The Soundtrack To My Life

THE SOUNDTRACK TO MY LIFE
Hello and welcome to my life, or at least a taste of it, with a collection of some of the most significant songs to pass through my ears over the years. The music on these two cds was not necessarily chosen for its quality (though some of it has that in abundance) but rather for it having a sense of something almost autobiographical. Discographical perhaps? In choosing what to include, I needed to lay down certain criteria, else I could’ve easily filled hundreds of cds. The songs needed to have a special place in my heart, they needed to be able to tell a story but most of all, they needed to have had an impact on me at some stage of my life, both in terms of being themselves emotive (then and now) and also able to trigger a memory.
I was never going to struggle too greatly with the beginning and to start with, I have chosen I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles. One of my earliest memories of listening to records, around the time of my seventh birthday, took place in the family living room with an old all-in-one record player, playing in mono sound and this song seemed to perpetually ring out around the house. In truth, I could’ve selected anything from the Sergeant Pepper album, as that was a firm favourite too, but I always loved the sentiment in this song, so in a way it chose itself. The dusty crackle, which accompanies many of these recordings, is more a sign of how much they were played and enjoyed and less about a lack of care. None more so than The Monkees’ Daydream Believer -and I still have the same original 7” single that we played back then! Next up and still with a certain amount of crackle is the tune that, I suppose, was my introduction to disco music. I might’ve picked something by Boney M, but really Abba’s Take A Chance On Me simply had to get the nod. And yes, as a pre-pubescent young boy, those ladies definitely had an allure. So too did Debbie Harry and Heart Of Glass by Blondie, with those lovely synthesised noises and that all too knowing voice, was played over and over, with me and my sisters gleefully joining in on the “ooh ooh, whoa-oh” refrain. As the 1970s drew to a close, my sisters were just about to hit their teens and with this came the reality of actually beginning to buy their own records. In 1979, The Police released Walking On The Moon and although it took a few more years before my sister Tanya became a massive fan, their music became something of a constant around me and I can clearly see now that I was heavily influenced by this. Pictures of the band, sourced from magazines such as Jackie or Look-In, were plastered all over her bedroom wall! One hit wonders they may well have been, but The Buggles’ Video Killed The Radio Star was a seminal track in many ways, not least for the ground-breaking level of production from Trevor Horn. Its prophetic message can be debated, but when I was listening to it all I was interested in was its sound, particularly the drums. And it had a video! Ah, those crazy spectacles... Into the 80s now, a decade in which my musical taste was all over the place and the country found us having to face up to the issues of social turmoil, the race riots in Brixton and Toxteth, a rise in unemployment and, later on, the brutality of the miners’ strikes. This unrest was encapsulated in Ghost Town by The Specials. Reggae heavy and with an ethereal quality, it was (and still is, to some extent) such an appropriate soundtrack to the images being beamed through our television sets. Around the same time, during the summer of ’81, my parents packed me off to a holiday camp somewhere up in Warwickshire where I spent a week taking part in all sorts of activities and games, with table tennis being particularly popular. Opposite the table tennis room was another with a reasonably well kitted out sound system and the organizers of the camp even laid on a small selection of records for the children to enjoy. Both Centerfold by The J.Geils Band and Abracadabra by The Steve Miller Band were virtually on a loop that week and, as a result, every time I hear them, I am reminded (pleasantly) of that holiday. Just about any compilation I have ever put together, be it one like this or simply a collection of favourites, would almost inevitably include a song by Stevie Wonder. Along with I Just Called To Say I Love You and Happy Birthday, Lately was one of the first songs of his that I heard and sits beautifully amid the maelstrom of 1980s chart dross. Although I might not have thought it too hip to like it then, I have no qualms now. Unaware of their importance at the time, Pink Floyd’s Another Brick In The Wall resonated well with me- the anthemic chorus being sung by school children like myself seemed to suggest to me that pop music could have a real inclusivity. I also believed, erroneously as