Tag Archives: music

Amy’s first playlist

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I’m hoping to be able to bring Tany and Amy home from the hospital tomorrow. It’s a bit iffy at the moment as they are checking Amy for jaundice and Tany still needs some time to recover, but here’s hoping.

In planning for their return I wanted some ideas of what to play in the car. As I have been reminded, Amy’s been listening to our music for a little while, so some stuff will be familiar. But, I wanted her first car trip to be proper, restful and for her to start hearing some good music properly. So I asked Facebook friends for input.

Some were more helpful than others. I was after some specific ideas, rather than just suggesting genres of music, but I got some good ideas. So here’s the list.

  • Godspeed (Sweet Dreams) – Dixie Chicks
  • Underneath the Stars – Kate Rusby
  • Down to the River to Pray – Alison Krauss
  • Blackbird – The Beatles
  • I Will Hold On – Vineyard
  • Here is Love – Matt Redman
  • Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) – Chris Tomlin
  • Moonlight Serenade – Glenn Miller
  • A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square – Harry Connick Jr
  • Early Morning Rain – Eva Cassidy
  • 40 – U2
  • One Day Like This – Elbow
  • Georgia On My Mind – Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
  • Lucy – Divine Comedy
  • Lord, Let Your Glory Fall – Matt Redman
  • A Train Not Running – Chris Knight
  • MLK Song – Patty Griffin
  • Nashville – David Mead
  • A Change is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke

It’s tempting to keep adding to this for when she’s home. What do you think?

I’d like to have put on some of the other suggestions, but I’m trying to be good about not spending too much on iTunes. I’d rather save and buy a whole album rather than one track. So, ELO and Randall Goodgame may have to wait a few weeks. Jazz albums will be on when she gets home.

Brandenburg Concerto at St Martin in the Fields

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I love music. Any music. If its good quality and performed with passion and belief I’m happy to fight my way through howling gales and driving rain, just like last night, to take my seat.

To be honest, I wouldn’t think of buying tickets for Tany and myself to go to a classical music performance. I simply don’t know enough to be able to work out in advance if I’d like it or not. But, when my father-in-law is offering to pay there’s nothing to lose.

So last night I made my way up to Charing Cross to meet Tany after work. We met the in-laws on the Tattersall Castle for a quick bite to eat, then it was off to St Martin in the Fields for the concert.

Two things to note.

1) St Martin in the Fields is a stunningly beautiful building.

There’s been some serious effort been put in to turn an early 18th century building into something that works in central London, long after the fields that give their name to the church, have disappeared.

The crypt now holds a large food court and church shop, while the church building itself makes a good performance space. Not sure I’d want to have to sit on the pews for two hours, but we had chairs which wasn’t so bad.

2) All six of the Brandenburg Concertos are stunning.

I guess proper musicians will have their favourite pieces, but I liked it all. Given a more comfortable seat I could have leaned back and listened to it for hours. Maybe I’ll just have to pay out for the CD.

Live Aid – 13th July 1985 – Wembley Stadium, London

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Do you remember Live Aid? I seem to have some memories of the day, but I was only 9 years old and can’t really be sure of how much is from seeing the event live on the television or from news reports afterwards. I do remember the famine in Ethiopia. For my generation I suspect that the memories are still so powerful it’s what we immediately think of when Africa is mentioned, starving children.

This week BBC4 have been marking the anniversary of Live Aid with a couple of programmes that show how the concert was put together. It may have been one of the largest concerts ever put on but it was pulled together by Bob Geldof, Harvey Goldsmith and Midge Ure with bluff, smokescreen and an inability to accept the word ‘no’. If you can access the BBC’s iPlayer it’s worth taking a look at the Live Aid programmes broadcast this week – be warned, you usually only get one week to access them.

The concert was claimed to have raised between £40 and £50 million for famine relief. Consider this was back in the 80′s and you’ll start to realise what an amazing feat it was.

This was largely down to two events. One was Bob Geldof charging into the BBC commentary box because he was sure the TV wasn’t making enough appeals. He just sat down, looked at the camera and said, ‘send me your money’. He’s been misquoted a bit as he was reported to have dropped an expletive into the appeal, but looking back at the television footage it’s clear that he didn’t. He swore at the BBC commentator who wouldn’t give the phone number out before reading the appeal address.

Then there was David Bowie – even a huge star back then – he cut his set short to be able to show the following film.

You’ve got to feel sorry for the Who, who were the next band on stage.

The acts that appeared realised pretty early on that performing could make a real difference to their careers. While everyone was pretty good, two bands stand out for special mention. U2, who were a new(ish) band and Queen, who had been huge but had kind of started a downward slide. Both bands managed to command the huge crowd in their own unique ways.

Brad Paisley at the Shepherds Bush Empire, London

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Country music isn’t huge in the UK, but with so few top artists playing here it’s not surprising that two nights at the Shepherds Bush Empire were sell outs for Brad Paisley.

By the time I found out he was playing here the tickets were almost gone. That’s why the photograph makes it look as though we were a long way from the stage… we were. But, we had to go. The Brad Paisley song, She’s Everything, was our first dance when we got married and the tickets came up around the date of our first anniversary.

The concert was superb. You don’t get many rock acts that will play for two hours straight. There’s no doubt about Paisley’s talent either, his ability to play guitar while also being mauled by the audience was quite remarkable.

Of course, I’d love to embed a whole host of YouTube videos here for you to see what I mean about the music, but thanks to some deal with his record company they don’t appear to be available in the UK. Which is silly if they have designs on him breaking the UK and getting to play to more than two packed nights in London. So you’ll have to follow the link to one track here – Welcome to the Future.

Christmas celebration

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Hello

Did you have a good Christmas?

We’ve had a wonderful time and survived the potential disaster of mixing parental units. We were wondering what we were going to do for our first Christmas as a married couple, not wanting to upset any of the parents. As it was, things went really well as my mum and dad came across to join Tany’s folks on Christmas day. With extended family we had 12 people sat around the dinner table. I think it was my favourite Christmas yet. There’s something about having people around to celebrate with.

I’m aware that it’s not the same for all families. I have one colleague who says that putting some of his family together is creating the excuse for World War 3, but I like the fact that even when it can be tough getting together, this season provides the excuse and there can be some surprising results.

The following song makes me smile because it reminds me that not all families are as straightforward as mine, but even with a wild mix of characters, joy can be found in each other’s company.

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover

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You’d think by now we would have realised that you shouldn’t judge people on the way they look or the way they talk. More evidence provided by Kevin Skinner on America’s Got Talent.

It’s a bit like the Susan Boyle impact on Britain’s Got Talent. I’ve only just looked but her first performance on the show now has now been viewed over 71 million times on YouTube.