When I was a lad, music originally came out of radios or juke-boxes – or if you were daring you tried to record Top of the Pops direct onto your reel to reel tape machine. Technology advanced in the early 70s when there were ads for mini-radios with a single earpiece that you could secrete in your blazer and surrepticiously listen at school. Of course after that bloke at Sony did the Walkman it started to get out of hand with it being difficult to spot someone now who isn’t wired – and with adverts in India encouraging students to do (unflattering) electronic caricatures of their professors in lectures.
Whatever the delivery device the choice of music is always instructive – von Karajan famously selected 8 von Karajan pieces on DID many years ago. I found the other week that as well as being the Antidote to Panel Games that ISIHAC also worked well against Bangalore traffic jam fatigue.
So as I went tortuously jogging at 32C the other day I asked myself what my choice of accompanying running music said about me and my life in India. The current selection was:
• Could it be Magic – Barry Manilow (us proboscally endowed artists need to stick together)
• Peaches – The Stranglers (my ears still ring from hearing them live)
• Guns don’t Kill People, Rappers Do – Goldie Lookin Chain (humour is in short supply in India – especially that subversive type from the underground Newport Welsh rap scene)
• Stan – Eminem (I like songs that tell stories, plus a very good steady jogging beat)
• Dead Ringer for Love – Meatloaf (A song about music, alcohol, and having fun – strengstens verboten in Bangalore)
• Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen (with my taste bypass I enjoyed ‘We Will Rock You’ in the West End)
• Downtown Train – Rod Steward (On the things to do before I am too decrepit
• Wonderwall – Oasis (Happy memories of late nights at the Red Lion in Frodsham)
• Walk this Way – Aerosmith/Run DMC (I like contrasts and possibly kicking walls
At a total run time of 42 mins which includes my warm down routine (sit in deck chair – pant – sweat) it also says I am not running very far – our gym membership processing is proceeding with the glacial urgency of most Indian administration – perhaps I should add the 'Ballad of Urgency' by the Black Crowes to the playlists of those concerned!
4 comments:
Your taste is very catholic - can I use the 'c' word on this blog? Ho ho.
On the 40 minute drive to Woking each morning I've started listening to some favourites from the 70s. Mostly Led Zep 4 (Rock and Roll, track 2) Made in Japan (Highway Star) and, in traffic, Bob's Desire.
Fortunately, my driving isn't quite so all-over-the-place as my music. Fun to reminisce though. I've tried listening to Nirvana but it's hard going.
you wanna try the guitar hero thing on the Wii. Picture my 11 year old daughter on the drums, my 12 year old boy on the guitar and me with my sore throat relegated to the microphone...... result? ..... my rendition of Nirvana was "awesome" whatever that might mean :-)
In India one doesn't listen to Nirvana - one attempts to attain it
like that... sort of Confuscious indian style! :-)
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