Rock The Boat.

I have this not because I think it’s a classic (it’s disco LOL), but because when Vance and I were probably eight and nine years old (respectively), we were saving to buy tape recorders. Yes, I mean portable mono tape recorders, but at the time, it was a big deal to be able to record at all, much less on our own machines. We did our best to save, but kids are kids and it looked like we’d never save enough money. Dad didn’t like to see us getting discouraged, so once each of us had half of what we needed, he took pity on us and gave us the rest, plus bought us batteries and blank tapes. I went through all of our parents’ records and taped the stuff I liked, then carried my recorder and tapes everywhere. I recall one summer day (and NS summers are short, so you get out and enjoy ’em while you can) that I’d taken an old brown-patterned (rain) umbrella and tied it to a tent stake, stuck it in the ground, then set myself up on a blanket in the side yard to tan (this was in the days when we used tanning oil, not SPF-40). I was all set–blanket, pillow, umbrella so my face didn’t get too hot, book and tape of music that I’d chosen and recorded all by myself, and I thought I was pretty grown up. When you’re nine, it doesn’t take much. 🙂 Rock The Boat was one of the songs on the tape I played that day and I will forever associate it with the smell of coconut tanning oil and an afternoon of nothing to do but lie in the sun and read.