Top five albums that give you flashbacks to childhood.

Inspired by the Graceland thread. Do more than five if you like.

1. Paul Simon - Graceland
2. West Side Story
3. The best of the Eurythmics
4. The best of the Police
5. Elvis Costello - Spike

Definitely this:
http://www.audionut.co.za/lp_images/lp1701_Beach%20boys-endless%20summer.jpg
I think my image of the Beach Boys was totally skewed by this album art. I thought they were crazy beardo jungle guys. Which they were, I guess, some of the time ...

Misplaced Childhood by Marillion. Should inbuy a copy on CD or will it offend twenty years on?

I was also pretty into this, because of the war sounds on "Unknown Soldier" mainly.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MK91ECBWL._SL160_.jpg

The records that figured in my childhood are things the adults around me enjoyed that I just had to listen to because they were listening:

My parents loved to dance together to Gladys Knight & The Pips "I've Got to Use My Imagination"

My babysitter really loved Alice Cooper and Carly Simon (confusing!) so I think we listened to a live Alice Cooper record and to Carly's "Boys In the Trees" and "Playing Possum" albums a lot when she would babysit me.

My dad liked Rod Stewart's "Blondes Have More Fun" LP.

My mom liked Emmylou Harris (maybe "Luxury Liner"?).

In retrospect, my folks played some pretty decent records into the ground

1. Rumors
2. Boston S/T
3. The Chieftains 4
4. Modern Jazz Quartet - Blues on Bach
5. Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly

First one brings up vivid recollections of Testors fumes and stewed tomatoes while I glued together a Spitfire model kit in the kitchen and they canned the end-of-the-summer pomodori. Second one my dad got, 'cause he heard the guy was from MIT, and thought it was hilarious that an MIT grad would start a rock band. But they loved that record.

Mothership Connection by Parliament
A Night at the Opera by Queen
Dressed to Kill by Kiss
Teaser & the Firecat by Cat Stevens
Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel

Definitely this:

http://www.audionut.co.za/lp_images/lp1701_Beach%20boys-endless%20summer.jpg

^

Ghostbusters OST
Top Gun OST
Cocktail OST
Beverly Hills Cop OST

lol 80's

Loverboy-Get Lucky
Dire Straits-Brothers in Arms
Duran Duran-Rio
Def Leppard-Pyromania
Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon

Beatles - Yellow Submarine (and White Album and and...)
Quiet Riot - Metal Health
Styx - Mr Roboto single
Weird Al - Eat It (etc)
Gary Numan - Cars

All of these belonged to my brother and changed my life, circa '69-'70, roughly:

- Paul Revere & the Raiders Greatest Hits
- Some Tommy Roe compilation on a yellow label (I barely remember the actual cover)
- Doors, Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine
- Stones, Through the Past Darkly
- Beatles, Sgt. Pepper (and/or Abbey Road or White Album or Help, all of which were there and listened to)

My sisters and parents had records too, of course, and I certainly owned some kids records, but the impact of all of them was miniscule compared to the above, which were more like objects of worship.

Ooh, also this.

Simon & Garfunkel: Concert in Central Park
Neil Diamond: Hot August Night
Billy Joel: Best of, Vols 1 & 2
Johnny Cash: Live at San Quentin
Johnny Horton: Johnny Horton's Greatest Hits

Mum used to put on the first two albums, and later the third on cassette, when she was doing housework or cooking. I used to stare at the S&G album for hours...I think in the gatefold there was a huge picture of the crowd? and I would look at all the people and wonder who they were. Hot August Night interested me because of that picture of Neil on the cover in his tight jeans. Billy Joel, whenever I hear 'Big Shot', or 'Allentown' or heck any of those songs, I'm crosslegged on the living room floor playing lego.
The Cash & Horton are my Dad's contribution. He'd crank a Boy Named Sue, or Sink The Bismark at Christmas time, loud as it could go. Took me a long time to appreciate both of them, but I'm so glad he did that now. especially the San Quentin album. That album was like a bible to me when I was a kid, that photo of the cover, I thought he must have been some kind of Jebus person the way he glowed. hahah.

Ha. I was actually at that show (and went home early, like a dolt).

Dude, that's cool! Was it a winter concert? The photo made it look cold there.

S&G? No, it was late summer, if memory serves. I went with my sister and some of her friends. They stayed. I split and went home to play video games.

It must've been a total zoo. The photo made it look like there were a bajillion people there.

Billy Joel: Best of, Vols 1 & 2

This one goes for me as well.

Also my dad went through a Simply Red phase, which he now denies. I think the album was A New Flame.

Supposedly over 500,000 people in Central Park for that concert, so I'd say there were a couple people there.

A song that gives me MEGA flashbacks, though I didn't care so much for the album, is Love Is all from the Butterfly Ball soundtrack. Australian public access channel would play the video inbetween Sesame Street and Worzel Gummidge, and I would RUN to the tv to see it.

Probably my all time favorite flashback, made cooler by the adult realization that it was sung by Mr Ronnie James Dio...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sn1UqbbbqQ

xpost: 500,000????? Holy schnikes.

That butterfly ball video is pretty psychedelic

1. Parklife - Blur
2. Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles

and from my Dad playing them

3. Blood on the Tracks - Bob Dylan
4. Moondance - Van Morrison
5. New York - Lou Reed

He gave me the LP of 'Graceland' the other week as well but I can't really remember him playing it