One mantra I have lived by for almost as long as I can remember is that ‘there are only 2 genre’s of music, music you like, and music you don’t’, but this doesn’t mean that just because you don’t like a certain style of music it’s bad, it just means that it’s not for you. It reminds me to never let myself get pigeon holed when it comes to the music I choose to listen to.

Sure, I guess we all have our own favourite ‘go to’ styles, be-it rock, metal, pop, country, Jazz, or even RnB for example, but that shouldn’t mean we should simply write off every other style and cast it aside, because there really is some excellent music out there if you’re just willing to sit back and listen.

When I was kid, the only music I got to listen to was whatever my parents were listening to at the time, which for my Dad often meant Gene Pitney, Buddy Holly, and Roy Orbison, and my Mom, Elvis Presley, The Hollies, and The Beatles, and as we grew, I had no choice but to listen to my Sister playing the likes of Wham and Culture Club on repeat. Thank the Gods for the day I’d saved up enough pocket money to go out and buy the records that I wanted to listen to, though in hind-sight I don’t think Musical Youth’s ‘The Youth of Today’, or Shakin’ Stevens ‘This Ole House’ were ever going to do anything for what little street-cred I may have had at the time.

The first time I ever heard Iron Maiden play was when I was around 8 or 9 years of age when I heard my cousin play their ‘Number of the Beast’ album on cassette, and if ever there was a pun to be had, ‘they were like music to my ears’, my love for heavy metal had began and I hadn’t even realised.

As the years passed by I started getting more and more into mainstream hard rock and heavy metal, my favourite bands being Megadeth, Saxon, Slayer, Judas Priest, and of course Iron Maiden, all of whom I’ve been lucky enough to see perform live many times over the years, though I never really got into bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, or even Black Sabbath for that matter, unless of course Ronnie James Dio was on vocals that is. Sorry, but I just never really understood the whole Ozzy Osbourne obsession.

Later came bands such as Guns’N’Roses, Skid Row, The Almighty, and Love/Hate to name but a few, all bands that I discovered through the Tommy Vance Friday Night Rock Show on the radio, every one easily finding their way on to my regular listening repertoire as time went on… and again, all bands I’ve since seen play live on numerous occasions.

Of course, different situations and different emotions call for different styles of music at different times, so along-side the afore mentioned, I’d also listen to a lot of what I’d consider soft-rock bands such as Poison, Cinderella, Quireboys, and Mr Big, though being quite an emotional person, this was mainly for their slower, tear-provoking ballads when I was feeling down or lonely, which believe me was quite a lot of the time as I was growing up. I guess music always has been my saviour.

However, although rock and metal have remained two consistences in my life, they weren’t the only style of music I grew up listening to, and it wasn’t only rock ballads I turned to when I was feeling down, in fact when it comes to a good ballad, I’ll listen to more or less anything, and you would often hear the likes of Tiffany’s ‘Could’ve Been’, T’Pau’s ‘China in My Hand’, and even Spandau Ballet’s ‘Through the Barricades’ playing through my speakers. Then along came the 90’s and one Miss Mariah Carey.

Now anyone who knows me, and I mean really knows me, will know about my little ‘infatuation’ with Mariah, not just because of her looks, although she’s always been pretty easy on the eye, especially through the 90’s, but her voice was, and still is to die for in my opinion, especially when it comes to her earlier and more soulful releases, and I’d always find myself turning to her music whenever I needed to de-stress or relax, times when neither Maiden nor Slayer were ever going to cut the mustard. Now I don’t expect everyone to understand said infatuation with Mariah, pretty much in the way I don’t understand the whole Ozzy thing, I just guess everyone’s different at the end of the day… and don’t we all have at least that one guilty pleasure in life?.

Unfortunately, the more and more Mariah started releasing her RnB tracks in favour of the earlier soul releases, the less and less I’d find myself listening. Again this doesn’t mean those later releases are bad, it just means that they’re not for me.

Sonia surprised me last year with tickets to go and see Mariah live at the Sandringham Estate, I’d never seen her perform live before and she was most definitely on my bucket list. It was a great day out in all fairness, and a beautiful surprise, but I can honestly say, hand on heart, her performance on the day wasn’t the best and there just wasn’t enough of her ‘older material’ for my liking, so I don’t think we’ll be rushing off to buy tickets to see her live again anytime soon, a perfect example of ‘been there done that’ if ever there was one.

