JENNY MELMOTH
MY TOP TEN
1. Morning Has Broken - Cat Stevens
My favourite hymn from my first little school where I was very happy,
but I don¹t think it sounded as good as this when we sang it!
2. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Peggy Lee
I love the words, the sadness of it, and the smokiness of her voice.
Guess it reminds me too of Family Favourites and the aroma of my mother
cooking Sunday lunch while I did homework at the kitchen table.
3. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds The Beatles
What did we do before them? So many Beatles tunes I could have chosen,
but I love these quirky words plus the images used in 'Yellow Submarine¹
as the song played.
4. Bad Moon Rising Credence Clearwater
Harry, my then teenage son introduced me to Credence. I find it
impossible to sit still while this is playing. It would set me dancing
on the beach in the moonlight but I would try not to look over my
shoulder lest the words came true !
5. When You Let Your Long Hair Down: Tom Paxton
Tom Paxton is a lovely man. I saw him in concert a year or two ago and
he restored something of my regard for Americans. This beautiful love
song just gives me goose bumps.
6. Take this Longing (from my tongue) Leonard
Cohen
Very sexy. I enjoy the challenge of Cohen¹s lyrics and find his voice
(unlike that of His Bobness) oddly soothing. You can rarely predict the
matching rhyme in a Cohen song ! I was introduced to his work by a group
of writing friends and have good memories of that time.
7. Empty Chairs and Empty Tables from 'Les
Miserables'
I had to have a song to mark, conflict and the futility of war. There
were several contenders, including a creaky old recording of 'No Man's
Land' with an unidentified singer, incredibly moving, then ŒWaltzing
Mathilda Πfrom the Pogues and Mike Harding's 'Accrington Pals'. but I
think this song does the business. I love live theatre and have seen Les
Mis three times, so on the positive side it is a reminder of the wealth
of theatre we have in this country of ours that we are all too good at
slagging off.
8. Africa from the soundtrack of 'Cry Freedom'
You cannot help but have tremendous respect and be moved by the whole
story of South Africa and the marvellous Mandela. I was relieved to have
it confirmed by a black friend recently, something I had long suspected
- that black people seem to have a natural ability to sing in glorious
harmony - never better shown than on this track.
9. Sei Mir Gegrusst by Franz Schubert
sung by Dietrich Fischer Dieskau
Don't ask me why, my French is reasonable and I have a little Italian
but I love the sound of gently spoken German, though my own is very
limited. (I'm having another go, back in a beginner's class!) Moreover,
there is something about sung German I find irresistible - add this to
Schubert¹s beautiful tunes and I am a gonner, particularly sung by
Dieskau.
10. Elle est princesse
Aria from Sijetais Roi by Adolf Adam
sung by Joseph Calleja
I discovered opera when I was 17. A much more musical school friend
suggested a visit to Sadlers Wells and I was hooked. Then, my first date
with my husband Graham was to Covent Garden to see the much acclaimed
Moses and Aaron by Schonberg . This was hard on the ear but spectacular,
with much sacrificial tomato ketchup so that the man in front fainted
loudly in the aisle !
Graham and I now share a love of opera
(preferably with tunes ) and I may even have been to more operas than I
have McTell concerts. I usually moan about the tenor - so often
disappointing, but about eight years ago at the Wexford Festival I had
my breath taken away. What a moment when the nineteen year old Maltese
singer Joseph Calleja electrified his audience with 'The Flower Song'
from Carmen. Two years later he was back singing the lead in Sijetais
Roi. He has since made it big; Covent Garden , Vienna State Opera.
Graham and I feel we helped to discover him.
MY LUXURY ITEM
my cat Mille (NB correct spelling)
MY BOOK
The full edition of the Oxford English
Dictionary
MY McTELL ALBUM
not till tomorrow
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