charles barrow's writing

Music. Very evocative, but very subjective. One person's all time favourite, is someone else's headache. And a lot of it is elevator music, muzak, annoying ear worm, a racket. Of course, with some tunes, there is also a lot more going on than lyrics and a melody. There is the instant Bing of recognition when the opening bars of a song starts, that can transport the listener to another time and place completely. For me this happens, most often, with songs from my youth. To be honest, I don't even have to much like a song to have this happen, but most times I don't choose those tracks, they just appear on a nearby radio, but a big part of the appeal of my favourite ones is that they do transport me back to what, now, seems like simpler days (though I'm sure I never thought my life was simple at the time). The memories aren't necessarily all happy, of course, a break-up song is just as evocative as a make-out song.  Another bonus of an old favourite is that I reme...

FaceBook served me up a Memory this morning, from this day last year. I usually don't pay too much attention to these Memories, but this one is pertinent because it was the cover image of Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell, and I'm currently reading this very book, so it's something of a coincidence it should appear. I can see in the post that I was very excited by the thought of its publication, and the excitement has proven justified. I am loving the book. It's the best book on music and being in a band that I've ever read. Utopia Avenue is the band's name. They are British, and struggling to make it on the 60s music scene. Mark Bolan, David Bowie, and Brian Jones make cameo appearances as do Alan Ginsberg, Sandy Denny, Keith Moon and many others. I thought Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, about a 70s American band, was a good read but this knocks that into a cocked hat. What it's also really good at, and this shouldn't be surprising comin...