Every week on the British radio station, BBC Radio 2, the wonderful presenter Ken Bruce invites musicians from all genres to come in and choose 10 tracks that stuck out for them most or influenced them in a certain way.
So, I got bored. I decided to do it myself. I'm a musician (semi-retired) but it's been fun to get nostalgic and look back over the music that's affected me in my 21 years and 5 months on this planet.
So, here goes!
Shaggy - 'It Wasn't Me' (feat. RikRok)
When I was about 6, my Mum got me a copy of Smash Hits Magazine which, back in those days, had a free VHS tape on it which featured a number of music videos. I remember putting it on the TV the moment I got it and putting it on repeat. But the reason this song sticks out is because it was the first music video to come on the VHS. Other videos on it included Gorillaz' 'Clint Eastwood' and A1's 'Take On Me' among others but I just remember loving the song and Shaggy's Jamaican vocals on it, despite not understanding what the song was about. It's stuck with me ever since and it's obviously a song most of my generation love as well. (Go 90s Kids!) I was recently at an Enter Shikari concert in Bristol and the song came on the PA speakers while we were waiting for them to come on and everyone started singing along to it. (Myself and my compadre included). It's a crap song in the grand scheme of things but, hey, it's fun. Who sung it? It's wasn't me...
Eddy Grant - 'Electric Avenue'
I was about 6 when I first heard this song and I think, if memory serves, it was on a commercial in the UK around that time. Similarly to It Wasn't Me, Grant's voice is very distinctive in the track and that's probably why I latched on to it. But this song holds another lovely connotation for me. At the time, I went to a school in my hometown that required me to get a bus across town and I was very fortunate to share that journey with my oldest friend, Joe. Who also liked the song. I remember singing it with him most mornings on the way to school just because we could and I everytime I hear that song I just remember the two of us as 7 year olds singing it as loud as we could on that bus. Considering it was only a 5 minute journey from Joe's stop, it certainly made the time pass quickly.
Queen - 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
To anyone who's read my previous blogs or who knows me very well, you'll know that Queen are my all-time favourite band. So this seems like an obvious choice. But there's a reason. I first heard this song knowingly when I was 7 years old when it came on the radio. (Which was called 'Vale FM' back then with the immortal Cameron Smith as DJ). At that time, I was very much a pop-loving kid. Steps, S Club 7 and similar bands like that were my main loves. So when I heard BoRap for the first time, that's when everything changed. It wasn't like anything I'd ever heard before and I remember being very confused as it felt like a lot of information was going in my head at one time. But, given my head has always been slightly quirky and chaotic (maybe due to my Aspergers), it fitted perfectly. I loved it the moment that I heard it. I was 12 when I managed to get Queen's Greatest Hits 1 for the first time and I remember being ecstatic because it means I could have it on...yes...repeat. To this day, it remains one of the few songs that can cheer me up regardless of my mood. Still miss Freddie...
Amy Winehouse - 'Back To Black'
When this song first came out, I didn't listen to it. Mainly because I knew that Amy Winehouse was a notorious drug addict so I automatically didn't listen to it. However, when I eventually did, I fell in love with it. Because Amy genuinely has one of the best voices on a woman I've ever heard. She had so much soul and so much passion that it was such a shame that her addiction took her in the end. I was in Year 7 when this came out so it seemed very adult compared to what I listened to before so that was magical for me. I'm not going to deny I've grown a much better appreciation for the song and Amy herself as I've grown older. If I'm honest, I much prefer 'Tears Dry On Their Own' and her version of 'Love Is A Losing Game' as I personally it shows off her voice more but this is the first song from her I heard so it holds a special place too. I also remember the day she died too. I was with some friends when we found out and we were all rather broken up about it.
