Let's talk...

Hello from Michigan....
I actually have a whole cd of music that was given to my daughter on our first trip to Europe by a bartender that she met at the Lake of Constance. (actually it was a cassette) We played it our whole trip and it was one of those that are just a bunch of random songs. This was before Bocelli became well known here and he was on it, as well as Eros Ramazotti, Kelley Family, Celine Dion, Pet Shop Boys, Toni Childs, and a whole mix of french, italian, and some I don't even know. I have made many copies of that tape for friends and would be distraught if I ever lost it. I have identified most of the music but there are a few that I still have no idea. Opened up a whole new world and that bartender has no idea the impact he made on our lives.

What is Love by Haddaway and Tribal Dance by 2 Unlimited. It was 1993, I was 16 years old, I had just arrived in Germany for a mini student exchange program and it was on the radio in my host family's minivan. I couldn't get over how dance music was so mainstream. I was hooked from that point on! Anyway, a flood of memories from that life-changing trip always come when I hear those songs -- among many others...

The Moody Blues' "English Sunset" seems to perfectly capture the essence of riding the train down the English coast from York to London on summer's evening.

During my first trip to Italy the song "Sunshine in a Bag" by the Gorillaz was everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE. And since I hadn't heard it before my trip, every time I heard it here at home afterwards, it immediately took me back. When I was in Poland, The Blackeyed Peas and Anastacia were extremely popular. Can't hear "Shut Up", "Where is the Love?" or "Heavy on my Heart" without it bringing back wonderful memories. But they also liked a lot of older stuff like Janice Joplin and Joe Cocker so they make me smile too. I also discovered a lot of Polish music I like; I often listen to Polish radio stations on the computer. Ain't technology great?! :)

On an incredible two month trip to Europe in the Fall of 2006, there was one song in particular that was very memorable, Home by Michael Bublé. Towards the end of the trip, the song seemed to be especially relevant, as by that time I was ready to go home. Some of the lyrics that stuck in my mind were: "Another summer day Has come and gone away In Paris and Rome But I wanna go home" and "May be surrounded by A million people I
Still feel all alone" One other song that brings back wonderful memories of that same trip is an older song from the '80s - All The Things I Wasn't by Grapes of Wrath, which coincidentally is a local band from this area. The experience that I most associate with that song is riding the trains in Italy, while watching the beautiful Tuscan scenery glide past the window. This Thread is a good reminder that it would be a good idea to revise the Playlists on my iPod for my upcoming trip! Cheers!

Well, I was in Italy in October and I would have MTV on while I was hanging out in my room. They played the same 10 songs over and over including CeeLo Green's song F*** You and I remember thinking wow it's pretty catchy but they'll never play this back home! About a month or so after I got home I would hear this song Forget You on the radio and I kept thinking to myself that it was so familiar when finally it hit me that it was the same song! I do love hearing that song because it reminds me of my trip.

I took a Contiki tour (back before I knew about RS) with some friends back in 2000. Our tour guide repeatedly played the Goo Goo Dolls song 'Slide' on purpose. That was so every time we heard it, we would think of our trip. And, I do - I picture myself on the tour bus heading up to the Piazzale Michaelangelo on the way to a dinner every time I heard it. Strangely though, the Tom Jones song, 'Sex Bomb' (Yup, you read that right!) was very popular in Europe while I was there, so I always think of that too! :)

I guess since I started this thread I should pipe in. The responses are great and I intend to look-up these tunes. It was my first trip to Europe in late September of '95. There were 7 guys ranging in age from 25 to 61. We rented a van, had no reservations made and basically winged it or got lost for 3 weeks. One of the guys brought a mix-tape and the two songs that won all of us over were "Sweater Song" and "Say It Ain't So" by uber nerd band Weezer. They always remind me of trying to find parking in Berlin and taking the wrong exit on the Brenner Pass and heading to Italy instead of Switerland. They remind me of Oktoberfest and seeing Amsterdam and Prague for the first time. In September 2005 all over Europe (we went from Amsterdam to Rome by train) you heard "Don't Cha" from Pussycat Dolls on the radio and on MTV. So I have to thank the "Dolls" and the "Nerds" for taking me back. Thanks.

First visited Europe in 1972. Flew into Amsterdam. Still recall the excitement as I peeked out the plane's window and saw an iconic windmill. Everything was so different from the states. Waiting at the train station I watched as a large group of teenagers mingled and gathered. Backpacks strapped to them, there was much frivolity. I wondered where they were going. Suddenly the harmonious sounds of "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing," emanated from them. People stopped to listen. I smiled. Even though the song had become part of Coca Cola's advertising campaign it was idyllic witnessing how music transcends and satisfies. Recently, as I spent Christmas Eve in Florence, throughly enjoyed sitting in an Irish Pub with Aretha, The Boss, Pink Floyd and Creedence Clearwater. Returned to my BnB and watched "It's A Wonderful Life," in Italian. Auld Lang Syne never sounded so good.

Phil Collins's "Take Me Home" and "Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore" remind me of Ireland in 1985. Madonna's "Get into the Groove" reminds me of Rome, same year (mainly because of our futile attempts to explain "groove" to some Italian boys). "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" (Scissor Sisters) puts me in San Gimignano in 2006. Oddly, Bill Withers's "Lovely Day" sends me straight to London. Not sure why, as I don't recall ever being conscious of hearing it while in London ...

