More about the singers

I have been a music fan as long as I can remember. I like books and films and TV and art and all that but music....now that was my first love, no question, songs and singers in particular. It all started with the seductive voice of one Phil Harris (he sang O'Malley in 'The Aristocats' and Baloo in 'The Jungle Book'). I loved the sound of 'Bare Necessities' so much I bounced out of my pram onto the floor (so the family tale goes). After that it was Top of the Pops and no stopping me really...still going in fact...I still love the sound of a good singing voice above...almost anything. That may explain the title of this blog and the book-to-be (proofs approved - not long now!) and the way I write and so much more. I've come to different styles of music via all kinds of routes - big sisters' old Beatles 7 inch singles left lying around when they moved out, big brother's record collections (and they were both big rockers mainly), friends, radio - but I wasn't one of those people who got a musical education from their parents. My Dad (apparently) liked Flanders and Swann and not much else and my Mum likes to go out to classical music and opera but very rarely listens to it at home. All I remember her playing when I was a kid were all the Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musicals on LP. I still know all the words to most of them...not exactly the cool musical background you hear from musicians, is it?

Over the years I've been into lots of different kinds of music and I've worked as a DJ (clubs, pubs, pirate radio) and have reviewed music for various magazines but I've mainly been a fan. Quite a lot of my poems are about music or make references to music, some of them (as you may already know) have been turned into songs in the past year, some I even sing myself which is pretty amazing as I am not a singer and have no ambitions in that area (it's a lot of fun though - good to challenge myself and try something I know I'm not that good at, strangely liberating and enjoyable). For a while I've had half an idea to write a poem about all the great voices that I have listened to over the years but it has yet to come together - partly because there are just so many of them. I thought I'd list a few of the ones I've loved and listened to the most (and no doubt I'll forget some and have to add them tomorrow). At risk of sounding like a local radio DJ I'd be interested to hear about some of your favourites too. Here goes...(loosely) in the order in which I came across them or started to like them. I've been honest (as ever) so it's a real mixed bag:

Phil Harris, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Donny Osmond (calm down...I was about 5), Julie Covington ('Rock Follies' and first LP of 'Evita'), Julie Andrews, Doris Day ('Calamity Jane' - oh my goodness!), Judy Garland, Rod Stewart, Karen Carpenter, Marc Bolan, Freddie Mercury, Phil Bailey (Earth, Wind and Fire - they did have other vocalists..bit complicated), all of Sister Sledge, Donna Summer, Barbra Streisand, Robert Plant, Carole King, Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Weller, Morrissey, Diana Ross, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, Tom Waits, Gil Scott Heron, Dana Bryant, Beverley Knight, Bjork, Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush, Stevie Wonder, Lauren Hill, Carleen Anderson, Thom Yorke, Kate Rusby, Judy Dinning, Michael Marra, Bonnie Raitt, Lou Rhodes, Corinne Bailey Rae, Amy Winehouse, Karine Polwart, Natalie Maines (Dixie Chicks), Aimee Mann, Heidi Talbot, Boo Hewerdine, Johnny Dickinson, Ana Laan, Kris Drever, Nick Drake, June Tabor, Aoife O'Donovan (of US band Crooked Still), Eivor Palsdottir, Steve Tilston, Julie Fowlis, Jenn Butterworth, Feist, Bella Hardy....could go on and on...

I'm sure I've missed loads out - especially from my house music/nightclub years (maybe I'll work on that section another time). Probably the ones I come back to most often (just now) are Kate Rusby, Karine Polwart, Robert Plant, Nina Simone, Aoife O'Donovan (truly one to listen out for - she is fantastic). Some in the list are great singers but, for me, could do with better material (Beverley Knight is a good example of that). There are other bands and singers I listen to where I like the songs but the voice is not one of my real favourites (e.g. Neil Young). Also there are some of my beloved's favourites - Badly Drawn Boy and Bob Dylan, say - who I can listen to enthusiastically but who don't quite shoot a hole in my heart with their voice the way some of my own favourites do. Then there are voices that have sung songs I have loved but the voice is just not one of those I adore (e.g.I've liked a lot of songs by The Police and Sting's voice is very distinctive but I've never loved the voice in its own right, if you know what I mean).

So how did I end up writing this today? It's always on my mind in some ways...and then last night watching the cheesey, Saturday night entertainment that is 'I'd do anything' with the family (except the beloved - he watched cricket!) they sang a song from 'Evita'...and I knew every word! Ay, por Dios...as Eva Peron may have said now and again. (By the way, if this means anything to you, we are a Jessie household...who cares if she can't act particularly well...the girl has a voice that would make it into my list and the sparkliest eyes...go Jessie, go!).