it turned out, that those children were pupils at my sisters’ school, so I felt some sort of (tenuous) attachment too. By now, I was at the age where I too had begun to purchase my own music and trips to my local record shop were becoming more frequent. In 1983, Tears For Fears released their debut album, The Hurting, and their biggest hit from this was Mad World which, when it was covered twenty years later, brought me back to the original and a song that I still love today. Another band hitting the big time back in the mid 80s were Level 42 and I clearly recall playing Something About You over and over again, especially the intro. Stepping out of the Brit Jazz-Funk scene, I think their music planted a tiny seed from which my love for funk and soul would eventually grow. On to one of my favourite bands EVER... it’s Madness! I loved these nutty boys, their music and wacky videos and their wonderful sense of comedic theatre. And one of them went to my school too! So in Baggy Trousers, when they sing about “all the teachers in the pub, passing round the ready rub”, in my mind they are referring to the pub across the road from my old school. It’s a great song and always conjures up the same memories; a great slice of North London life. By accident more than design, I have produced a nice little segue into the next track. Labi Siffre’s It Must Be Love was a huge hit for Madness and as much as I love his original, my first taste of his music came in the form of Something Inside So Strong, a beautiful gospel-tinged ballad which helped broaden my musical realm far beyond mainstream radio and Top Of The Pops. Ahhh... Feel the passion! In 1988, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday Tribute, a concert held in Wembley Stadium and one in which I got my first glimpse of Tracy Chapman, who at that time was making her breakthrough with her hit Fast Car. The song not only carries a timeless beauty, it also transports me back to that great day standing on the pitch. Well now, what can I say about the next one? Agreed, it is something of an anomaly and to be perfectly honest, I don’t recall how it came to be part of my collection, but it did. I think my dad brought it home from the office one day and somehow it hooked me. British heavy rockers, UFO were quite big in the mid to late 70s and Doctor Doctor is taken from their live double album, Strangers In The Night, recorded on one of their tours of America. Maybe it’s because I believe this song was from the Chicago leg of that tour (my father’s home town) or maybe simply because it’s a great slice of the genre, but either way, every time I hear the intro, when the guitar kicks in and you can hear the fervent crowd, I get goose bumps. Every time. It’s only very recently that I have come to understand UFO’s importance and influence. Former Guns ‘N’ Roses guitarist, Slash, claimed that Strangers In The Night was the finest live rock album ever! Towards the end of my school days, I started my first job, every Saturday, in a book shop on Piccadilly and one day I was invited to join some of my co-workers for a gig at the old Town & Country club in Kentish Town. I don’t think I had heard of The Tom Robinson Band at that point, but I really enjoyed myself and some years later I stumbled across a copy of War Baby, one of his biggest hits. As one of the first gigs I ever went to, the song remains a happy memory. Joe Jackson’s Is She Really Going Out With Him? has remained a favourite for a long time and having heard it many years earlier, I rediscovered it in a friend’s collection in New York in the early 90s and it therefore brings back that trip for me as well as carrying a certain poignancy- how often have we all remarked in disbelief upon realising that he or she was actually dating someone else? It was during my time at 6th form college that I really began to discover the exciting world of socialising and, with the help of those around me, broadening my appreciation of music. Late nights were spent drinking and smoking on Hampstead Heath, accompanied by a tinny sounding tape player and it was there that I first recall listening to The Doors. Alcohol fuelled singalongs nearly always ensued and Twentieth Century Fox was definitely one of those. Having DJ’d funk music for many years now, my next choice takes its place by virtue of being my access point to this. Not only that, but I truly loved the band’s fusion of so many different styles, their energy and yes, their funk. Knock Me Down by The Red Hot Chili Peppers was one of the tracks that opened the door for me to the world of funk, a world I still eagerly explore to this day. Staying with the funk and closing out this first volume is one of the tunes. Although it might strike you as too obvious, Pick Up The Pieces by The Average White Band is certainly one of the songs that cemented my bond with funk music.
