I Say a Little Prayer” — Her highness touches our spirits every time.

· Bill Withers “Ain’t No Sunshine” — We recently lost this amazing singer, but his songs will live on!

· Norman Connors “You Are my Starship” — Damn, I love this song so much!

· Bruce Springsteen “The River” — I related to this song immensely (but no I did not get pregnant in high school).

· Prince “Purple Rain” — Everything he touched turned to gold..and purple!

· Ruben Blades y Los Seis del Solar “Tiburon” — But one question, why are they all dressed like waiters in this video?

· Nina Simone “Pirate Jenny” — Nina is known for so many greats, but for some reason this one resonated with me a lot!

· Smokey Robinson “Ooh Baby Baby” — Back in the day, my friend and I drove cross country with a Smokey CD on continuous loop.

· Dionne Warwick “Don’t Make Me Over” — What a hitmaker!

· Etta James “At Last” — One of my all time favorite songs!

· Joni Mitchell “For Free” — She sang many of the anthems of my youth.

· Crosby, Stills & Nash “Helplessly Hoping” — This was the soundtrack to a broken heart.

· Selena “Como La Flor” — I’m actually appropriating some of my daughter’s oldies.

· Backstreet Boys “I Want It That Way” — When my daughter was a preteen she love this group…until someone took her to an Nsync concert.

· Dolly Parton “Blue Ridge Mountain Boy” — I told you my tastes are eclectic!

· Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You” — Dolly wrote and performed this song that Whitney made popular again some two decades later.

· Earth, Wind & Fire “Fantasy” — Closing it out with this classic performed live!

“Take a ride in the sky, on our ship fantasii
All your dreams will come true, right away

And we will live together, until the twelfth of never
Our voices will ring forever, as one…”