Music has been a key to my personal growth since I was a teenager and, although I don’t play an instrument myself, I have been surrounded by musicians and music all my life. This section of the blog shares the contents of the discoveries, experiences and events in my personal musical box. Here are some indicators.
Discovery and Heroes
I grew up in the UK, being extensively exposed to pop and rock music in the 1960s and 70s via a number of sources. It was all about discovery and heroes. There were vinyl which we shared and cared for, adored and wore out. A cheaper and easier way to new music was the radio. BBC Radio One was mainly dedicated to the pop charts but also had review programmes with John Peel or Dave Simmonds. But there were also creative programmes to be found on Radio Caroline, Radio Luxemburg, and later Capital Radio which I heard in Essex. There were tons of live concerts even in small towns like mine at theatres, colleges, pubs or festivals. There was also TV which provided much in the way of forgettable variety shows and, yes, good old Top of the Pops but also the discreetly ambitious Old Grey Whistle Test. These were exciting times and I am amazed at how much I still remember.
An Inner Juke Box
When I left the UK in 1981 to live and work in France I carried all this to a new place mixing it with other musical styles – la chanson française, jazz, classical and world music – to create an inner juke box that would sometimes simply play in my head. French musicologists seemed to be all over the radio giving me a motivating way to expand my knowledge of the language, while giving me a better understanding of the sources of music I had simply heard about but never really explored.
Shaken up by Tango
Then, in the early 1990s, my musical world was shaken yet again when I discovered traditional tango, music and dance which had travelled all through the 20th century to France. For the first time in my life, I learned to dance and discovered a whole new way of perceiving music. I also began to search deep into tango history, learning about and listening to legends thanks to the digital revolution which suddenly made a forgotten repertoire available on CD. In the 2000s I began working as a tango DJ, starting a webradio, organizing events and seeking out people I admired. Tango continues to be part of my daily musical soundscape. For the moment, these posts are in French because that was the way they came out.
Exploring
Music is about something shared over time and in the passing instant. I hope you will enjoy exploring my Musical Box. You can start right here.