Step back to 1974 – Part 2

And here is the second part of my recollections of 1974, the year I turned 8. As always, I’m at pains to emphasise that I am not endorsing all songs featured — they are here by virtue of their power to transport me back to the year, like a smell or a taste or the [...]

Read Full Post »

Step back to 1974 – Part 1

It was a most significant year for me: I discovered two passions that have remained with me ever since: football (or what our American friends call soccer) and reading. The latter came first, in the shape of comic books. I never had much time for the Marvel comics type, which weren’t that big in West [...]

Read Full Post »

Step back to 1973

In 1973 I had my first proper party to celebrate my seventh birthday; after the summer I had a new teacher (for reasons explained in the 1972 review); and the German version of Sesame Street was flighted in most of West Germany as of January 1973.
* * *
Theme – Sesamstrasse.mp3
Theme [...]

Read Full Post »

Step back to 1972

Favourite years are made of wildly different ingredients. The giddiness of falling in love or the trauma of a loved one’s death can create emotional memories so intense that a year or even an era can occupy a special place in the mind’s inventory of nostalgia. One of my very favourite years was 1972, the [...]

Read Full Post »

Step back to 1971

When in the introduction for the 1970 instalment I said that I had become interested in music that year, by 1971 I was showing the first signs of the devotion to popular music which today finds expression on this blog. I attribute that to three events. Firstly, I began to catch a greater number of [...]

Read Full Post »

Step back to 1970

In the first part of this series, I looked back at songs that were hits before my musical consciousness awoke (other than Heintje’s run of classics in 1968). I had always loved records, but my awareness of pop started to really kick in 1970, when I was four. I cannot pinpoint it precisely, but two [...]

Read Full Post »

Soundtrack of my Life: 1960s

Some readers may remember a series of posts in which I looked at songs that evoked particular times, the way music often does. That was two years ago, and for two years I’ve regretted not milking the concept more than I did. In my excitement, I rushed through the years, overlooking some essential songs. And, [...]

Read Full Post »