I was only ten when my older sister discovered music. I was naive, thinking childhood pursuits were enough, but she was eighteen months older than me, finding newer, more mature things to occupy her thoughts.

That day we walked along East 14th Street in East Oakland, just down the block from our grandmother’s dry cleaning shop. She ducked into the little record shop where there were wooden tables with 45rpm records, also called singles, in bins for us to sift through.

Susan knew exactly what she wanted. This was her first record purchase and she’d planned it out carefully in advance. She bought her three favorite current hit songs:

1) Rhythm of the Falling Rain, recorded by the Cascades
2) Purple People Eater, recorded by Sheb Wooley
and
3) The Lion Sleeps Tonight, recorded by the Tokens

These three songs were my introduction to the world of popular music, and I still remember them clearly. Fortunately the lyrics are easily found on the internet, so if I ever want to sing them again, I can.