Music

Music was a very large part of my early life. My Grandfather, Father and Mother all sang in the local church choir. My Mum used to entertain at various local events by singing the songs of Gracie Fields and other spiritual songs that expressed her Christian faith. My Dad was involved in a Church concert party when I was about seven, that performed on over 100 occasions. I went to many of the performances!

My Mum took me to audition for the Bradford Cathedral Choir, I was so nervous my throat went dry and I couldn't sing for Keith Rhodes the Choirmaster; needless to say I failed the audition. It seemed that the ability to sing hadn't been passed down to me, but I still enjoyed singing hymns on a Sunday and singing along to the radio! I got a guitar when I was about ten and learned to strum a few chords too.

We listened to "Junior Choice" on the radio on a Saturday morning. In the mid sixties I used to buy ex juke box 45 rpm singles for half a crown (13 pence) from the local supermarket. I bought records by The Beatles, The Seekers, The Kinks and many others. I loved listening to the "B" sides, my favorite was The Beatles "I'll Get You". In the summer of 1969 I bought my first full price 45's, I got 3 for £1!

In the early 1970's I started to buy albums as recommended by my friends. "Pilgrimage" by Wishbone Ash "Grave New World" by The Strawbs, and Humble Pie's "Rockin' the Filmore East" my collection started to grow! Then one summer's day I went into the Virgin record shop in Brighton (Richard Branson only owned one other shop at the time, it was in London) and I bought David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust."

It was the first time I'd bought an album which hadn't been recommended to me by a friend. I just liked the title and I'd seen Bowie on Top of the Pops singing "Starman" and remembered "Space Oddity" from three years before. I then began to experiment and buy other albums not recommended to me, such as "Honky Chateau" by Elton John, "Laughter In The Rain" by Neil Sedakka.

I soon realized that my favorite kind of music was that of the singer/songwriter. After all who is best placed to sing a song, than the person who wrote it. They know what the meaning of the song is, better than anyone else. It is now my privilege to work with singer/songwriters as "The Musician's Life Coach" in this way, I am now involved with one of my main life interests!