Sunday 3 November 2013

Storytelling Sunday ~ Music is my first love x

Hello and welcome to Novembers edition of Storytelling Sunday a monthly meme thought up and curated by the wonderful Sian. This year we have all been focusing on things which are precious and today I am going to share some of my favourite things in the world................my records.

No not CDs, but real-life vinyl in lovely sleeves with grooves, scratches and all 45rmp and 75 rpm records. So where do you begin when you have quite few. Well for me my love of music began when I was very little girl. I have memories of listening to records with my dad on a Sunday when it could be anything from Big Band Jazz to musicals. I have a strong memory of my dad and I dancing to T-Rex on Top of the Pops as well. I even believed for years that you had to listen to both sides of the album before you could listen to the same side again, thank you Dad.

When I was about 8 or 9 my grandparents gave me an old record player with a batch of 75rpm records which included some terrors but also some great things by ABBA, yes I love ABBA, and one by Donny Osmond which I am ashamed to say at the time I loved. Suffice to say I could be found dancing round my bedroom and singing loudly to those records.

Fast forward to my teenage years and once I started working on Saturdays and babysitting most nights of the week I could afford to but my own records and I also was given records for my birthday and Christmas presents. I loved the sound, the feel, the songs, the cover designs and reading the lyrics so I could sing along with my favourite artists.

Today I still have all the 45rpm singles I have collected and a selection of the 75rpm LPs I collected so I thought I'd share a few of my favourites with you today.

So firstly, my all time favourite females singer and lyricist is Kate Bush. I fell in love with her the moment Wuthering Heights came out and I have that single still. She was so different to most of the music at the time, she wrote her songs, danced and sang so evocatively and she was also beautiful. These 2 albums are my favourites not only for the music but for the album designs and the lyrics.



I have always loved the beautiful album design for this one, isn't it lovely? 

Next up is this single by Depeche Mode. I remember buying this when it first came out and I am still a fan to this day. Well over 30 years later I love their music and style, Dave Gahan's voice is mesmerising and not only have they changed and moved with the time but have retained a hugely loyal fanbase too.



Now for these guys, yes Adam and the Ants. Oh what can I say I was super into them. On a Thursday night my sister and I would dance around the lounge to Top of the Pops and do the Prince Charming dance. I know I'm showing my age but hey it was fun. They were an amazing band. All dressed up in their finery, wearing makeup, 2 drummers and they were all pretty handsome. I still love putting on Stand and Deliver and singing along.



The next single is a ''one hit wonder'' but precious because my sister bought it for me year when I was ill in bed. She used her own pocket money and I treasure it.



This final one I've picked purely for my friends Ronnie and Elliot who are on the final week and 200 miles of their 921 mile walk so I think this song is highly appropriate don't you and I'm putting in the video cos I love the song so much.








I could probably do a whole series of posts on my music collection so suffice to say these are only a few of the hundreds hiding in my flat.






15 comments:

  1. Lovely to be reminded of some of these names, and to see the record covers - art forms in themselves! We have some still lurking somewhere too, but no means of playing them, alas.

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  2. Many thanks for sharing Jo x
    I takes me right back to my teens saving up to buy a record then spending hours in HMV flicking through all the covers...happy days :)

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  3. Oh Jo, how this post brought back memories of saving up my pocket money and going into Woolworths to buy an album. Remember those little booths you went in where you had headphones and you could listen to a sample? My teenage years were in the 70s and how I love all those disco classics. Adam Ant and Kate Bush? I have their albums too, in a box up in the loft, not to mention the Mowtown Chartbusters that came out every year. And where is the deck that plays vinyls? Up in Edinburgh with my son who has discovered the love of vinyl and the fun of reading and re-reading the beautiful covers. Great post!

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  4. I love this! I just read in the paper that it's Adam Ant@s birthday today too :)

    I have recently been making up for lost time in the record collecting..for some reason I have never been able to fathom, my Mum believed that buying records was a waste of money and she tried to discourage me from spending. So many of the LP's I would have liked from years ago I am now collecting from charity shops. I bought some Bluebells just last week.

    Did you see Sunshine on Leith? We went a couple of weeks ago

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  5. I have found memories of listening to records, too - mostly country & southern gospel music. Hubby & I still have a collection - mostly soundtracks from old movies & TV shows.

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  6. Wookie and I still have our single and albums up in the loft - we're hoping once we move to have a set up so they can be played. Wookie has just bought some CDs too.

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  7. It's been lovely to have a glimpse of your record collection. My partner has a large collection and it's great listening to proper vinyl with him x

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  8. I still have some of my records as well.....I can remember saving up to go and buy them.

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  9. This is such a great story Jo! I'm too young to remember when records were around the first time, but last year, I taught my class in school about the history of music. My Mum loaned me her very precious record player and some of her records to show the children at school - they were mesmerised, and LOVED putting on records and placing the little needle on the disc. Thank you for sharing - and I also love '500 Miles' :D x

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  10. Thanks for sharing this! I still have my singles and LPs in the loft! Love the Proclaimers video - played it loud!

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  11. What memories this conjures of my teenagers playing them over and over again!!! Lovely post.

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  12. I took photos of my "collection" before I gave it away. Everything from Helen Reddy to Cher to Captain and Tenille to ABBA, BeeGees, Michael Jackson, Teddy Pendergast, and more. Pretty much defined my teens and early 20's. I can imagine the joy your collection brings you since you actually have a way to play them! I will even admit to missing disco. I've been collecting some of my oldest faves on iTunes.

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  13. Isn't it wonderful that you still have the old vinyl - many of those jackets certainly were frame-worthy. I have to admit I only recognized 1 of those artists. But the same is true for my husbands collection. We bought him a turntable that turns the albums into digital music, but he has yet to start that process. Maybe when he retires he will get around to it. But there are too many memories associated with those albums to ever let go of them completely.

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  14. Oh Jo, this has brought back so many memories, although I haven't heard of a lot of the artists you mentioned. We are lucky and still have a turntable so we can play the LP's, 45's & 78's we still have, although I must say the 78's haven't lasted as long as the 45's have. I still though have my very first one - The Everely Brothers & Bye Bye Love.

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  15. Those are only few of your hundreds of collections? That’s incredibly great! Anyway, I have a great interest with LPs as well. It feels amazing to have them played every Sunday morning. It makes you feel nostalgic.

    Ruby Badcoe

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Hello and thank you so much for stopping by. It is always a pleasure to read the comments I receive and to meet new friends. I try and reply to comments on friend's blogs as much as possible. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and look forward to seeing you here again soon. Love Jo xxx