69-“..Sting..ouch that hurts..”

This episode is with Anna, a friend and work colleague of Michael Angell, my joint host on “You Made Me Listen To This.” What a brilliant insight into what music means to Anna — and believe me, it means a LOT! 🎶 Anna talks about growing up singing around the piano with her parents. Her dad was a huge jazz fan, while her mum leaned more towards the commercial side of popular music. Those early musical influences clearly stayed with her. As a teenager, Anna enjoyed going to see and listen to bands such as Blur and the likes of the bands at Knebworth (yes… that Knebworth! 😉), but her musical tastes were much broader than that. Her love of Van Morrison, jazz, Elkie Brooks, Barbra Streisand and, perhaps most importantly, dance music — especially Donna Summer — became a huge part of her musical journey. Then there are the artists she didn’t enjoy… The Police, Sting and The Smiths. 😂 The reasons why genuinely made me laugh — although, strangely enough, I completely understood where she was coming from! What really came across during our conversation was Anna’s love of lyrics and the emotional connection she has with particular songs and artists. Sam Fender is a great example, with his music bringing her comfort, but also stirring up a little sadness and memories of family. There were some lovely similarities between us too. We both went to boarding school for several years, and we both experienced how much our friends and the music they were listening to could influence our own musical journeys. But more than anything, Anna became an inspiration to me as our chat went on. Her passion for music, the memories it creates, the emotions it brings back and the comfort it can provide really reminded me why I love doing “The Grumpy Cyclist Talks Music.” Music is so, so important to Anna. And maybe, just maybe… it should be that important to all of us. ❤️🎶