Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On

I still listen to old-school radio in my car. I don't have satellite radio, I rarely listen to music on my iPod or iPhone (too much fussing with playlists and such, especially in high mitten season) in the car, and a tape deck in all of its 1982 glory stands where a CD player should rightfully reside. While tooling around town, I shuttle back and forth between about four stations, but sometimes the dial lands on a vintage country song.

These songs totally evoke my past. When I was little, my dad was a bartender, so you'd find me hanging out at Dan's Bar. (Our apartment was right up the street.) I'd beg for quarters so I could play tunes on the jukebox, and sometimes, I even danced in front of the jukebox, which is kinda hilarious. As research, I looked up a few of these songs, and I've included a selection below for your listening and viewing pleasure.

I remember I loved to wash glasses in the Bar Maid (a contraption that, to a kid, looks like it's constructed of massive pipe cleaners) behind the bar, even though I had to use all of my concentration to hold onto the swirling, slippery glasses with my small hands. I also cleared beer bottles from the tables and entered sales into the cash register--with ample help from my dad--when business was slow. I know that sounds wacky, but when you're little, being allowed to help out fills you with pride.

• Harper Valley P.T.A. by Jeannie C. Riley
• Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On by Mel McDaniel
• Keep Your Hands to Yourself by Georgia Satellites
• Fishin' in the Dark by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
• Tight Fittin' Jeans by Conway Twitty
• Luckenbach, Texas by Waylon Jennings (I believe I heard this first on my Urban Chipmunk album. Its title was a parody of Urban Cowboy, which had come out a year earlier. And it featured country singers with...you guessed it....the Chipmunks.)
• Swingin' by John Anderson