Hi Lee,
Merry Christmas to you.
Thanks for signing our guest book. [Me: Goodness! I had forgotten this!] Due to PC problems, we have not been receiving all our emails but hopefully that is now sorted.
Coincidentally, KingBathmat mentioned Horslips not long after I got to know him, which was around the time I was helping Horslips gain more new fans by my constant playing of The Tain at the time.
I do wish they would do a few gigs once more but fear that today's UK populous is largely lacking in musical taste...
If memory serves, I found this site through a google search on "Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts" and was immediately captivated by their excellent graphic:
But prompted by Jem's email (and I'm writing back in joy and haste to tell him of Dingle and its upcoming broadcast in February...as well as a suggestion that he review Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts), I spent some time on the site. And my Christmas visitor has a fascinating history of his own!
Born on 23rd December 1957 in London, I was just about old enough to see the changes in the music scene from the fifties crooners whose material was well known largely due to the musical films of the era (Half a Sixpence, Summer Holiday etc) but also including Billy J Kramer, Frank Ifield et al, to the upcoming change in style and tempo that was The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Kinks. Incidentally, the first piece of vinyl I bought was Daydream by the Lovin’ Spoonful – two shillings and nine pence if I recall.
My early musical influence, however, was not the pop of the day but classical music thanks to my father’s keen interest in the genre and extensive record collection. Bach, Beethoven and Mozart were instant hits with me as was Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite and, on the lighter front, Paganini, Tchaikovsky and Johann Strauss. Of course there are too many to list but you get the picture. I was never that enamoured with opera as I considered the melody more enjoyable than vocals, or should I say choral works. The only exception to this was the works of Gilbert and Sullivan because of the catchy tunes combined with humorous lyrics and to this end I have even been to see the D’Oyly Carte in action.
Further on down, there's more:
bought few singles and those I did buy were lucky to get into the top 100. The first two albums I bought were by The Move (I’m still a Roy Wood fan) and Mungo Gerry but it wasn’t until 1972 that I first dipped into the world of prog. I’d heard and seen Jethro Tull on the radio and TV in the late 60’s but as soon as I heard a friend’s copy of Aqualung I just knew I had to get it. Soon, all my pocket money was being spent on prog albums that were being released faster than my wallet could contend with. I bought Tubular Bells as soon as it was released before it reached the charts. ELP, Caravan, Genesis, King Crimson, Horslips, Gryphon, Tull, Fairport Convention and Gong soon found a home in my growing collection. Everything stopped for Alan Freeman’s Saturday Rock Show on BBC Radio 1 (2pm to 5pm) when I soaked up the enthusiastic banter and glowed in the fact that 50 per cent of the music played I actually had in my collection and at least 45 per cent I wanted to get. There was no need to buy YES as I had all the tracks etched into my skull from friends non-stop playing of various albums.
And here's his list of timeless classic albums:
JETHRO TULL
- A Passion Play
- Thick As A Brick
- Broadsword And The Beast
CARAVAN
- Land Of Grey And Pink
GENTLE GIANT
- In A Glass House
- Interview
CAMEL
- The Snowgoose
- A Live Record
- Moonmadness (and all the rest)
GENESIS
- Foxtrot
- Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
- Selling England By The Pound
STEVE HACKETT
- Voyage Of The Acolyte
GRYPHON
- Midnight Mushrumps
HORSLIPS
- The Tain
STEELY DAN
- Pretzel Logic
- Aja
RICK WAKEMAN
- Six Wives of Henry VIII
YES
- Close To The Edge
- Fragile
FOCUS
- Hamburger Concerto
- Moving Waves
ANTHONY PHILIPS
- The Geese And The Ghost
PINK FLOYD
- Animals
- Meddle
- Atom Heart Mother
MOVING HEARTS
- The Storm
KING CRIMSON
- In The Court Of The Crimson King
ENID
- In The Region Of The Summer Stars
- Tripping The Light Fantastic
You know, if you swapped out the Horslips selection for a Marillion selection you'd be looking at my husband's record collection circa 'when I met him.' I now feel quite remorseful that I encouraged the donation of much of this vinyl over the years so I could make room for my own selections of Pogues albums and psychobilly bands.
Clearly we just needed to buy more record shelving!
No comments:
Post a Comment