What a great idea for a post!! When I turn on my Sony mP3 player, it flashes a quote while it loads my songs: "Every moment has it's music" and I never believed that more since going to Italy. So here are my songs:
Moody Blues's "Tuesday Afternoon" and Bob Dylan's "Knockin on Heaven's Door" are the #1s because I was listening to those songs while traveling up the Amalfi Coast AT NIGHT. There was tons of stars, and all those little twinkling lights from the ships and there were fireworks for some type of celebration. I had lots more song playing but those 2 seemed to be the only ones I zoned back in from la-la land to actually hear :) Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP's "We No Speak Americano". We stayed at a random bed and breakfast in the hills outside of Viterbo and there were only 2 stations on the TV and one played music videos. This video came on like every 10 minutes I swear but I could never catch the artist or name of the song. All I could do was hum that weird beat. It was even on a commercial on some European soccer channel we have. Cut to almost a year later I was walkng past a clothing store in Toronto and heard that beat. I ran to the customer service desk and said "I have been wondering what that tune is forever. What is the name of that song??" The clerk said "We no speak Americano" and I said "oh sorry - parle francias?" He said "NO MISS. THE NAME OF THE SONG IS 'WE NO SPEAK AMERICANO'"... I had found my answer...

Fun post... and as I was reading it I was reminded of a part of a seminar I did a few years ago where I was talking about inspiration and how it related to creativity (as far as photography) and I was looking for quotes about music to use and this is one of my favorites, and I think it applies here. "Music is the soundtrack of your life." Dick Clark

Dire Straits "Sultans of Swing" transports me straight to a little beachside disco which was my hangout for a little while on the Costa del Sol in 1979.

'Fiche la camp, Jacques, et ne retour, jamais, jamais, jamais' Paris 1960 French version of 'Hit the Road, Jack'. The errors are mine.

1989 Ireland and "We didn't start the fire" by Billy Joel (the Irish pronounce it Joe-well).

My very first trip to Europe was booked through American Airlines and every time I hear their theme song (the one they play at the beginning of Rick's show when they say it is sponsored by American Airlines), I get a little flashback to the excitement of that moment.

Back in the mid-eighties my husband and I won a free trip to London on British Airways in a sweepstakes promotiing tourism to the UK after several bombing attacks. A party atmosphere prevailed at the boarding gate, with tea and scones, etc., and while we boarded the pane the Elton John version of "Lucy In The Sky" was simply blasting out of the speakers. We had only just returned from a trip to London about a month before!! We went anyway, of course, stayed the one night in a fancy hotel that was part of the prize, and hopped across the channel to Amsterdam for a few days.

First trip to Paris in November 2007, we heard Alicia Keys' song "No One" everywhere -- taxi radios, electronic stores, and through headphones on teen's iPods. Liked the song so much we bought the album and have been Alicia fans ever since.

I know you were asking us about traveling to Europe, but in September 2010 I went to Buenos Aires. It was a dream come true for me to go there. I was in a taxi and the driver had on the most beautiful music I've ever heard. I was sitting there in the back seat all weepy by the beautiful music and looking at the beautiful city. I bought some CD's of some music of Bueons Aires singers and I just melt when I hear it. So lovely.

During my first trip in the early '80s...Dire Straits "Twisting By The Pool." Every time I'd turn on a radio in Germany and France it seems I would hear it, and I thought it a very appropriate song.

On our first BIG trip we bought 3 cd's. First was a pair of musicians performing near Mary's Bridge overlooking Neuschwanstein. We ran into these same musicians a few days later in Rothenberg and bought their other CD. A few years ago I was on RS best of England and bought a CD from a group performing at a pub in the cotswolds. Whenever I'm missing Europe I pop in one of these CDs and it transports me back - puts a smile on my face:)

@Lisa... can you share the titles of these CDs or the artist? Thanks

Come Prima (The First Time) - an instrumental. I think the best recorded performance of it was by the Paris Michell Orchestra. And the performance of it by Mantovani's orchestra is very good, on the Long Play phonograph record "Continental encores". That album is also on a Compact Disc, but that tune has a diferent title.

La Vie en Rose. i hummed it every morning as we walked down the stairs to breakfast when we were in Paris last year.

Hey Mike, Great thinking question. In Praha, in the mid nineties, my wife and I, with another couple, were having this great dinner in this huge dance hall type place. Lots of young people began to pour into the place from several doors and were buying drinks. Right on the stroke of 22:00 hours, like an atomic clock, all these lights started spinning and flashing, and this techno music started playing so loud, we couldn't talk at all. People started dancing like crazy. I just remember this song "James Brown is Still Alive" by ?, and "Marbles" by Plasticman. We just sat there in awe! Another time, around 2000, we were on top of the Duomo in Firenze, below us was this little three wheeled work truck, and the workers had speakers in the back of it, and were playing "Californication" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, over and over and over again. Not the album, just the song. When I hear it, I get that excited feeling again.

Hi Crash. That's funny whenever I think of Prague I always think of REM. My first glimpse of the city was a billboard for their show in Prague the summer of '95. I took a photo of it and still have it somewhere. Coming from the Detroit area I like Richie Hawtin (Plastikman) a lot. I brought home 2 posters from that trip. Both were plastered all over Berlin. One was for a RHCP and the other for David Bowie. Unfortunately the RHCP poster did not make it back in one piece. The Bowie poster is mounted but I can't find the right spot for it. Here's your tunes. Marbles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHKElfGBa5g James Brown is Still Alive by Holy Noise http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uubXDrdr5OM

When I was 19 and living in a small Gasthof in Germany they played Tammy Wynette's "Stand by your Man" over and over and over! It still makes me smile when in hear it.

1985ish-South Kensington Tube Station-Christmastime-Brompton Oratory choir singing Vivaldi's Gloria Now when I hear that piece, I immediately flash back to the tile-lined tunnel! Pam

Peter Bjorn & John's "Amsterdam" was stuck in my head our entire trip (landing in/departing from, you guessed it, Amsterdam). Unfortunately, Katy Perry's "California Gurls" is also always going to remind me of my trip, because it was everywhere, in every city we visited.