I’ve been a little slack with my posts this month so it’s time to get back on track. Inspired by the cool Olympic closing ceremony (and also inspired by the fact I want to be inspired) I’ve set myself a little challenge.
Now, the dude who organised the closing ceremony had to choose thirty-odd songs that, together, worked as the story of the British music industry. Quite a large challenge that, given the sheer volume of tracks available, not to mention that a fair chuck of those tracks are actually quite decent. He did a great job.
This got me thinking. What if I applied a similar sort of logic to my life? What songs would tell my story? Hmmm…
(By the way, I have no idea if this is an original concept or a blatant rip off and I’m too lazy to find out. I’d just rather go ahead and do it.)
So, what would be the best way to choose the songs? If I’m honest, I’m not what you’d describe as a rabid music fan. I listen to it on the radio, have bought a few CDs over the years and, occasionally, download a track from iTunes when I’m feeling particularly crazy. So I’m not obsessed. I’m not a music tragic in the way I’m a football tragic.
What does this mean? Bugger all probably, but on the surface it means I’ll pick a tune either because it sounds good or it has some meaning to me, not because of its ‘artistic merit’ or any deeper meaning. So I’m sure there will be some comedy value along the way with some of the songs I choose.
Anyway, back to my methodology. Instead of just going for a bunch of songs I like, I’ve chosen to pick one song from every year I’ve been alive. That approach suits my organised (pedantic?) way of thinking and, at the end of it all, will make for a good list. And who, really, doesn’t like a decent list? As I was born in 1972 it’s going to be a long list so I’ll have plenty to write about.
Okay, so that’s sorted. It’s easy to pick out a handful of favourites and match them to their years. That was a good start. But I also had to do some research. That’s where sites like Bob Borst’s and addlong.co.uk came in incredibly useful. The research was fascinating in and of itself. For instance, I’d forgotten how big Milli Vanilli was back in the late-1980s… Scary.
Okay. 1972’s track will be posted tomorrow. What will it be…?