I’ve always been a music lover. The music I love has changed over time, though. I don’t remember what I listened to as a child, but I’m sure it was whatever was on the radio, probably in Spanish, or playing on my dad’s stereo, which could have been anything from Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley to Julio Iglesias. As a teenager, I didn’t really care for salsa or traditional Panamanian music (musica typica). It was very heavy on accordion and not what my friends were listening to at all. (I’ve come around since and do enjoy some of this, particularly salsa music.)
By then I was listening to the local pop stations on the radio and enjoying both the Latin pop scene and the music from the States that made it down to Panama. I was also a big fan of the American Top 40 countdown with Casey Kasem. I listened to it faithfully every week on the AFRTS station and would often waste a whole lot of time writing down that week’s list. The year-end countdown was when I would make my own mix tape featuring my favorites from the year. I might still have a couple of those tapes somewhere, but nowhere to play them now.
Now we have playlists instead of mix tapes. For this assignment, I’ve prepared a playlist of ten songs that represent me. These are in no particular order and just the songs that come to mind right now. The list could be different tomorrow.
- I Will Survive — Gloria Gaynor
- Walking on Sunshine — Katrina and the Waves
- She Works Hard for the Money — Donna Summer
- Put Your Records On — Corinne Bailey Rae
- Mi Tierra — Gloria Estefan
- I Wanna Dance with Somebody — Whitney Houston
- Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
- Amor Latino — Carlos Vives
- Mi Verdad — Maná feat. Shakira
- I Feel Lucky — Mary Chapin Carpenter
Written for WordPress’s Finding Everyday Inspiration course. Day 15: Take a Cue from Your Reader