Music and Memories
Music has always been an incredibly important part of my life. My Mum always had the radio on, she preferred it to the TV, so growing up, Radio 2 would be blaring out of our kitchen (Radio Nottingham on match days when Nottingham Forest were playing) Later when I started working in radio she switched her allegiance to Mansfield 103.2 or whatever station I happened to be working on.
I went to my first concert at the age of 8, my parents took me to the Royal Concert hall in Nottingham to see Bucks Fizz. I remember getting my first cassette player and getting a copy of Bucks Fizz greatest hits.
Pretty soon my walls were full of posters of Bros, and my parents drove me and my friend to Wembley Stadium so we could watch “Bros in 2 Summer”. I had a huge poster of Matt on my bedroom wall and my Mum would kiss it good night.
Bros posters became New Kids on the Block ones and then finally it was Bon Jovi who graced my walls, although I don’t remember my Mum snogging Jon Bon Jovi’s poster!
There was recorder lessons (standard) and then flute ones and A Level music, I was in a concert band and yes, we did go to Band Camp.
There were concerts a plenty and even now I’m obsessed with live music, I worked out the other day that I’d seen Bon Jovi 16 times, Matt Goss 8 times and Michael Buble 5. The radio or some form of music is always playing.
Music is important.
Last Sunday, I clocked up my 16thtime of seeing Bon Jovi and they played a lot of their older stuff, songs I hadn’t heard for ages and yet the words were firmly planted in my memory.
Anything from the album “Keep the Faith” reminds me of 6thform, “Crossroads” reminds me of my first “proper” boyfriend” and the song “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” reminds me of living in Gibraltar and being thoroughly miserable and wanting to go home and thinking Jon Bon Jovi says I can!
So how does this relate to Stanley and Henry? Well, let me tell you. I started thinking about the sort of music they would like, what would they listen to? Did they like music? I think Stanley would admire Frank Sinatra.
I imagine Henry to have a more eclectic taste, so in the 50’s he listened to the likes of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, in the 60’s it was the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Troggs, by the 70’s he’d be playing the records of T-Rex, Rod Stewart, Simon and Garfunkel. During the time period of my book, Henry is a fan of the radio, but also finds comfort and inspiration in listening to the music of his youth. I realised that I’ve pretty much described the music tastes of my Dad!
The reason I’ve spent so much time thinking about this is because this week, I’ve found when I’ve been writing chapters that involve Stanley, it’s been really helpful to play the music of Frank Sinatra, particularly the stuff he did in the late 40’s, early 50’s.
For Henry, it’s been an excuse to dig out some of my Dad’s old vinyl, the music geek in me loves the crackle of vinyl and as I imagine Henry in his study trying to seek solace from the craziness and unwanted fame his memoirs have bought him, I feel he’d find comfort in his old records.
So, what music takes you back to a moment in your life?
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