“Maggie,” by Rod Stewart, blasting from Copeland on a sunny day with windows open for all of Platt-Howard to hear. Spring ’72, I think?
—Cathy Deeming Lindsley BA ’74
“Scarlet Begonias” / “Fire on the Mountain,” by the Grateful Dead (and many other Dead tunes). I saw them live at the Paramount in Portland for the first time as a freshman in ’75. That’s when the “bus came by and I got on.”
—Pieter Lefferts BA ’80
When “ice” was a spontaneous extension of winter break and not an authoritarian terror tactic: “Cold as Ice,” by Foreigner (1977). And every Oregon gray season created a craving for the first blush of spring weather and the bloom of lower campus: “Miss Sun,” by Boz Scaggs, backed by the soon-to-be band Toto (1980).
—Richard Recker BS ’81
My freshman roommate was a huge Neil Diamond fan…“September Morn.”
—Gail Kim BA ’83
Anything from the Police’s Synchronicity album and Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A.
—Wendy Ragusa BA ’85
“Johnny Q” by the local Crazy 8s, who performed on campus.
—Jackson Shea BS ’89
“Add It Up,” by Violent Femmes. It was played at SO MANY campus parties!
—Lisa Barnes BA ’90
Not one song in particular but music by REM, the Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, Talking Heads, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Joan Armatrading, U2, the Cure, and the Smiths.
—Christy MacAnally-Trowbridge BA ’90
“Smells Like Teen Spirit,” by Nirvana—pretty much on a campus-wide continuous loop from September through December 1991.
—Greg Carlson BA ’94
“Pourin’ Rain,” by Calobo.
—Gabi Morgan BA ’94
“How Bizarre,” by OMC. It was all over the radio on my Australia trip, then on the radio in the States when we returned.
—Paul Mason BS ’96
Green Day’s entire American Idiot album. I even wrote a paper for Professor Rohrbaugh’s Historical Jesus course about the lyrics and subtext of the album. It’s having a resurgence right now so it’s been especially back in my mind!
—Heidi Patterson BA ’07, MAT ’15
“Fake Empire,” by The National. Big ideas around questioning the world. Very nostalgic!
—Hans Faye BA ’14
“Caroline,” by Aminé. This song always reminds me of dancing around my Hartzfeld dorm room with my friend group—it was our song. My friends requested it at my wedding so we could dance to it together again, even though we had all moved to different places after graduation.
—Elise Pfrommer BA ’21
“Hangover Game,” by MJ Lenderman.
—Madeleine MacWilliamson BA ’24
“Love Me,” by Fia. Anytime I listen to it, I’m transported back to my freshman year in the football locker room, getting ready for practice. It was one of those songs that was always on repeat and nobody could help catching a vibe to, especially on a Sunday afternoon driving to your favorite food truck.
—Wil Powell BA ’24
10-hour box fan noise, by Big Fan on Spotify.
—Isaac Heintze BA ’25