We begin the second volume of this journey with a hark back to my childhood and Saturday evenings sitting at the dinner table and eating in front of the television. Watching The Muppet Show was a family staple and the show’s theme tune signalled the start of a half hour of fun. As fans of the show, we even went as far as to go on a tour of the Muppets’ studio, visiting our furry friends in their less familiar surrounds of hanging on hooks in their collective dressing room. While I was still at primary school, I regularly attended an after-schools club at my local community centre. It was there that I first remember hearing Let’s Groove by Earth Wind & Fire, being played by one of the group leaders on a ghetto blaster. Great band, great tune. Along with Madness, one of my preferred bands as I was growing up was Eurythmics (Eurythmics, not The Eurythmics). Much later, as my art foundation course was drawing to a close, the final show included a performance set against the backdrop of Sweet Dreams. There are a number of other tunes by them which could’ve crept in to the reckoning, but this one seems to have passed the extra test of longevity. I’m not sure when it was that I first heard the music of Jimi Hendrix, but I do know that Crosstown Traffic featured in a TV commercial, which really brought it to my attention. In a way, I’m happy enough to include this purely for his legendary status. Oh yeah- and the fact that it’s an awesome track! I think this next one was the song which really introduced me to the world of soul music. Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay prompted me into buying his greatest hits and before you knew it, I was hooked on soul and unearthing tonnes of other gems. From the song that got me into soul to the one that created my appetite for jazz. I was in Chicago, staying at a friend’s house and his collection included an album by The Chuck Mangione Quartet. Land Of Make Believe, with Mangione producing an ultra velvety tone from his flugelhorn, is a piece of music that I will happily return to over and over again. One of the first soul albums I ever bought was Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly and here’s my next choice. When You Smile is a song that has a lovely Dixieland feel to it and carries so much joy. And smile is precisely what it makes me do. After Redding, the next male soul artist that really caught my imagination was Al Green. A friend introduced me to his music during the early days of college and when I then saw him at Glastonbury festival, he didn’t disappoint, save for the fact that when he came on stage, he told the crowd that it was great to be in London again! Let’s Stay Together is one of a plethora of fabulous songs, but I had to select one. As a lover of all things funky, it was only natural that I would pursue the music of the King Of Soul, James Brown and on a sunny Sunday morning during my college days, I paid a visit to a local car boot sale. I found quite a few gems that day and Hot Pants was one of them. Again, it’s not just the tune but the artist as well. Brown’s music has featured heavily in my listening pleasure for nigh on twenty years now. The Brecker Brothers were mainstays of the jazz fusion world and were not only highly sought after as session players, but were also responsible for putting out a number of their own records too. When I first heard their Heavy Metal Be-Bop, it helped me to realise the limitless nature of what music could be. Some Skunk Funk is taken from that album. The speed and dexterity of their playing still fills me with awe. Digable Planets were a trio of hippy hip-hoppers who came to my attention as I arrived at Cheltenham to start my art degree. On the day that I moved into my first shared house, once I had unpacked and set up my stereo, theirs was the first record that I put on. Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat), with its walking bass line and jazz samples, was turned up loud. There were no parents to offend here! A few days later, there was the small matter of our freshers’ ball and headlining that night at the student union was Urban Species. I remember them performing Spiritual Love towards the end of their set and instantly loved it. I found it on a compilation years later and discovered that I still loved it. More recently, the lead singer walked into my place of work and we chatted about that gig, which he did remember. It was at my first or second Glastonbury experience that I first became acquainted with the music of Jhelisa and I made sure that I bought her record as soon as I could. For the rest of my college days, Friendly Pressure was heavily played and loved by everyone. In the late 90s, I took my one and only trip to Ibiza. That summer, one of the tunes was a dance remix of Bob Marley’s Sun Is Shining. Somehow, during the week that I was there, I came into possession of a new and rare remix- not for the dance floors; this one was for the chill-out session at the end of the night. I was dj-ing at a bar near to my hotel and this version was the last tune of the night. A girl at the bar demanded it be played again and then again. Everyone agreed. The next two songs return us to the world of soul. Both Jackie Wilson’s (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher and Etta James’ Something’s Got A Hold On Me share the feel-good factor. The first has become a regular in my wedding sets and at my local pub and it’s just one of those nuggets that simply never fails to please. And as one of my favourite female voices, James’ song is one that I would like to take to the grave with me. Literally. Finally (and appropriately, as it turns out) is a tune that would make it on to a lot of people’s top list. Michael Jackson may have gone, but his music hasn’t. I vividly recall the morning after the video to Thriller had been broadcast for the first time, the buzz in the classroom was tangible. Rather than Thriller, I’ve picked Billie Jean. A total classic. As soon as you hear the first hint of the beat, you know exactly what it is. I had to stop somewhere, so why not here?
Thirty years on to just two cds is a big ask, but this has been fun to do. Who knows what the next thirty will bring? All I can say is that it has already begun...

Thank you for reading and listening.
Love and peace,
Seb.x.
©August 2009