The eternal question: you’re stranded on a desert island – what do you take with you? My answer has always been the same. Music. Because what else is there? And I have had endless debates with friends about which albums, and which songs, and which particular versions of which songs. Because, yes! These are important issues to consider.
Cut to the Coronavirus Pandemic, Lockdown, 2020. And here I am. Stranded on a desert island, with not much else but music to keep me company. Okay, so maybe not a desert island exactly, but Australia is an island, and so technically, here I am, right? And so the question remains: what to listen to. I’m really not a Netflix girl, so for me, it’s been very much a musical journey, with quite a few twists and turns. Let’s start, shall we?
Take Me Back
Lockdown began with my being genuinely appreciative of having the time to sit down and revisit some of my favourite albums. Think Elvis Presley’s 1960 ‘Elvis Is Back’ LP – Elvis fresh out of the army – the clean-cut smooth grooves of songs like ‘Soldier Boy‘, set alongside the growling get-down-dirty undertones of gems like ‘Reconsider Baby‘ and ‘It Feels So Right‘. Pure heaven. INXS’ 1982 masterpiece ‘Shabooh Shoobah‘ also made my early favourites cut. Produced by Mark Opitz, this is the band before they became international rockstars – ‘The One Thing‘, ‘Soul Mistake‘ and ‘Jans Song‘ – Aussie rock with a new wave edge. Perfect. And there were many, many more: The Doors ‘Morrison Hotel‘, Skyhooks ‘Straight In A Gay Gay World‘, Blondie’s ‘Parallel Lines‘, the list goes on. My favourite music. Bringing back the comfort and familiarity of better times. A perfect antidote to the shock of Covid; a surefire way to keep the new world pandemic far from my mind. And I sunk into a glorious musical abyss, and life was good.
Hooked On A Feeling
If I am able to choose a favourite song by an artist? It means they’re not one of my favourite artists. I know this because if I really love an artist? The love that I have for the breadth of their work makes it impossible for me to distill that love to just one 3 minute piece of work. Impossible. So with so much time on my hands, I found that what was happening, was that as I revisited some of my favourite albums, I would go off on a tangent with whatever particular artist I happened to be listening to at the time. ‘Such a Night‘ from Elvis Is Back took me to ‘Mess of Blues‘ took me to ‘Washed My Hands In Muddy Water‘ took me to ‘T-R-O-U-B-L-E‘ took me to, took me to, took me to…you get the picture. I could go for hours jumping from one Elvis song to another. And I did. The more I listened to, the more I wanted! This is also how I know an artist is a true favourite – by the way I can’t stop at just one of their songs. I listen to one, and literally, I need more. I need it! It’s a perfect way to while away a few extra hours in lockdown. Trust me.
Listen To The Music
One of the great things about being a music fan is the potential for every new favourite song or artist to open the door for you to even more amazing music. Because every artist you love listening to each has their own influences and musical tastes. And these are often the most genuine avenues of exploration to take if you want to discover ‘new’ music – simply because these artists (as your favourites) are already authentically connected to the music that you love.
I grew up listening to the sounds of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s from an early age, but often as a kid, I only knew the songs, not necessarily who sang them. When I discovered Adam and the Ants in the early 80’s, my mind was literally blown away by the Kings of the Wild Frontier album – which sounded nothing like Olivia or ABBA or Elvis. Who were these people and what was this sound?! I played the album for the first time and it was like listening to aliens from some other planet. I don’t think I quite understood what I was listening to, and yet, I was intrigued. It spoke to me somehow. And so, following the first listen – I played it again. And again. And that afternoon I came to realise that there was a part of me that I didn’t know existed, that this new music spoke to. It was a revelation.
As a teenager, I was curious to find out more about Adam Ant, and soon came to discover he loved the band The Doors. I’d heard of them, sure, but what did they sing again? Adam’s cover of ‘Hello I Love You‘ on the 1982 Friend or Foe LP led me to search out the original version of ‘Hello I Love You‘ by The Doors, and and as soon as I heard it, I knew I was a fan. It was instant. I also soon realised that I already knew many of The Doors songs, I just hadn’t realised that they were by The Doors! Then I discovered songs like ‘Peace Frog‘ and ‘You Make Me Real‘ and ‘The End‘…and my musical journey began. I’m still a fan.
In a similar fashion, during lockdown my love of Bowie led to me discover Mott The Hoople. ‘All The Young Dudes‘ is playing as I type (and I actually like it better than Bowie’s version – who knew?!). Look up your favourite artists. Who do they listen to? There’s your cue.
Heard It On The Grapevine
And then I hit a wall.
I was sitting on my PC one day and I was just sick of everything I was listening to. Even my favourite stuff. I felt like I’d discovered everything that was there for me to discover. I needed something different to listen to.
And so I simply asked. I literally called up my friends, and I asked – what are you listening to? What can you recommend? And then I gave it a listen. Even the stuff I thought I wouldn’t like. And some of it I didn’t like…but some of it? Was pretty damn cool. The trick is, just listen. Go in with no expectations and no preconceived ideas. You really don’t know what you might like till you open your mind. And dig this: if someone recommends an album to you? Don’t just listen to the first three songs, and shrug your shoulders and bail if you’re not initially liking what you’re hearing. Persevere. Look elsewhere. What other albums did the band record? Maybe you don’t like With The Beatles, but you love Sgt Peppers. Bands evolve. Sounds change. Whoever they are, give them a chance. Go forward a couple of albums, try that. Or go back a couple. You never know.
I love when people recommend music to me. It’s not only a chance for me to discover something new and potentially great, it’s also a gift for me to understand my friend a little bit better. People often recommend to you what’s closest to their hearts. Listen, discover, and learn.
Wanna Be Startin’ Something
Eventually, I’d pretty much exhausted all musical avenues and went back to my tested and true staples (and there’s nothing wrong with that, our favourites are favourites for good reason – because we love listening to them over and over). However. I was really craving something brand spanking new. So I did the only thing that was left to do. I just went random. I’d just play a song I liked…and let Spotify or YouTube take it from there. I’d leave the songs on play and continue doing whatever it was I was doing. Mostly the songs would just pass me by, but every now and again, I’d be like, hang on a minute…what song is that?? Who’s that? And I’d be off once again on a new musical journey.
Being in lockdown sucks. Being isolated from live music is tough to live with. But! Lockdown gives us some truly great opportunities to connect more deeply with the music we love, as well as open doors to music we haven’t heard or considered before. And that makes life indefinitely better.
To listen to any of the albums/songs mentioned in this article, visit my ‘Music Under Lockdown‘ playlist on Spotify. You’re welcome!
[Linda Memphis, September 2020]
© 2020 Linda Memphis
