Lisa Benton: 40 Gifts of Music from Steve

The Piano Songs
1. The Surprise Symphony—I’m remembering someone saying that whenever Steve played this song on the piano, he woke up all the old ladies in the audience. Or was that what someone said about the composer?
2. Moon River—I remember when Steve learned this song on the piano. He played it a lot.
3. You’re the Top—One year for Mother’s Day, Steve learned this song on the piano and had Brian and me learn verses to sing to Mom.
4. Moonlight Sonata—Steve played this song on the piano a lot. I always think of him whenever I hear it. Even when Brian plays it.
5. I Write the Songs—This is one of the first popular songs that I remember Steve learning to play. Good ol’ Barry Manilow. I think Steve identified with him nasally.
Steve’s Greatest Hits
6. Baby Talk, Barbara Ann—Obviously the Babys made this song a fabulous hit in Wichita Falls. I was very proud to watch Steve and friends sing this and other songs.
7. Freight Train—A recording by Amy Stewart and Steve. It made me believe I could possibly become an Indigo Girl. They put the sound within reach.
8. Red, Green on the Rocky Road—Amy Stewart and Steve sang this one, too. I don’t actually know the real name.
9. Maja Guapa—One of Steve’s originals. I don’t know the name of it, but I can sing it all for you.
10. My Oklahoma Girl—I used to sing this one all the time. I would bet Steve doesn’t have any idea how well I know most of this original tunes. He set the bar very high for my standards for decent guys--if you weren't writing songs for me then you weren't going to last. Maybe that’s why I ended up with a very decent girl instead.
11. Does Anyone Remember? Another one of Steve’s originals. Very sweet song
12. 59th Street Bridge Song—I may have heard this one before Steve and Glen recorded it in the church bathroom, but their version of it stands out for me.
The 8-Tracks
13. In My Room/Beach Boys—I remember Steve playing the Beach Boys 8 track over and over and over. This song reminded me of him because his room seemed like a sacred place to him.
14. Summer Breeze/Seals & Croft—Another 8 track standard. Steve listened to this one on a homemade 8-track from John Dan.
15. Barracuda/Heart—Another 8 track standard that Steve can’t let go of. Steve has a bizarre appreciation of Heart.
16. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?/Chicago Another 8-track standard off a homemade 8-track that John Dan made. I still associate most of Chicago’s hit from the 70’s with Steve’s room in Wichita Falls, where we did most of our listening to 8-tracks.
17. Fernando/Abba—Obviously this one was an 8-track as well. Steve loves this song. He especially likes it when people sing it to him on his answering machine.
18. Stayin’ Alive/Bee Gees—8-track. I remember Steve teaching me a dance routine to one of the songs on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. That was so much fun. I adored the attention, which was difficult to get since I was a cry baby and a tattletale.
19. Hot Stuff/Donna Summers—8-track. The only Donna Summers song I remember
The Lyrical Master
20.Money for Nothing/Dire Straits—I remember Steve quizzing Brian on the lyrics of this song.
21. Russians/Sting—I remember Steve quizzing me on the lyrics of this song. That was one of Steve’s fun pasttimes—to see if he could get Brian and me to remember the words of songs and to interpret their meanings.
22. Synchronicity/The Police—Steve quizzed me and Brian both on the lyrics to this song. Steve pretty much gave me the Police and Sting and I’m very grateful for both.
Inspired Performances
23. Jukebox Hero/Foreigner—Just picture it: Steve strobing the bathroom lights, Brian playing air guitar on his bed in his Fruit-of-the-Looms and lipsynching to this song. I think Steve had Brian perform this song for Mom and me the first night that we arrived in Stuttgart after being in Odessa for a month or so without the boys.
24. I’ve Got A Crush On You/Linda Ronstadt—After listening to Steve play this over and over, I sang it to my junior high school principal in a talent show my 9th grade year. It went over very well.
25. Grandma’s Feather Bed/John Denver—The Stuttgart Five broke out with this one. Steve taught it to us. What vision.
26. Rhythm of the Falling Rain—Steve produced my first and only recording of this song. I sound very forlorn.
Life Changing
27. Closer to Fine/Indigo Girls—Really Steve gave me all the Indigo Girls by giving me this one song. I’ll never forget the first time I heard them. It was the afternoon of Steve’s graduation from TCU and we had driven down from Oklahoma. I was sitting in Steve’s living room in the house on Merida and it was raining outside and Steve was playing Closer to Fine for Mom and Dad, thinking they would like the harmonies. The tape he was playing was given to him by a friend of his from Africa. I ended up with it when he went to Spain that summer. No other music has had a more profound effect on my life.
28. Graffiti Limbo/Michelle Shocked—Steve also gave me all of Michelle Shocked when he gave me Short Sharp Shocked for Christmas one year. I think I remember that he won the cassette on a contest on KERA and didn’t like it very much so gave it to me. Can that be right? That would mean he gave me an opened cassette for Christmas? Surely not. Anyway, one man’s trash is another woman’s treasure. I really liked Graffiti Limbo first and then fell in love with the rest of this album, which as far as I’m concerned remains her best.
29. Waiting for the Great Leap Forward/Billy Bragg—Steve also gave me all of Billy Bragg when he gave me the cassette Workers Playtime. I loved this tape, but especially the revolutionary tune, Waiting for the Great Leap Forward. I was, of course, the only person I knew in Stuttgart, Arkansas listening to Billy Bragg. I was very pleased when I went to visit Steve in Spain and he introduced me to a big fan of Billy Bragg. I had thought I was the only one in the world . . .
30. Rain on the Scarecrow/John Cougar Mellencamp—Steve gave me all of John Cougar Mellencamp. Prior to this album, I thought John Cougar was a little too rough for me. I fell in love with him after this album and subsequently bought every thing else he ever released. He was the soundtrack for much of my high school life.
Miscellaneous Musical Memories
31. Take the Money and Run/Steve Miller Band—I know that Steve introduced me to Steve Miller Band. My most vivid memory is listening to a greatest hits album on a family vacation in Colorado. However, I’m not sure if that’s when he first introduced me to them. I still love that greatest hits album.
32. Melt With You—This was an 80’s dance song that was on a mixed tape that Steve made for one of his girlfriends. I ended up with a copy of that mixed tape and listened to it all the time. I loved this song. I remember Steve talking about dancing to it.
33. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes/Paul Simon—I remember listening to this music while Steve was in Spain during his junior year of college. When he came home, we had it playing in the car and he asked us to turn it off because it was one of three tapes he had listened to for a year in Spain and he was tired of it.
34. I Love A Rainy Night/Eddie Rabbit—Eddie Rabbit and Odessa. Good times
35. Oceanfront Property/George Strait—This song made it on Steve’s mixed tape for one of his girlfriends. This is a great song and I started liking George Strait and country music after this.
36. Eleanor Rigby/Beatles—I remember Steve listening to this song a lot. I hated it. Very depressing song.
Annual Favorites
37. Miss Independent/Kelly Clarkson—Steve recently listed a song by Kelly Clarkson as one of his favorites for the year. I scoffed and gave him grief, but have since downloaded this one on my ipod. It snuck in.
38. Above You Above Me/Badly Drawn Boy—Steve passed Badly Drawn Boy and the movie About A Boy onto me. I love them both. About A Boy has become one of my favorite cheer-me-up movies.
39. Somebody Told Me/The Killers—One of the songs that made it on Steve’s annual time capsule recently. I love this song.
40. Strange Powers/Magnetic Fields—Another annual time capsule song. I had to look long and hard to download it for Steve. I listen to it often just to make it worth the effort I put into finding it.