WHERE WERE YOU WHEN?

People are often asked "Where were you when?...(insert any major historical event here), and you can usually remember, if you were old enough. It got me thinking about the impact of music, in particular the impact of hearing a song for the very first time. We have such an emotional connection with music, that a single song can have a lasting effect on our lives, it can bring back thoughts of old friends, past jobs, and romantic relationships, amongst many other things.

Here's a list of just five songs that I have a clear memory of hearing for the first time.

1) Do You Love Me (Brian Poole & The Tremeloes) 1963

I was just seven when this hit the charts, and its upbeat rhythm sent me crazy, I have a clear memory of leaping up and down on the settee screaming out the chorus.

2) Changes (David Bowie) 1972

I was sixteen and my bedroom wall was covered in all manner of posters taken from Record Mirror, and although Bowie was up on my wall alongside many others, I wasn't familiar with much of his music at the time other than Space Oddity, but as I walked along the landing and into my bedroom one Saturday morning, the stunning "Changes" was blaring from the radio, and I was hooked on the Thin White Duke from then on.

3) Pyjamarama (Roxy Music) 1973

Aged 17 and in my first job, I walked the three miles home each night with a transistor radio glued to my ear (no headphones back then), the ringing guitar chords of "Pyjamarama" confirmed to me that this band were something special. I was already a fan after their debut single "Virginia Plain" and this second single made sure I saved up to buy their albums from then on.

thanks

4) Rubber Bullets (10cc) 1973

I was a fan of 10cc already, and in August 1973 I was moonlighting, working as a glass collector at the Billingham Folklore Festival, which ran for two weeks at the "Billy Arms", they were long nights, and the disco blaring kept me awake, and every time I hear "Rubber Bullets" I am taken back to that ballroom, which has since been demolished.

5) Messages (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) 1980

My band Basczax had the privilege of supporting OMD on their Spring UK tour in 1980, and this haunting synth pop tune was performed every night of the tour, and hearing it now brings back all the memories of the hi-jinx we got up to on the tour. It was released as a single soon after in May and became much better known.