The Mom Blog is written by moms (and a couple of dads) in Orange County. 
It’s my life and my radio: Introducing kids to the 80’s
April 22nd, 2008, 7:30 am · 13 Comments · posted by Suzanne Broughton
I love music. All kinds of music, but after a summer of non-stop High School Musical and Hannah Montana I decided last year to introduce Emily, my six-year-old daughter, to the finer side of music…to the masters…the classics …THE 80′S! She took to Stray Cats and Yaz like a teenager to moodiness. I haven’t heard a request for Gabriella since!
It is kind of our thing now … “Emily, I really think you’re really going to love this song…”Â
** I just spent six months in a leaky boat. Lucky just to keep afloat…**
“I do mom. I LOVE IT!”
I download songs onto her pink Shuffle she got from her Uncle Bubby at Christmas. Now, I have happy fits when I hear her signing from the back seat.
***”Shoot that poison arrow through my heaaaart…”**
I want to share our love of 80’s music with all of you, and if you haven’t introduced your kids to its glory, here’s a little help. I made an iMix for OC Moms on iTunes filled with awesome songs from our high school years–at least some of us were in high school when big hair ruled.
Take a look at it by -clicking here- or go to iTunes and search the iMixes for by my presumptuously titled “OC Moms Love The 80’s.” You’ll find fifteen songs hand-picked by my daughter and me. Download one or the whole mix for about a buck a song.
Let’s introduce a whole new generation to the power of the synthesizer.
There’s a visual, me as freshman at Marina High School, 1983–the braces, the turned-up collar, the hair. Now, you should be in the mood for some “a-ha.”
Oh crimany! Forgot to ask…I want to know, what kind of music have you gotten your kids into?
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:41 am
That pic is so awesome! I love the volume in your feathered bangs. It is almost a bang visor. No need for a hat. Ha Ha I would just like to say that I have tried this technique with trying to get my daughter to like and listen to my music. She is not quite so flexible or open minded apparently. Lucky you. For now I am stuck with the Jo Bros (Jonas Brothers for you not familiar with the lingo).
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:50 am
Ah, the 80s. I went through the whole Madonna wantabe thing. Big permed hair and lots of jewelry. I loved the music too.The picture of you says it all. I can’t wait to check out your tunes. Thanks!
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
My boys love music like me- and they don’t care if it is old or new, rap or disney….current upload request from them are:
Bare Naked Ladies, The Naked Brothers Band, Billy Joel (!), Everclear, OMC (How Bizarre), Fergie, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and the big star of our house currently? Weird Al Yankovic……………oh my do I regret ever showing them YouTube of Wierd Al……
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Okay in the 1980s I was already an adult living in Hollywood and partying way too hard while working in the entertainment industry. The era when, according to my boyfriend who worked in that office, guys would bring suitcases full of cocaine to business meetings at Motown Records on Sunset Boulevard. My favorite era was earlier and in honor of that, I have already forced my children to watch every single Beatles anthology documentary available, even the boring parts where they’re just talking about the olden days. (Boring to them, not me). They can recognize and comment on every era in the history of the Fab Four. And I downloaded every Beatles song I know onto their MP3 players. My son came home from school awhile back and said, “Mommy, there’s a kid at school who doesn’t know any Beatles songs. Can you believe it?” Learning the songbook of the Grateful Dead is a bit more tricky, not only do they have hundreds of songs, but the drug references, hmmm, are tricky.
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
YAZ! They are doing a reunion concert sometime this summer, I believe. LOVE them…
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Love this! Big hair bring fond memories. Love the music and will be buying them from iTunes now. Thanks for reminding us Suz to teach the kids the finer things in life.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:02 pm
I am very proud to say that my 8 year old LOVES “Just What I Needed” and “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” And when I’m having a bad day, she sings me “Just Like Heaven”.
And the cutest thing is that she owns Madonna’s book, The English Roses, and she asked me the other day if the author was The Material Girl. That was a proud mommy moment for me.
But really, more often than we blast 80’s music, I catch myself still listening to HSM or TheJoBros long after I’ve dropped her off at school.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:30 am
I am a huge music fan and a huge fan of ’80s music. My kids would have to go live with grandma if they couldn’t hang with my music. So I’m proud to say son — he’s 8 — and daughter — she’s 4 — are big fans of Squeeze (my favorite), Missing Persons (my daughter loves “Words”), Duran Duran. They also love the classics like The Beatles. When my son filled out his student of the week poster, he put “I Am The Walrus” as his favorite song, without his mother’s prompting. I’ve recently relented and bought them some Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montana and High School Musical songs off iTunes. I have to go to the hardcore stuff and crack open my Bay City Rollers albums for them.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:58 am
We loved the movie “Music & Lyrics” and my husband made a video out of the Pop 80s song Pop Goes My Heart - an homage to all things great about the 80s. Well, at the time our daughter was only 8 months old and she would just stare at the screen in fascination. She still becomes instantly fixated on the screen if we play it for her on the TV or the phone and dances along, raises her hand in the air at the right moments… It’s the perfect thing to soothe her when we’re out waiting for someone to bring us the check so we can leave!
She’s 14 months now and we recently tried her on some Duran Duran - Planet Earth and she loved it. Next up might be some early Depeche Mode lol.