Tower and Town, February 2021

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Get Into The Groove

With no exhibitions taking place currently, I decided to turn my attention to a different passion of mine, music. It’s hard to believe that this once-upon-a-time shy little girl is now the first to hit the dance floor at any party (I actually cannot wait to put my glad rags on and boogie again.)

Music is a tonic. It’s a stimulus. It’s a feeling, it’s a memory, it’s a fully immersive pleasurable sensation that you simply cannot ignore. Listening to music releases endorphins in the brain. I found an interesting article on the NHS website that had followed up a story published by The Guardian in 2011 about why music makes us feel good. It said, ‘Scientists have found that our brains release the “rewards chemical” dopamine in response to hearing music we like, similar to the brain’s response to delicious food or drugs such as cocaine.’ (To read the full article online from 2011, search for ‘Music that makes you feel good NHS’.)

Even as I write this, I am listening to the deep, velvety soulful sound of the unmistakably marvellous Marvin Gaye.

Music has always been popular in my family. My Nanna taught me the piano. The memory I have of sitting next to her in the sitting room while I pressed a random selection of keys is very special. It is still wonderful to be able to sit down, practice and play some old favourites following many years of after school lessons. I loved it then, and I love it now. My earliest memory of hearing recorded music was when my dad put on a CD of female saxophonists playing In the Mood. Pure magic.

Since those early days, music has been a journey of discovery. Incidentally, when I was 16 and worked in the village pub with no phone signal, I would wait in the car park and could hear my mum approaching because Born to Run would be blaring out of the windows at 10000000(…) decibels. I hope I also turn out to be a rock chick! I’m always listening to music, and or dancing around the house generally being a pain to anyone who’s actually trying to do anything sensible like WORK.

Music is so freely available (as in remotely accessible rather than actually being free, generally speaking) these days, that I am adding to my online playlists all the time. If I had to pick a favourite genre of popular music, hmm, well, Motown and anything from the 40s through the 80s are what I have on repeat. I get as much pleasure from listening to Benny Goodman as I do the Stones or Earth, Wind & Fire or Donna Summer. Modern music of the last twenty years is also exciting, new and challenging. There are so many wonderful, innovative artists emerging onto the scene that it’s great being able to discover them so quickly and easily.

Modern music aside, some of the most beautiful compositions I’ve ever heard are from a completely different canon. Classical and orchestral music, as well as musicals and soundtrack pieces are often sublime, and I listen to pieces from across all these genres daily. It would be impossible to pick a favourite, there are too many to choose from. Some films, for example Dirty Dancing, weren’t considered a hit when released in 1987 but quickly became a box office sensation, largely due to its insatiable soundtrack (and that lift, of course). But I will ask this of you dear reader, are you familiar with the work of Hans Zimmer? If not, you must change this immediately! Any one of his film scores will do, but don’t leave Pirates of the Caribbean till last. You’re welcome and thank you.

Right, time for me to delve into more spine tingling sensations. I hope you enjoy listening to whatever makes you happy, sad, dance, smile, cry, sing-along, turn-up or twist and shout.

Gabriella Venus