Way Back When Jule Moon was born in 1919, who could have imagined the changes she would see? Jule recently celebrated her 106th birthday with a groovy party full of friends and family jukin' to tunes performed by the Eastern Shore Ukulele Club under the leadership of Carl Couret.

The guests belted out "Happy Birthday" as Jule smiled in her glitzy purple dress adorned with her favorite bling. Her hair was perfect. As she blew out the candles on a gigantic pink cake, the crowd cheered this remarkable lady. Jule's memory is perfect, singing along with tunes when she wasn't charming her guests. The music made the magic.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be a first-hand participant in the music scene for 106 years? As the band played well known songs, I thought about the times that Jule must have heard them for the first time. So here is her birthday party playlist.

The first record players were gramophones named Victors made by RCA – with a large speaker protruding. The logo with the dog Nipper is named “The Master’s Voice.” Photo by Jackie Brill.

"Ain't She Sweet" / "Five Foot Two"

By the time Jule was 10 yeas old, her father had shown her how to put the record on the machine, lower the needle to the first groove and start the record spinning! Such a wondrous sound came from the record — a song named "Ain't She Sweet." Jule soon sang every word as she played it over and over. One day, her dad came home with a new record: "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (Has Anybody Seen my Gal?)". Movie reels were full of Vaudeville slapstick skits, tap dancing, and her parents even showed her how to do the Charleston. She was a teenage flapper.

Her first record player was a Victrola Record Machine, made by the RCA (Radio Corporation of America) founded the same year she was born, 1919. The records she played were made of a hard shellac and played at 78 rotations per minute. They were brittle and were broken easily, so she handled them carefully with gloves. Each record side held one song about five minutes long imbedded in the grooves. If a record was scratched or the machine was bumped, the needle would skip until it found the next complete groove. Thus, the term, getting back in the groove, or getting your groove back, meaning back to normal after a hiccup. Sometimes, the record would get "stuck" and keep repeating a phrase over and over (like some people I know) until the needle is picked up and moved forward to another track.

"Five Foot Two (Has Anybody Seen My Girl?)" was released in 1928 and this year has become public domain. Photo provided.

During the Depression era, her family moved to Mobile. Quite the accomplished musician, she played piano, sang soprano in the high school choir and performed in several dramas. Her writing skills were emerging as well: she edited the school paper. After her 1935 graduation from Murphy, she went to college in Texas. She embarked on a career counseling, anthropology and several other fields to the sounds of the popular big bands.

"Hey, Good Lookin'" / "Wake Up Little Susie"

With the onset of World War II, shellac became scarce and the music industry began burning tracks onto vinyl — a new age. In 1948, the first long playing 331/3 album was released, holding several songs on each side. Soon, much smaller singles were released on 45 rpm records designed for jukeboxes. The 1950s saw the market explode for 45s. The 1951 songs like "Hey, Good Lookin'" morphed into the "Wake Up Little Susie" genre by 1958. "Rock and roll was here to stay." Jitterbug, bobby sox and ponytails were everywhere, but Jule always had the appearance and bearing of a true lady. At Jule's home, her album arm automatically dropped an LP onto the turntable from the stack she selected for her listening pleasure.

Vinyl 45s were made for juke boxes, thus the large center hole. Adapters could be inserted for regular spindle players. Photo by Harriet Outlaw.

"Garden Song"

She remained the elegant career lady throughout the hippie years but did enjoy the folk song movement. John Denver's "Garden Song" was an example of the mellow music that must have accompanied her as she wrote, for she was fast becoming a well-known author.

"Down on the Corner"

By the time she was in her sixth decade of life, Motown and classic rock were played on new-fangled listening machines such as the cassette player and 1979 Walkman. Then, she had to be amazed at all the music that one little CD could hold.

With the onset of the hard and heavy age, she found refuge in watching classic movies and listening to her favorite LPs. She was busy collaborating on several books with the Fairhope Writers' Group. Her own collection of poetry, prose and essays, "Sherds A Memoire," was published in 2011.

Jule Moon was the lead singer for "Get Up and Go" played by Carl Couret and the Eastern Shore Ukulele club. Photo provided.

Jule says she thinks there is nothing like live music, however. She plays the drums when the visiting band comes to the center, and she still plays the piano and sings. She could hardly sit still when the ukuleles started to play the climactic song of the day, "Get Up and Go" by Pete Seeger. So…she was the lead singer for the big finale.

"Get Up and Go"

How do I know my youth is all spent?
My get up and go has got up and went
In spite of it all, I'm able to grin
When I think of the places my get up has been.

She sure has been there and done that, and she still sings and dances through every new day. Jule never really lost her groove and is still the grooviest lady I know.

Read more about her in articles by Leslie Anne Tarabella in "Exploding Hushpuppies" and at AL.com. "Queen of Know: Conversations with Centenarian Jule Moon" by Donna Orchard is full of delightful insights into this treasure of a lady.

Long Playing 33.3 recordings were made on vinyl. In the 1950s, nearly every home had a stereo. Seen here is Harriet Outlaw's refurbished 1950 stereo that was her husband's as a teenager. Photo provided.