So 20th Century

This morning Charlie, the ‘er and me were having a drive out and as usual my ‘sounds’ were discarded from the CD player and replaced by Radio One.

Oh gone are the days when she was strapped in her car seat in the back never to escape except when I said so and I could listen to whatever I wished at a volume just a bit higher than the sound of her plastic cassette player that played tinny incy wincy spider songs and the like.

However, I was pleasantly surprised today as suddenly ‘Sitting on the Dock on the Bay’ Otis Redding came on. I have loved this song for as long as I can remember so I turned it up.

Through the corner of my eye I saw my ‘ers mouth open and I awaited the head wobble & ‘Oh Mum this is so 20^thCentury!!!!’

Well blow me down what came out was...........

‘Oh Mum I love this song, I’ve got it on my iPod’ and the volume went up further.

So we had a great sing-along and whistling session and then our chitchat went elsewhere away from the song.

Later I started to think when I had last heard the track? Not in ages and I can’t recall playing it in ‘ers presence in many a year. I must find out when she comes home tomorrow (this is my child free Saturday!!) where she learnt about it.

Otis Redding had died in a plane crash by the time ‘Dock on the Bay’ was released. He recorded it 3 days before the accident and it was released in Jan 1968. I certainly didn’t discover it until I was an ‘er in the 1970s.

My random thoughts this afternoon got me to thinking …..

Would I as an ‘er ever have liked the music my Mum would have listened to as an ‘er in the 40s? & what are my favourite songs from the 20^th Century that have not been influenced by a romantic interlude, a holiday or other scenario, just songs I like because they are great?

So the first random thought….. music C1945 (thank goodness for the Internet!!)

Well there was a lot of Woody Herman (who?), Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra (I am afraid he left me cold as an ‘er and only now as an adult in mid years do I like his music), The Andrews Sisters (OH NO WAY!!)

I know the music that Mum played whilst we were growing up consisted of Burt Bacharach and Slim Whitman (ooo no!!)

What I did like as an 'er, as I surf I recall, were the ‘tunes’ from the musicals as an ‘er. I was brought up on a diet of later great musicals Carousel, Oklahoma, Annie get your Gun, 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, Gigi, My Fair Lady so lots of Rogers and Hammerstein , Doris Day and the like. South Pacific is my very favourite. So maybe I as an ‘er did have an appreciation of older music albeit not the ‘pop’ music of the time.

So now the 2^nd random thought, 20^th Century tunes!

This has proved to be a bit trickier. As I have thought of my favourite ones most are actually connected to something or someone but here goes with 10 of them that aren't (in no particular order)

Otis Redding ~ Dock of a Bay
Aerosmith ~ Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing
GooGoo Dolls ~ Iris
Santana ~ Smooth
Dean Martin ~ Sway
Enrique Iglesias ~ Hero
Whitney Houston ~ I have nothing
Guns ‘n’ Roses ~ Sweet Child of Mine
Guns ‘n’ Roses ~ November rain
Lucky Jim ~ Lovely to me

But as I am a 21^st Century ‘er Mum I also like Snow Patrol, Kasabian, The Editors, Klaxons, The Fratellis, James Morrison, The Zutons and many more I have no idea what they are called!!

But try as I may I just can't stand the R'n'B musak where they wave and point their hands like someone not quite right!