Another Music Meme

Mrs PM and I are off on our travels again tomorrow, This time we are heading to Japan, a country neither of us has been too before, via my favourite city outside the UK – the wonderful Hong Kong.

And I can’t wait.

In the meantime, here is a music meme I stumbled across while drifting along through cyberspace and thought it would be fun to inflict yet more of my music on you, dear reader.

Here goes - and please follow the links for maximum enjoyment/pain...

      (1) Name some songs/music from your childhood:

I assume by childhood, you mean “pre-teen” (given question 2 – yes I did peek ahead). I remember being obsessed by a really weird tune. At the time I thought it was amazing – but then again, I was a kid so didn’t know any better. The song was Popcorn by Hot Butter.   Actually, listening to it now, it is quite catchy.

Other than that I was really into Glam Rock and loved The Sweet. Listening to Ballroom Blitz you can see the similarity between that and the rock music I love now.

And I still love songs like This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us by Sparks which is also quite a rocky little number.

(2) Name some songs/music from your teenage years:

I was really into the charts when I was a teenager and, although I am slightly ashamed to admit it now, I loved Abba – particularly a song called So Long which is also quite a rocky tune. Regular readers may recall that I have confessed to having a crush on  Agnetha Fältskog  and I took every opportunity to watch her when she was on TV.

I was also a huge fan of the Electric Light Orchestra, with songs like Turn To Stone.

(3) First live concert you atteneded:

My first concert was an American band called Cheap Trick when they played Birmingham. I had never heard of them but I didn’t want the ignominy of being a concert virgin at school. The mother of one of my mates worked at a theatre in Birmingham and offered him some free tickets to give to his mates.

I wasn’t overly impressed but it was free and musically, they popped my cherry, so to speak. Here is I Want You To Want Me. 

(4) Songs you parents sang along too:

My dad had an eclectic taste in music ranging from jazz to rock and roll via country and western. One of his favourite artists was Jerry Lee Lewis and I heard him singing Great Balls Of Fire more than once.

(5) Songs your grandparents played:

I really don’t remember my grandparents singing and playing music although I once found a book full of old time music songs in my grandad’s house. He had a small piano and my mum said that he used to play quite often. One of the songs in the book was an old time music hall number called Joshua and I can imagine my grandad playing and singing it.

(6) Did your family have sing-a-longs at home or with the neighbours?

In a word – no. I think I was born about 20 years too late for that to happen.

(7) Did you have a musical instrument at home?

My sisters had a recorder and I borrowed a school trombone for about five years making it a fairly regular visitor.

(8) What instruments do you play, if any?

I used to play a trombone, although I imagine that if I picked one up now, the neighbours would accuse me of torturing my three cats. That said, a tiny part of me wants to give it another go – just to see if I can still remember how to play one.

(9) What instrument(s) do you wish you could play?

Regular readers will know that I would love to play an electric guitar. To be honest I would also love to play a piano/keyboard as well as bashing seven bells out of a drum kit. At various points in my life, electronic keyboards have appeared in my home and, with a little practice, I have been able to play a tune on them. One day, I might invest in one – just for fun.

(10) Do you/did you play in a band or orchestra?

Yes indeed. I played in the school Brass Group, had a brief stint in the school orchestra and even briefer stint in a jazz group – that was until I confessed that I hated jazz.

(11) Do you/did you sing in a choir?

No. My music teacher held auditions for the school choir within a week of starting at the age of eleven. All I remember is having to sing a scale and failing miserably (partly because I could barely stifle the wild guffaws wanting to escape from my throat). The teacher was frank, telling me I sounded like a cat being strangled. This is yet another reason why I try not to curb my desire to sing at home in case the neighbours think I’m a serial cat torturer.

(12) Music you fell in love to:

Mrs PM and I do not share the same taste in music. It is therefore extremely difficult to put my finger on a song that we could share as our song. 

I guess the nearest from my perspective might be something by Morcheeba, a band that Mrs PM introduced me to when we first got together. Here is a song called Fear and Love.

If I were to choose one from my collection, it would have to reiterate exactly how much I love Mrs PM – so I would choose I Love You More Than Rock and Roll by Thunder.  

(13) Romantic music memories:

As I said, that’s tricky when it comes to Mrs PM because any songs we think are romantic will immediately be cast aside because of our mutual hatred of each other’s taste.

(14) Favourite music genres:

I am a huge fan of Progressive Rock but I generally like any rock music, ranging from Classic Rock to Heavy Metal. I am also a fan of ambient electronic pop music and I regard classic Motown as a real guilty pleasure. I also  love most chart music from the 70’s and early 80’s (up to about 1986). Finally, I quite enjoy listening to certain classical music, which leads me onto …

(15) Favourite classical music:

I love the Planet Suite by Gustav Holtz, particularly Mars .

I also particularly like Dance of the Knights by Prokofiev and Grieg’s Hall of the Mountain King. 

(16) Favourite opera:

I hate opera.

(17) Favourite musical:

One of my guilty pleasures is West Side Story and I love the song America.

