Musical Memories

Things I remember from a distant age, music related.

1. Dancing to the Beatles at age four, after coming home from kindergarten. My mother used to play the Beatles red and blue best of albums often, at our prompting. My favourite songs were Hard Day's Night and Yellow Submarine at the time. I also remember playing Yellow Submarine in grade one music and was devastated when I realised we were only doing so for one music lesson.

2. Watching Video Hits on Channel Ten on Saturday and Sunday mornings, to see what the top ten songs were. I remember Sinead O'Connor, the B-52s and the Bangles being played. Anything fast enough to dance to were the preferred songs.

3. Listening to the Play School records so many times they got really badly scratched. I remember liking a song about cleaning, for some reason, and a song about a rocket. I think these records got thrown out by Mum and Dad because they were damaged so much.

4. Learning to play recorder in grade two and managing to get put into the group with the grade fives, despite not being able to read music. Somehow I got away with playing by ear for a few more years and writing the notes in underneath the music with pencil.

5. Being given a Peter Coombe tape for my fifth birthday by my cousins, which got played extensively. We later acquired a few more of his albums on tape.

6. Going to see a concert with my two sisters at the Melbourne Concert Hall where Peter Coombe was playing in 1991 and seeing The Wiggles give one of their first ever live performances.

7. Listening to Take 40 Australia on my radio/cassette player on Saturday and Sunday nights and refusing to take my headphones off during dinner time.

8. Playing my copy of Brave by Kate Ceberano over and over and over again.

9. Buying cassingles and collecting the printed out version of the Aria Chart at the local video rental shop.