This brings me swiftly onto the Eagles, another band on my bucket list, and another band that Sonia surprised me with tickets for, this time at Liverpool FC’s Anfield Stadium back in 2022, a band that I still listen to on a regular basis today. To me their style of country rock is timeless, and every album they’ve ever released is as excellent as the one before, with songs such as ‘Lyin Eyes’, ‘Take it Easy’, ‘Desperado’, and ‘Hotel California’, all masterpieces in their own rights, this time a band I would love to see live again if we ever had the chance, though I feel deep down that their days of playing live are pretty much drawing to an end.

From the very late 90’s and throughout the 00’s, I started listening to, and going to see a lot of Punk and Oi! bands such as Stiff Little Fingers, Sham 69, The Business, The Last Resort, Cock Sparrer, and Cockney Rejects, then later bands such as Booze & Glory, Evil Conduct, and Dropkick Murphy’s, but as much as I love the music, most of which covers the topics, struggles, and times that I can relate to on a personal level, I feel I’m just a bit too long in the tooth to be doing with the whole political circus that continues to revolve around both the Punk and Skinhead scenes in the UK today, both on stage and off. I still listen to a lot of the music when it takes my fancy, but its very rare I attend gigs these days.

If there’s one thing I did take away from the Skinhead scene however, then it’s my love for Ska and Reggae music. No, not the commercialised 2-Tone explosion that conquered the 1980’s with the likes of Madness, Bad Manners, and The Beat, all of whom have made some excellent music throughout their careers may I add?, but original Jamaican Ska acts such as The Ethiopians, Symarip, Prince Buster, and The Melodians, who’s song ‘Sweet Sensation’ coincidentally remains one of my all time favourites, and was the song that was being played live the night I took to one knee and proposed to Sonia in the middle of the pub. Romantic, I know!

Take a listen the The History of Trojan Records albums, volumes 1 and 2, and you’ll be surprised by just how many songs you thought were ‘original classics’ growing up, that were in fact recorded and released by some of those old Jamaican legends many years before.

It appears to me that as time goes on, most peoples tastes in music change, regardless of whether they choose to admit it or not, new music gets released and more bands are formed that tweak peoples interests, and that’s a good thing right?. Who’s to say that just because you sleep, eat, and breathe Heavy Metal, you can’t enjoy listening to Jazz and Country as well?, or that just because you like Rap, you can’t like Goth?.. It’s ludicrous, if you enjoy listening to a certain style of music, just listen to it and stop worrying about what others might think.

When it comes to attending live concerts these days, Sonia and I will go to literally any show that takes our fancy, be-it an evening of country, Rod Stewart, Bryan Adams, Lita Ford, Bloodstock Festival, we’re even going to see Tom Jones later this year in Chester (just because we can!), but what I won’t do any more, is pay a King’s ransom to see ‘any’ artist play live, especially one that I’ve seen before. Yes I’ll happily pay £190+ for festival tickets where you have 150+ bands playing over 3 or 4 days, but the same price for 2 or 3 bands in one night?, no thank you, I’d rather spend my money supporting smaller, lesser-known bands in small local venues than that… which is how I’ve discovered some of my favourite artists today by the way… so take a bow Recall the Remains, Tortured Demon, and Ferocious Dog.

My one regret however?… Never getting to see Meat Loaf live… Sad face!

As I’ve matured over the years (though Sonia may disagree!), Mariah Carey has been replaced by folk singer/songwriter Edwina Hayes as my go-to artist whenever I need to relax, and I tend to listen to Robert Jon and The Wreck more than I do the Eagles for my country rock fix, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped listening to those artists, and it doesn’t mean I don’t like their music any more, it’s just that I’ve discovered new acts to listen to in addition, and just because I’m still heavily into hard rock and heavy metal music, it doesn’t mean that that’s all I listen to, I’ll still quite happily sing along to a bit of Ska or 80’s pop if that’s where my mood takes me, and I will still listen to those old Buddy Holly and Elvis tracks if that’s how I feel, because I’ve grown not to care about what other’s might think of my tastes in music, the same as I don’t care about theirs.

At the end of the day our musical likes and dislikes help to shape us into the people we are as individuals, we don’t have to follow the pack, and we don’t have to stay within the lines, it’s OK to stray further afield and discover and like new things, it’s no one else’s business, just be you, be proud to be you, enjoy life, and go turn that volume up.