The Jets - "You Got it All"

(Debuted November 15, 1986, Peaked #3, 26 Weeks on the Chart)

At the time, 1987 started off as a really good year for me. I was 14 years old and beginning to experience some of the extra freedom I was being given as a result of showing that I was mature enough to handle it. One of the things I did at that time was a monthly dance my church youth group had that let me go all the way to Syracuse and meet with kids from other towns around Upstate New York. And while there was the regular church-related stuff we had to sit through, there was one reason I really looked forward to the third weekend of every month.

You probably guessed it...there was a girl there. Brenda was a redhead, which has long been a particular weakness of mine. "You Got it All" was a hit around that time, and the song was played at the dances. I must have danced with her to this song at least once, because I still think of her when I hear it.

I haven't seen or heard about Brenda since I graduated from high school. And while I'm sure she's forgotten all about me by now, it would be great to find out how she's doing. Not to see if there's any spark left (after all, I'm happily married with a child and assume she is as well); rather, I'd love to see how a long-lost friend has been spending the last twenty-plus years.

"You Got it All" was one of five Top 10 pop hits for The Jets between 1986 and '88. It was also one of two #1 adult contemporary singles for them as well. The group was a family act, consisting of eight siblings originally from Tonga. The vocals were done by Elizabeth Wolfgramm, who was the same age as I was (well, she still is, come to think of it). The song was written by Rupert Holmes, who hadn't had any hits of his own since 1981's "I Don't Need You" -- featured on this blog back in March -- and had branched out into other music-related interests.

That's the power of music, especially music from your own youth. Even a quarter century later, hearing a song can take you back to a moment in time that would otherwise be lost forever.