Remember the Solid Gold dancers? Back in the 1980s they would count down the top 10 songs of the week. I wanted to be one of them.

Except not on TV of course. Unless I could do that without anyone watching me.

I’ve always loved to dance. As a little girl I would study the diagrams in a ballet book and try to imitate the steps on my own improvised barre. I don’t think I ever asked my parents to enroll me in a ballet class because I was always too shy to dance in front of anyone else.

As I grew older I would dance in my room and choreograph dance routines to my favorite songs. We used to have our own Saturday night dance parties with kids in our building, and I wasn’t too afraid to dance there for some reason. Maybe because I was the oldest and didn’t think my dancing skills would be judged too harshly by 10-year-olds. Maybe they thought I was as good as the Solid Gold dancers.

That’s Matthew Wilder performing “Break my Stride” on Solid Gold. I’m not really sure what year this song was popular in the States, but when I hear it it takes me back to 1984. In 1984 I spent six weeks in Europe with my two best friends, a Eurail pass, and my Sony Walkman and some mixed tapes.

To be honest, I don’t remember if this song was on any of those mixed tapes. It might not have been. But a few weeks after my return I did write a letter to Casey Kasem asking him for a Long Distance Dedication, using this song. In my letter I dramatically described the summer I spent with my friends traveling through Europe and the “hardships” we endured. Why this particular song? Because of this lyric:

Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride
Nobody’s gonna slow me down, oh-no
I got to keep on moving
Ain’t nothin’ gonna break my stride
I’m running and I won’t touch ground
Oh-no, I got to keep on moving

At the time we were still somewhat awed by the sights we had seen and feeling pretty proud of ourselves for having spent six weeks mostly on our own, with just a backpack, a train pass, a rather vague itinerary, and no cell phones. The hardships we endured were mostly limited to not finding a seat on a train and having to stand or sit on the floor. There were times we were cold and hungry, and of course there was the time someone stole our traveler’s checks, and the other time my wallet was stolen. And oh yeah, the time we thought we were in a taxi and the Italian police officer came to our rescue. (But that’s a whole other story.)

So I wanted Casey to play this song for my friends Pam and Nona. I don’t know if he ever read my letter, but since then every time I hear this song it takes me back to the summer of 1984. And the days when I wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer.

Today’s post prompted by two Daily Post prompts: Let’s Dance and Always Something There to Remind Me.