My dad – The Beatles

The Beatles were the very first group I got into and I don’t really think I had much of a choice – my dad loved em so much that it was Beatles or nothing. I couldn’t help but get my love for them from him.

John, George, Paul and Ringo were always around the house – but only in the record collection. As a result, I’m not particularly fond of them any other way. I own the CDs and yes, I’ve got them on my iPod, but if possible, record is where it’s at.

I remember being shown the big, blue boxed set that my mum gave my dad and going through the records with him. I learned to put names to faces, to sounds and learnt about these masters of their craft who could do anything and everything. They became musical superheroes and the band against which all other musicians would be measured.

Everyone deserves music.

So, I’ve been thinking a fair bit lately about music (surprise, surprise) and as I go through my music taste in my head I realise that a lot of the bands that I love come from other people who have introduced me to them. A lot of my friends are friends from gigs and a love of music has started a life time of friendship.

It’s funny how music can do that. You meet someone and you get talking and you realise that you like the same stuff and suddenly a bond is formed. One of my best friends I met because he got up on stage at a gig I was at and played Creep. It was the perfect song for the way that I felt at the time – like an outsider looking into this strange fantastic world and thinking “I don’t belong here. I’m in the wrong bar with the wrong band and there isn’t a drink strong enough on the menu to change that” and then the guy who is now one of my closest friends gets up in the middle of a 70’s Blues Rock fest and plays Creep. It was perfect and thus, an unbreakable bond was formed. Then there was the guy who’s Radiohead t shirt I commented on and again, a friendship was formed. There’s a lot to be said for Radiohead fans. We’re a friendly bunch.

What is my point? My point is that through a taste in music I’ve formed some great friendships and a large part of that taste in music has come from other people, either by them giving me a cd to listen to or by them just playing stuff and me hearing it. Music is the greatest gift you can give someone, it’s ever lasting and beautiful. For the most part, it leaves a mark on your soul not changed by time and no amount of chocolate and flowers will do that.

Throughout the next few weeks I’ll go through my music collection and go through some of the albums I got and the people who helped shaped my taste in music. I wasn’t just born with an iPod full of Hendrix and The Beatles y’know?

2013 was a big year.

Lots of stuff happened. Some of it was good, some of it was shit. If it had a sound track, it may have sounded like this.

New Year’s Day – U2

Nothing too serious – icehouse

Victoria – the kinks

Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen

The Rising – Bruce Springsteen

Cross The Border – Icehouse

Let’s dance – David Bowie

Come To Me – Diesel

Beautiful To Me – little birdy

Help – the Beatles

Three Little Birds – Bob Marley

Talk Tonight – Oasis

I guess I should go to sleep – jack white

Boys Don’t Cry – the Cure

True Love – Pink

Who knew?- Pink

Get lucky – daft punk

Blunderbuss – jack white

One Perfect Day – Lou Reed

How Do You Sleep – John Lennon

Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division

Dog days are over – Florence and the machine

Take Me With You When You Go – jack white

Good Times – chic

Whole lotta love – Prince

Ordinary Love – U2

Sometimes, you can’t make it on your own

For me, this is where music steps in, picks me up, gives me a swift kick up the arse and usually places an instrument in my hands. Lately I’ve gone back to playing bass and guitars. There’s something about them. In this moment, it just feels right.

So, what have I been playing? The Clash, mainly. A bit of Beatles, some songs that Bruce has covered and as always, Joy Division. Whenever the serious shit goes down, you’ll find me sitting in a corner somewhere with a bass/guitar playing my very own, messed up version of Love Will Tear Us Apart. Maybe it’s because I don’t believe in the great four lettered L word? At least, in the traditional sense, it’s fair to say I have my doubts.

Anyway, back to music. My drum teacher will be happy to know that I pulled out my practice pad last night. It felt good. I think that maybe I just need a break from drums? I’m not saying that the love affair is over, maybe we’ll take a break and come back stronger? We’ll see.

For now I have work, and to re-jig my plan for today since I woke up an hour later than expected. It was worth it, though.

Another day, another opportunity

So last night I learnt a hard lesson. No exercise = no sleep. Now I’m exhausted, have eaten terrible food and don’t feel great. People wonder why I don’t take a day off and this is the very reason! I had also developed a callus on my hand and was waiting for that to go down. It’s fine now. Back to the gym today.

I did, however get to spend some time with my bass. I played for enjoyment. If I got bored, I changed the song. This lead to me skipping between The Beatles and The Clash mostly. I like it though. I think I’m going to take a more relaxed approach to things and just enjoy the ride, rather than the frustrated “but I just need to know how to play it!” approach. That never ends well. As one of my friends once said to me “don’t practice, just play”. He’s usually pretty good with advice and he’s not wrong here, either.

I’m also (still) making my way through the Springsteen collection. I bought some new Jack White yesterday and I happened to see some footage of Bruce and band playing Higher and Higher. Geez, that man gives just about everyone a run for their money, doesn’t he? It’s all about the experience. Each day it’s like falling in love with music all over again. Thank you, Bruce for that.