(18) Favourite pop:

Pop music has always been lurking in my music collection and there are a fair amount of albums by bands that might surprise you. Here are a couple of songs by some of my favourite pop artists from over the years:

Minor Earth Major Sky – A-ha 

Clocks – Coldplay 

Mer du Japon – Air 

(19) Favourite world/ethnic:

Assuming that by World/Ethnic you don’t mean anything by a foreign artist (America is after all foreign for a Brit like me). I guess I’ll opt for Return to Innocence by Enigma. 

(20) Favourite jazz:

I hate jazz.

(21) Favourite country/folk:

I hate Country and Western – apart from Wichita Lineman by Glenn Campbell. 

(22) Favourite movie/show musical:

See (17).

(23) Favourite sound tracks:

That’s a tough one. I would probably choose the soundtrack to the Matrix because it has a couple of cracking heavy metal songs: Du Hast by Rammstein and Dragula by Rob Zombie.

(24) What music do you like to dance to?

These days I don’t dance unless Mrs PM drags me kicking and screaming onto the dance floor. I used to occasionally go to a rock club in Manchester many years ago and, after a beer or two I would basically go up and dance to any half decent rock song. Sadly rock music doesn’t lend itself to dancing so I probably looked like a complete arse.

(25) What dances did you do as a teenager?

A mate of mine taught me a dance to Tiger Feet by Mud which you can see if you follow the link. I later reproduced this at university at a night club when they had a retro night, much to the amusement of my new mates. I could also do the dance to Prince Charming by Adam and the Ants and I had another go at this a couple of years ago at 1980’s night, again amusing my mates in the process.

(26) Do you use music for called ID on your mobile phone?

Not now. I use a standard boring ring tone.

(27) What songs do you use for caller ID?

I used to use Clocks by Coldplay for a while and then replaced it with The Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin.

(28) What music do your children like or listen to?

Stephen actually likes some of the same music as I do but some of the bands he likes are not exactly my cup of tea. There is a significant overlap though, like Metallica and Rammstein.

Michael likes music that is similar to Mrs PM, i.e. complete and utter garbase.

(29) Favourite live music concert as an adult:

I’ve seen loads of concerts spanning a period of 30 years or more and there are only one or two of my favourite bands that I haven’t seen. Favourites include Rush, Dream Theater, Rammstein, Metallica and the Foo Fighters but most of them have been incredible.

(30) Silly music memories from your family:

As a kid, my dad used to listen to Lonnie Donegan and because his songs were mildly amusing, we used to sing them occasionally, songs like Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour on the Bedpost Overnight.

I’m sure that my own kids would tell you, if they had a blog, that their old man (i,e, me) used to sing stupid songs when in the car or change the lyrics to existing songs in a stupid way.

I don’t care – its fun and it used to make them laugh (not now sadly – they would probably tell me I’m a bloody idiot).

(31) Silliest song you can think of:

Apart from the Lonnie Donegan song above, you mean? How about The Majesty of Rock by Spinal Tap?  

(32) Pet hate in music/singing:


Rapping and vocalists who over-sing.  Rapping is pointless and awful and over-singing completely ruins songs. Who are the main culprits? Any rapper and people like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera who sing like this.

(33) A song that captures family history for you:

For me, a great song to capture silliness in my family is Stupid Things by the Wildhearts. 

The reason? I bought the album shortly before Mrs PM and I got together – but Mrs PM hates the Wildhearts and this song in particular. 

So when I got the kids to repeatedly sing the chorus to her, it drove her up the wall  - and it still does.

Doing stupid things, doing stupid things

Ain't it funny how they all turn into saints and kings

If your only sin is doing stupid things

Doing stupid things when you're feeling low

Isn't something that you want all of the world to know

If your only sin is doing stupid things

You deflate, ego shrunk

You're just a little bit crap when you're drunk

But it's worse in your mind

‘cos everybody everywhere

Does stupid things from time to time

Marvellous – though Mrs PM would disagree.

(34) If you could only play 5 albums for the rest of your life, what would they be?

My goodness – that is a tough question. I have so many albums.

Off the top of my head:

Images and Words – Dream Theater

Fear of a Blank Planet – Porcupine Tree

Hold Your Fire – Rush

Moon Safari – Air

Mutter – Rammstein

(35) Favourite artists - list as many as you like:

Being ultra selective - take a deep breath …

AC/DC, A-ha, Aerosmith, Air, Airbourne, Black Country Communion, Black Sabbath, The Black Spiders, Coldplay, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Depeche Mode, Dream Theater, ELO, Enya, Foo Fighters, Guns’n’Roses, The Hives, Joe Satriani, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Muse, Nazareth, Nine Inch Nails, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Queen, Queensryche, Rainbow, Rammstein, Rush, Steven Wilson, Supertramp, Tears For Fears, Ten, Thunder, Whitesnake, The Wildhearts, Within Temptation.

That really is the tip of the iceberg. If I were to name all of the bands I really like, it would be an enormous list.

And finally ...

That's enough for now. 

As usual, please feel free to steal the meme – I did.

See you in a couple of weeks.