Muse - 'Supermassive Black Hole'
My second favourite band of all time. Yet another act which I hated when I first heard them. I remember my friend Ben bringing Black Holes & Revelations into the car for us to listen to on the way to school in 2007 and absolutely hating it. But it wasn't until 2009 that I really got into them more. Ben was teaching me guitar at the time and I asked him to teach me Supermassive Black Hole but he never got round to it. So I managed to learn it myself and it became the first song I ever taught myself on guitar with tab. (I can't read tab that well so it was quite an achievement for me to do it. Still is). I still play it sometimes to this day when I'm really, really bored. My love Muse has also caused many conflicts in my own musical life. My obsession with them led me to try and write more electronically based songs for our band which didn't work too well. The lead guitarist in the band I was in, Tom, hates Muse as well so got very funny when I played it at practise. We're not in a band together anymore and he still gets funny when I play it. He also begrudgingly learnt 'Hysteria' at the time so that our bassist at the time, Rachel, could have the limelight for a little bit.
The Feeling - 'I Thought It Was Over'
I consider myself very lucky that most of my formative years went through a period of musical transition. Pop songs were starting to dominate the charts more than ever before and rock music was started to be driven underground more each year of the 00s. However, in the mid-00s, there was an oasis of a mixture between the two that took the mainstream for a time. Bands like Kaiser Chiefs, Razoright, The Fray and The Feeling were bands who had a rock influence but translated into the pop genre as well, causing the two to meld. For me, The Feeling were the best band in this period and remain one of my all time favourite bands. And while I loved their first album, their song 'I Thought It Was Over' stood out for me the most. Their second album was very odd because it appeared that they were trying to emulate Queen a bit more which automatically sat well with me but it was just more jolly than any other previous release I felt. I was lucky to see The Feeling live in Cardiff in 2011 and they played this. I was ecstatic. It still remains one of the bounciest songs I remember from my childhood.
Electric Six - 'Gay Bar'
Hear me out. I've always loved this song because it's just completely ridiculous. The words, the video, everything is all weird. That;s I love. It's just ballsy. The song became kind of attached to me by accident in my friendship group for a while because my love for the song became known which led to my friend, Rachel, making a drawing of me for my birthday coming toe-to-toe with a Dalek who was blurting out 'I want to take you to a Gay Bar!' I still have this on my bedroom wall. My band also performed it at a Halloween gig in 2010 after much discussion. Our lead guitarist, Tom, fell through a door at the end of the song preceding it and, despite being on the floor in some pain, played the riff and we all joined in. Tom and I have also recorded and performed a slow acoustic version of the song after dicking about one lunchtime in the school recording studio! Good memories.
Coheed & Cambria - 'Welcome Home'
Everyone's had that experience a number of times when they hear a song for the first time and go 'WOAH'. Welcome Home was the song I still go 'WOAH' to despite having heard it over a million times and performed it over 10 times in the band I was in. I remember turning onto the Scuzz channel one day and seeing this song come on and just thinking how amazing it was. Seeing a wonderfully hairy Claudio Sanchez sing his heart out while a suspicious eye continually watched him was just amazing to me but the song was even more amazing. I remember being completely blown away by the guitar solo despite being 16 and having been in a band for a while at this stage. We ended up playing it, badly, in the band but it also led to a period in my life which became dominated by progressive metal music. Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Opeth and others suddenly became my main musical focus. We tried to bring that into the band as well but we were already started to break so it was in vain, sadly.
My Chemical Romance - 'Famous Last Words'
There was a time when I was a little bit in love with The Black Parade. However, sadly, I arrived to it too late. About 3 years too late to be precise. But I remember hearing the song and the album for the first time and being completely blown away by it. Again, quite Queen-esque in some of its songs it struck a chord with me automatically. But Famous Last Words holds a special place because of the role it played in the lead-up to my first break-up. Before my first girlfriend and I separated, this song happened to come onto shuffle one day and the lyrics suddenly gained a lot more meaning, especially when it says 'a love so demanding'. The relationship itself wasn't so demanding but it was the fact that the song, to me, talks about a love that's falling apart and that's what was happening at the time. Or so it seemed. I really did care about this girl but she was hurting me by ignoring me so it gave a lot of food for thought. It was actually talking things through with a friend and hearing this song at the youth club I used to attend that caused me to make the decision to be the bigger person and end it. In many ways, I'm glad I did because it hurt a lot at the time but the song now also conjures up happier times with this girl in my head which is a comfort now.
