My mother had me when she was almost 40 years old.  My brother was 18 when I was born.  I’ve always felt that he would have rather had a car than a little sister. But such is life, right?  Growing up, we had a good relationship.  He was a kid at heart and loved Saturday morning cartoons.  I would always watch them with him. It’s a great memory.

He moved out on his own when I was seven years old and got married the next year.  I would sometimes spend the night with him and my sister-in-law, but as time went on, we lost touch.  He was busy with his own family and my parents and I moved to another state.  We always saw each other on holidays.  But there was a distance.  Eighteen years difference in age…it’s difficult to bridge such a gap.

Over the years, I’ve started to realize the impact my brother had on my musical tastes.  He would always play his music while getting ready for work in the morning, all day Saturday (after cartoons, American Bandstand and Soul Train) and when he was getting ready to go out for the evening.  I heard a song the other day and recalled hearing it as a young girl.  I remember my brother playing that album.  So the thought came to me to begin a series on here called, “my brother’s playlist” to review some of those great songs and artists he introduced me to so long ago.

My brother was a musician and he absolutely loved Electric Light Orchestra.  He had all of their albums and that was his go-to in the morning.  I remember hearing “Turn to Stone,” “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Strange Magic” as a kid.  Those were my favorites back then  As an adult, I still love those songs, but I also like, “Evil Woman” and “Can’t Get It Out of My Head” and of course, “Telephone Line”.

If I am having a slow morning…if I can’t seem to get the momentum I need to start my day, I cue up some ELO to jump-start the process.  And it always reminds of those mornings as a kid…with my brother blasting their songs from his stereo.

(If this doesn’t get you going, I don’t know what will)