The Food of Love

In the first scene of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Orsino (not to be confused with the composer, Orsini) implores musicians to sate his feelings of love with music by saying, "if music be the food of love, play on." Indeed, I have yet to meet anyone who has not had a profound experience that did not include music. I am no exception.

My first memory of a song was Abba's Chiquitita. It was something that my mother played on many occasions, definitely one of her favourites. It's haunting melody and sad recollections definitely left their mark on me, and, just like that, I was a fan.

Regarding my father, I do remember him having quite a large collection of vinyl records, albeit that his taste was a little strange. I can't honestly say that I listened to many of them but artists like Rod Stewart were at the forefront of his favourites, along with Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, and one band that stood out, head and shoulders – the Beatles. Most of the songs I learnt by heart, early on, were by the Fab four. A bunch of two-minute tunes with lyrics that were easily saved to memory. Today's kids can never understand what it was like for my generation.