Queen - 'The Show Must Go On'
I know I've put Queen in this twice, but there is a reason. This song, as well as Bohemian Rhapsody, has made a lot of things clear in my head over the years. I first heard the song in 2008 and, ever since then, I've drawn a bit of a mantra from the song. The story behind the song helps with this as well. While recording it, Brian May wasn't sure if Freddie could sing it because, as you know or soon will do, it's a powerful song. Freddie took a shot of vodka and said "do it? I'll fucking nail it, darling" and preceded to do the whole song in 1 take. Despite his body being ravaged by AIDS, he managed to push himself and do what he wanted. So that's the mantra I take. If Freddie Mercury can sing his heart out with death lingering over him, I can do the thing. The song has also come into play with a decision over another break-up. I won't go into it too much as it's still a teeny bit raw despite it happening 4 years ago but when everything went down on that night, the song came on the radio. (The night it all ended, it happened to be the night before the 20th anniversary of Freddie Mercury's death) and it said to me that "it's ok, it will all work out". This remains to be seen but it still remains one of the most powerful songs I know. It definitely played a big role in the latter half of my formative years.
6 Honourable mentions:
Stevie Wonder - 'Higher Ground'
That wah-clav though. First heard this when I was very young but rediscovered it earlier this year.
Ricky Valance - 'Tell Laura I Love Her'
So, my Mum loves songs from her childhood and she showed me a load of them. This is the first song from that era I remember liking while listening to an old cassette while driving through Cornwall. Sad story about a guy trying to get the money to get his girlfriend a ring but dies in the process.
Rihanna - 'Umbrella'
I like this song more for irony than anything else. The year this song came out, the UK was hit by really bad storms and regional flooding. The summer was awful and consisted of mostly rain. The British media ironically blamed Rihanna for the bad weather and her need to promote umbrellas.
'Elvis Presley - In The Ghetto'
Another product of my upbringing. I could list a load of 50s/60s songs I adore so many of them it would take up A WHOLE LOT of room. Maybe I'll do another vlog for that. But I first heard this song when I was very young and I remember loving it ever since. My mum loves Elvis so I heard a lot of him growing up. The song is about a kid in a ghetto who struggle throughout his life until he becomes embroiled in a life of crime. It's also one of the few songs I can do in karaoke practically note-perfect.
Les Miserables - Come To Me
A choice from when I was 17. I was very lucky enough to be in my school's production of Les Miserables. I went into it completely blind but I ended up loving it. I still do. But out of all the songs in the musical, this one made me cry first. For two reasons. Firstly, the Fantine in our production was a wonderful young lady named Courtney and it was her song. The first time I heard the song and her sing it was during the first dress rehearsal when we all watched. Courtney sang it so well that I was streaming in tears (which annoyed my then girlfriend). But, in a bizarre twist, the bed Courtney was laying on collapsed after she sang "Tell Cosette I love her and I'll see her when I wake". We were in hysterics because of it but, being the pro she and the young man playing Valjean were, they didn't laugh until they were told they were allowed to. I now cannot hear this song being sung without distinctly remembering Courtney's voice in my head.
Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
I can say with conviction that this is the first Springsteen song I heard as a kid. I remember Mum buying the greatest hits CD, putting it on and just immediately falling in love with it. Born To Run, as a song, is almost as bonkers as BoRap but it, in a way, flows better. This is also more consistently upbeat compared to BoRap too. The song still holds a soft spot in my heart for being the first Boss song I heard, despite it not being my favourite. That title is held by both Thunder Road and Streets Of Philadelphia.
What would you choose for your tracks?
Next time, Desert Island Discs.
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