Good afternoon.
I hope you are all well and that the sun is shining on you wherever you are.
Music, music, music. Where would we be without it? Music has the power to lift our spirits, to speak for us when we can't find the words, to heal us in times of need and to remind us of happy/sad times in our lives.
Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. From singing in the choir at primary school...where I also learned to play the recorder and the piano amongst other things (but not the cello which was what I really wanted to learn) to listening to my parents playing music long into the night to concerts and festivals.
Mum was very keen for all of us children to have some kind of musical experience when we were young. As I mentioned, I played a couple of instruments and sang in various choirs, my sister did similar and my brother sang in the local church choir and the drama group when they put on a production of The Sound of Music.
I was never quite sure why Mum felt so strongly about it but I later heard that my paternal grandmother had been a music teacher and I think that may have been an influence. Certainly, I don't recall either Mum or Dad playing an instrument but Dad did like to belt out a few tunes when he was having a bath! It makes me smile when I think about that. He used to sing really loudly and we could hear him when we were playing outside!
When we were teenagers, there were fairly regular parties and gatherings at our house that various people would come to and music was always involved. It was from these get togethers that I first heard the music of Tom Paxton, Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, The Moody Blues, Elton John, Bowie and many, many more.
I have a very vivid memory of Mum being so excited when she got a copy of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, the Elton John album. I think it may have been a triple album but I'm not too sure. All I remember is that the album was played over and over again and all of us soon knew all the words to almost every track.
We thought that everyone's musical experience was the same as ours and I remember being really surprised when friends of mine had never heard Tea For The Tillerman, a brilliant album by the wonderful Cat Stevens.
Of course, there was my teenage years when I became obsessed with The Osmonds and Donny in particular. I joined the fan club and wrote many letters to my idols. I had posters on my bedroom wall and a particularly gorgeous one of Donny on the ceiling above my bed. I used to say 'goodnight' to him every night before I went to sleep.
Friends as school knew about The Osmonds and David Cassidy and The Jacksons which made a nice change. We could share magazines containing stories of our chosen ones, we could fantasize about what we would say if we ever met them.
From then on my journey into the music world became one of concerts. I would go to the local civic hall where I saw Genesis, Pilot (Oh,ho, ho it's magic, you know....!), Gary Numan, The Boomtown Rats, The Undertones and The Police to name a few. I also saw a band called The Streetwalkers which was fronted by Roger Chapman. They were promoting the album called Red Card and they were fantastic. I still have the album on vinyl (which I can't play because I don't have a record player anymore) and it's not available on iTunes which is a bit rubbish.
We then started going to London. Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, Elton John, George Michael, Howard Jones, Def Leppard and many more. A shortish break while I had children and then we were off again and, as the children grew, their love of music, probably drummed into them by our own late night music sessions, grew too.
Green Day, Linkin Park, Bon Jovi, The Prodigy,U2, Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Take That....some or all of the kids have been with us to many of these gigs and it's been wonderful.
My biggest discovery, encouraged in a huge way by my husband, has been the music of Bruce Springsteen. When we got together, my view of The Boss was that he was just another overhyped American musician who would never really make it over here simply because he was 'too American'!! Born in the USA was really the only Springsteen song that I knew. Boy, was I wrong!!
I think, to date, we have seen Springsteen and/or the E Street Band about 30 times, mostly in England but also in Spain and it has always been a life affirming experience. The awesomeness of the man has to be seen to be believed and many of my very best memories have involved him or his music in some way.
I recall being at the old Wembley Stadium and dancing on the pitch with my brother in law to Twist and Shout. I remember being so close to Bruce in the Albert Hall that I could see the sweat dripping from the ends of his fingers while he played. I've lost my voice through singing so loudly at his shows more times than I can remember, I've been reduced to tears many, many times by incredibly poignant renditions of his songs and I will never, ever forget the first time that I saw the band play Jungleland. It was breathtaking. There was a wonderful night at the cricket ground in Manchester where my youngest sister joined us for her first Bruce experience and an evening at the Arsenal football ground where all of our children finally got see Bruce and the band in all their glory.
There isn't much else to say about Mr Springsteen except...believe the hype and if you ever get the chance to see him just do it. He will not let you down.
Finally, a fairly recent discovery has been the super talented, all round genius that is Mr.Frank Turner. We first stumbled across Frank at the Cambridge Folk Festival a few years ago and we were mesmerised by him. His passion for his craft was obvious throughout his performance and we were hooked. We have subsequently seen him a few more times and have never been disappointed. In a lot of ways he reminds us (hubby and I) of a young Springsteen... poetic with his use of words, energetic and enthusiastic with his musicianship and an all round nice guy. Yet again, many people that we talk to about Mr Turner have never heard of him so we keep spreading the word. I'm hopeful of going to Kendal Calling this summer so I can get my Frank fix. It's been too long!!
Long live rock and roll.....and every other kind of music that lifts our hearts and makes us happy!
Much love
xxxxx
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