m is for music...
for as long as i can remember, i have always been around music. so much so, that not being surrounded by it seemed unusual. as a child, i'd wake up so the sound of my mum's radio alarm playing all the mid-century hits (5AD/mix 102.3, for those of you playing at home), we'd have a giant record player in the lounge forever spinning beatles or elton john on the weekends - or the eagles if mum was out and it was dad's turn, and we'd sing along to country radio on all our long car trips. it never occured to me that it wasn't like that for everyone.
i grew on on the music of the 50's, 60's and 70's. mum's favourites: neil diamond and elton john. dad's favourites: dire straits, the eagles, and elton john. my favourite growing up: the beatles, fleetwood mac and... elton john. it was written in the stars! (it should be noted that i saw elton john perform last year at the jubilee concert, and he was just as good as i'd always dreamed he would be, and my mum lost her mind)
my favourite movies growing up were those with the best soundtracks; the sound of music, grease, the lion king (elton john!) and bye bye birdie (i know, how random!). my love for musical theatre has never waned, now that i am here in big bad london, i have seen the lion king, shrek the musical (twice), singin' in the rain, viva forever, dreamboats and petticoats, and the wizard of oz; and back home, grease the musical (twice) the sound of music (twice), the lion king (again), jersey boys, hairspray, wicked, and mamma mia. i'm sure there are more.
my musical tastes have changed a lot over the years, but never strayed far from my roots. i always still feel so happy listening to the golden oldies - something about the tunes, melodies and lyrics takes me right back to my childhood - to a happy place! but, i guess music is such a personal thing, i mean, no-one can tell you to like a certain piece of music, or expect you to have the same reaction to it as them. i like a whole range of music - i love everything from cheesy pop to metal, depending on the day of the week. i have hung out in 'scene' bars and been the first on on the dance floor at a flashback bar, getting my groove on to some hits of the 90's.
i hate people who judge other people based on what music they listen to. so what if i like one direction? i'm still the same person. do you prefer me if i only like unsigned artists? what happens when they get signed? do you go and find a new band to like. it's so silly! there are bands i have loved since i first heard them, and that will never do wrong in my eyes; paramore, new found glory, red jumpsuit apparatus - i saw rja play in camden when i first moved to london - they were bloody awful. they weren't tight, ronnie was off key for most of the set, and yet i loved every minute of it. i'd grown up listening to them, and seeing them live was something i'd wanted to do for years. erin and i were lucky enough to meet ronnie after the show, and even get pics with him. erin told him he loved her, and that when they got married her name would be erin winter (i told her it was something jane austen-y), while i told him i'd tweeted him for a pint. he said he'd tweet me back. never did. still love them.
[infact, going to see them play again this week in camden, with bex and erin, so lets hope things have improved!! also seeing another of my fave artists - city and color, who are opening for biffy clyro this week at the o2. what a week!]
[infact, going to see them play again this week in camden, with bex and erin, so lets hope things have improved!! also seeing another of my fave artists - city and color, who are opening for biffy clyro this week at the o2. what a week!]
as a kid, i liked everything from what my parents listened to, to the top 40 music charts (hanson, five, britpop), to the 'dark' stuff that played on rage during the night (korn, prodigy, slipknot, etc). as a teen, it was emo-pop-punk-rock or whatever it was called - my first ever concert was blink182's enema of the tour, where i discovered how dangerous a mosh pit can be; trampled, and sat in first aid for the opening band. i remember hitch-hiking to a local shopping centre when the school bus broke down to see aussie band killing heidi play a meet-and-greet (hi mum, sorry). as a 'young adult' i remember heat stroke in my early 20's at big day out and missing the streets, jet and the killers, but not before being tortured by my chemical romance. i remember seeing the backstreet boys with my emo-pop-punk-rock boyfriend, and him loving every minute of it. kelly clarkson. new found glory. lily allen. paramore 3 times in a year. faith no more headline at soundwave. alexisonfire. jimmy eat world. the kings of flippen leon. john farnham. pink. britney spears (recently too - i am ashamed of this one.), destiny's child. creedence clearwater revival. rod stewart, elton john and paul flippen mcartney at the palace in june. i went all the way to liverpool to see a beatles tribute act, and sir paul mac was right there. singing 'live and let die' like a boss. right now, my musical taste couldn't be more mixed. and that's the way i like it.
yeah, and so what if i love one direction. i saw them at the jingle bell ball. i never knew girls could scream so loud. they sang three songs; i knew all the words. i'm not ashamed. i also knew all of emile sande and pro green's lyrics too - does that redeem me? i doubt it, nor do i care.
music is about how it makes you, and the people around you feel. everything else is irrelevant. it has the power to bring people together. you want proof? last year i met adele (yes, really) at a wedding, and for the most part she was sat chatting with the bride (her best mate laura) at a table in the corner. i guess she didn't really want the attention, seeing as it was laura's big day - and i get that. she posed for a few pics like a trooper, but mostly kept to herself, until... beyonce. there is something to be said for the power of the single ladies dance, because girlfriend was up and booty shakin' with the rest of us. so there. music brings people together!
there's gotta be something there, if beyonce can get soul songress adele off her feet and onto the dance floor. though, i did once read that her favourite drink is white lightening, and she still buys her 'pants' at primark, so who knows. maybe she's a massive r&b fan. i don't judge.
i suppose it should be noted that i now work for a uk music licensing company. sounds glamorous, but it isn't really. we collect the royalties that pay the musicians - i guess it's quite fitting that i should end up working in music, seeing as i have not a single musical bone in my body. it's so unfair. i shall simply insist on piano lessons for any future spawn, and forever curse my mother for not being so thoughtful for me.
i suppose it should be noted that i now work for a uk music licensing company. sounds glamorous, but it isn't really. we collect the royalties that pay the musicians - i guess it's quite fitting that i should end up working in music, seeing as i have not a single musical bone in my body. it's so unfair. i shall simply insist on piano lessons for any future spawn, and forever curse my mother for not being so thoughtful for me.
*music makes the world a better place*
