Moving past mid- and into late October, the next big concern is, of course, Halloween. Unfortunately I don’t remember what I did for Halloween on any of the following dates. Probably Spider-Man or Batman in 1977, but after that? No idea.

1977: Fleetwood Mac, “You Make Loving Fun”

“You Make Loving Fun” is, for me, the Fleetwood Mac song, and though it was many years before I knew to listen to music closely enough to suss out the lyrics, the bits I could pick out, about “magic” and “miracles” made this one stick in my head even at a young age. Later on it stuck in my head for other reasons. I don’t have any specific memory of the first time I head this one, nor do I associate it with any particular memories, other than that of being young and optimistic.

1982: Linda Ronstadt, “Get Closer”

I don’t know if I heard this song first as itself or as the jingle for Close Up toothpaste. As a 13-year-old stuck on a farm in the middle of nowhere (or so it felt at the time), I was a TV addict and so certainly heard this one, eventually, in addition to 15-second snippets in between episodes of whatever was on in the fall of 1982. Interesting that Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou” was in a post a month ago, in the 1977 slot. Things do tend to come back around.

1987: Jody Watley, “Don’t You Want Me?”

“Don’t You Want Me” has that mid-1980s song. I don’t remember hearing it before but it could simply have been lost in the crowd of other poppy dance songs, and of course overshadowed by her huge hit “Lookin’ for a New Love.” I associate her voice and general sound with, well, college. And MTV. And simultaneously freezing and roasting in the marching band as a second-trombone freshman.

1992: Trey Lorenz, “Someone to Hold”

Hard to say if I had ever heard this one. 1992 was such a strange year for me when it came to pop culture. I was working my ass off in several capstone classes, learning a new language, getting into the martial arts classes, working long late hours at Jose Babusha’s and generally didn’t have time to do anything fun or relax and enjoy songs like this one, pleasant as it is.

1997: LeAnn Rimes, “You Light Up My Life”

I don’t know if I have ever heard Rimes’ version of “You Light Up My Life,” because the Debbie Boone version was ubiquitous throughout my life. Rimes’ version is good, but Boone’s is baked into my DNA.