The Billboard Top 100 from 1987 has been up in an open tab on my computer for days. There are so many memories in this list and I could have written about so many things, but here’s what I decided on...
Fourteen was complex. The height of puberty- high school upon me. In addition to those typical early teen rights of passage, my parents had finally decided to call it quits after a yo-yo two years of separation and reunion. As a result, my mom decided to relocate with my sister and me to Florida, where much of her family resided. My emotions were even more all over the place than a typical teen. I couldn’t wait for my new adventure in Florida! The beach, the pool, the perpetual tan (silly naive girl). But I was also nervous. Would I make new friends? Would I fit in as a transport right at the start of high school? I had spent my life to that point in one town; many of my friends had been friends since pre-school. It was exciting and scary all at once. And my dad... he would be so far away. 1987 was a tumultuous year indeed.
When I look at the Billboard 100 from my 14th year, it brings back lots of happy memories. It’s a reminder that 1987 was the beginning of the rest of my life. So many iconic artists, some who sadly are no longer with us. Whitney Houston, George Michael, Michael Jackson, and Prince all had hit songs that year, which ones isn’t important. They were all pop icons of my childhood, along with others who are still with us, like Janet Jackson, Madonna, and Bono and the boys from U2. There were some really popular one hit wonders too, and an artist who largely flew under the radar with mild popularity. Steve Winwood, who I believe to be incredibly under appreciated, possibly because of the success of his former Traffic bandmate, Eric Clapton.
In 1987, Winwood’s biggest hit on the chart was “The Finer Things.” However, my memory is of a holdover hit from 1986 that still got lots of radio play in ‘87. An important song for my sister and me and our now unexpectedly single mom, was Winwood’s mellow and understated song of positivity, “Back in the High Life.” It became our anthem. The three of us, all of our furniture and possessions in a Mayflower truck headed south, and a suitcase, our favorite CDs and some snacks packed into my mom’s Nissan Sentra, drove to our new state of residence.
My mom carefully planned the 24-hour drive, splitting it into 3 days with 2 cheap hotel overnights and 3 eight-hour days of driving. Together, we traveled from Long Island, New York to South Florida. It was an incredible 24/7 bonding experience for my mom, my sister, and me. We ate junk food, sang at the top of our lungs to all our favorite songs on the radio, and laughed until we cried. And when Steve Winwood’s “Back in the High Life” came on, my mom turned up the volume and said, “This is for us girls. Nothing but good from here on.” And with James Taylor joining us for back up vocals, we sang and sang, belting out the words;
We’ll be back in the high life again.
All the doors that closed one time will open up again.
We’ll be back in the high life again.
All the odds that punched us once, will smile and take us in.
And we’ll drink and dance with one hand free.
And have the world so easily.
You know we’ll be a sight to see,
Back in the high life again.
And we drive on down toward Florida looking forward to what truly turned out to be a better life than the one we left behind.
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