There wasn't a whole lot for kids to do in the small town I grew up in. About the only kids in town were my sister, me, and two neighbor girls, the youngest of which was one of my first crushes I guess. But I digress...

We spent time riding bikes and playing various games. Seems like we were outside constantly during the summers. I remember a couple of summers, probably when I was about 9 or 10 years old, that we spent a lot of time listening to a small transistor radio. It ran on a 9-volt battery so we could take it outside. We could pretty much only get one or two stations on it and the one we listened to was the "pop" station out of Lima, Ohio. It seems like they always had one of those contests going where you were trying to be the tenth caller or something in order to win something. We spent a lot of time running inside the house to dial the phone but we never got through.

Three songs really stick in my mind from back then. "Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney. "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks. And "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree" by Tony Orlando and Dawn. Sure, I can remember many other songs if I try but those three really stick out in my mind.

A song about running from the law, one about going to jail, and one about getting out of jail. Wow. The 70s were special times.

I wonder what songs Evan will remember from his childhood. I don't listen much to today's popular music. I may not even recognize it if I hear it. Especially if Snoop Dog getting arrested for the umpteenth time yesterday is any indication, I suspect that some of the songs have the same subject matter as those I recall from my childhood. But definitely to a different beat.