Camp Interlaken Blog

Toni’s Tunes

Posted by on April 28, 2016

I am the WORST radio-changer you’ve ever met.  Seriously, I know every song, but I will only listen to songs that I can sing along.  With SiriusXM, my options are limitless.  My tunes might be on Hits 2 or 50’s on 5 or Lithium 34 or Fly 47 or Prime Country on 58.  Clearly my grooves vary across many genres of music!

I had one of those ah-ha moments last week!  I was actually up at Camp for the day by myself, and my drive home was my dream come true: 5 hours of XM Radio freedom!   It happened to be on a Tuesday, and Sas had just posted The MTA Song as our #TuesdayTune on Facebook!  By the way, if you haven’t been following our Facebook, you should check out our camp song as they debut every Tuesday!  Anyway, suddenly on 60’s on 6, I heard one of my favorite camp songs: Happiness Runs by Donovan: https://youtu.be/-cGWTAe3M6U.  All of the sudden, I was transported back (imagine the Wayne’s World hands here taking us back in time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_76RK_5bBs)…

It was the summer of 1989; I was going into seventh grade.  I had three big concerns at Camp that summer: running out of Stiff Stuff for my teased bangs (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/149181806385505396/), running out of D batteries for my boom box, and losing one of my 20 mix tapes that I worked really hard making all year long!  In the background I heard the Steve Miller Band playing The Joker, which was my counselor’s favorite song.  I was getting ready for the costume party where my friend Samantha and I were dressed up as Tigra & Bunny from LadyTthe group L’Trimm, you know that awesome Miami female duo who brought us the hit, Cars That Go Boom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T3egCDI4ls.   As if you haven’t already questioned my taste in music just from my favorite SiriusXM stations alone, check out my outfit that I thought made me look like Tigra (Samantha was Bunny)!  Nothing says 1989 better than this photo!

With a big smile on my face, I was thinking about what my Camp Soundtrack from the summer of 1989 would look like if I were to have created one.  So, I put pencil to paper and decided to create my Top 20 – mix tape style – so that I could share it with you:

  1. Happiness Runs by Donovan
  2. Blister in the Sun by Violent Femmes
  3. The Joker by Steve Miller Band
  4. I Don’t Want To Know by Fleetwood Mac
  5. Blowin In The Wind by Peter, Paul and Mary
  6. Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin
  7. Fire and Rain by James Taylor
  8. Mandy by Barry Manilow
  9. As Tears Go By by Rolling Stones
  10. Touch of Grey by Grateful Dead
  11. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
  12. 1, 2, 3, 4 by Gloria Estefan
  13. Circle Game by Joni Mitchell
  14. Shout by Tears for Fears
  15. Patience by Guns N Roses
  16. All Cried Out by Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam
  17. We Could Be Together by Debbie Gibson (I know, I know…)
  18. Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx
  19. 18 and Life by Skid Row
  20. You Got It (The Right Stuff) by New Kids on The Block

This is it!  This is MY Camp Soundtrack from my favorite summer: 1989!  I am nostaligic just writing this playlist down, and I am going to go ahead and create this playlist with all of my favorites!

Fast forward to 2016, and I am trying to think about what will be the songs of the summer.  Will it be Stressed Out (I hope not) or Work or Hello or My House or will we bring back something old school like Happiness Runs?  What will make the soundtrack for our campers in 25 years from now when they think back to 2016?  I can’t wait to find out!  Here’s to an awesome summer that is filled with music that is WAY better than some of the music I grew up with at Camp (aka Debbie Gibson)!