MUSIC
Music is important to me, even though I don't always have a CD going in the background; I sometimes find that I prefer peace and quiet. No doubt this is partly caused by the fact that a stereo is a relatively recent purchase and I haven't yet managed to build up my CD collection to include everything I could possibly want. The artists I rate particularly highly are listed below. I've also tried to compile my top ten tracks of all time, but as we all know, that kind of thing changes like the wind so bear in mind it's only a snapshot!
To save you scrolling through them all, the bands included are:
The Charlatans
Prefab Sprout
The Cure
The Smiths
Yazoo
Depeche Mode
Oasis
The Beatles
Family favourites
The incomparable, wonderful, fantastic Charlatans - what more needs to be said? How many great songs can one band write? I've seen them live four or five times (I forget), and they've never been anything other than brilliant. Long may they continue. Even so, among all the classics, Just Lookin' stands out for me as possibly my favourite song of all time. If I'm in the right mood, this is one of those songs that I turn up loud and lose myself in…
Favourite track: Just Lookin'
Prefab Sprout
Unfortunately Prefab Sprout went off the boil a bit after a stunning start. I loved them when nobody had heard of them, when they were played by David Jensen and John Peel in the evening, and their first album Swoon was excellent. Saw them live in '86, which was brilliant (and not only because I was one of the few people who knew all the words). The second album was good, but they didn't really hit the heights again, although I do think Cars and Girls is a brilliant song.
Favourite track: Couldn't bear to be special
The Cure
I have loved The Cure so long that they seem to be a part of my life. I heard Boys Don't Cry and decided they were the best band around, all those years ago, and didn't change my mind until the last couple of years when they went in a new direction which didn't work as well for me. I saw them live at Earl's Court a few years back when they played for 2˝ hours, including an impromptu second encore where, to make up for the fact that it was their first gig of the tour and they were still a bit rusty, they came back and played the old songs that they don't normally do anymore. As with The Charlatans, there are so many good songs to choose from that it's hard to pick a favourite, because so many of them remind me of particular events. Robert Smith for pope?
Favourite track: Charlotte sometimes
And you thought The Cure were depressing? I think people have forgotten The Smiths and how influential they were in the early to mid 80s, as well as how many good songs they wrote. Hatful of Hollow was a classic album, and The Queen is Dead also contains a host of great tracks. It's a shame they don't get played as often anymore - no doubt because they haven't done a comeback, but have gone their separate ways and done their own things, none of which (in my personal opinion) matches up to where they were when they started.
Favourite track: This Charming Man
It probably wasn't cool and trendy to like Yazoo when they were around, and it certainly isn't cool and trendy now, but I loved them. Alison Moyet has a fantastic voice, and I loved both their albums, so they're here for old time's sake. Only You - the original version, not that hashed up thing done by the appalling Flying Pickets - was my favourite song for years. Till I grew out of it, I guess. I'm not ashamed…
Favourite track: Only You
Not so much the early stuff done with Vince Clarke, but the middle period in the late 80s and early 90s which were the Mode's golden years. I never understood how they managed to get to Number One across the whole of western Europe but not in Britain. Some of it may be black and depressing, but Martin Gore wrote great lyrics and they're just good songs. I saw them live in Germany - when they were excellent, although it was a shame they didn't try to say at least one sentence in German, or else a couple of simple things in English. Somewhere on this earth there is one other person (who knows who she is) who shares a very special memory of Somebody - which will keep everyone else guessing.
Favourite track: Enjoy the silence
Yes, OK, so Oasis have turned into a parody of themselves, but remember how they used to be, when they took us by storm and, to the relief of music fans everywhere, proved that songs with guitars - and with people playing their own instruments - could still sell. I remember the first time I saw them: two housemates were watching TOTP and I happened to wander in, and while they moaned about lots of loud noise and whether they should change channels, I stopped and sat down and enjoyed. That was Cigarettes and Alcohol, by the way. I was one of the thousands at Knebworth, for my sins, although frankly I found it quite a desultory performance. There are some great songs from the earlier years, though, and I do still enjoy listening to them, even though it has gone out of fashion to admit it.
Favourite track: Don't look back in anger
How could anyone have a section on music and not include something on The Beatles? I defy anyone to tell me that there isn't at least one song that they like from the huge Lennon / Macartney archive. If I had to choose one Beatles album to take to a desert island I guess it would be Revolver, but it's a hard choice. For No-one is one of the saddest songs I know, and it brings me close to tears whenever I hear it, although there are also particular memories tied up with that song which may have something to do with it. Something is another favourite - but then, so many of them are…
Favourite track: For No-one
Finally, a section on music wouldn't be complete without a mention of the Renyard Trio, or nowadays more usually Duo (otherwise known as the Noise Boys). Three brothers singing in varying states of disharmony (I readily admit that mine is the least harmonious voice), especially in the car on long journeys, no doubt to the horror of other motorists. I don't think we've caused any accidents yet, but it can only be a matter of time before someone drives off the road in sheer disbelief. As we're limited to songs we all know well enough to sing, we have a varied if limited repertoire (as parents could confirm). Ever-presents include some Beatles (notably Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Rocky Raccoon), some Simon and Garfunkel (America, in particular), and a few others. We do a mean version of O Come All Ye Faithful, too. However, pride of place must go to The Liliput Men, which we do better than anyone else for the simple reason that nobody else knows the words, even if they know the tune. If you know the story, you understand; if you don't,
sorry, but rest assured that it has to be heard to be believed.
To say that my parents regret ever having taught us the original
when we were kids is one of the understatements of all time!
Favourite track: The Liliput Men
Top ten tracks
As mentioned above, this is obviously only a snapshot, and it's in alphabetical order (by artist) to save me having to decide between them! But I have made a rule that there can be no more than one song by any artist in there, to make things slightly easier on myself. Unsurprisingly, most of them also appear as a favourite track by a favourite band above…
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Written by Jon Renyard
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Last updated 11 August 1999