A Matter of Taste

Someone asked me a while ago, "What sort of music do you like?" I began to run off a list of names.....Deep Purple...Black Sabbath...Guns 'N' Roses...Oasis...Beethoven...Wagner...Glen Miller. Upon hearing this a shocked look appeared on this man's face - Guns 'N' Roses AND Beethoven? How could this be?

It is the view of many people, including some people in my own family, that it is impossible to like more than one kind of music. I say not so. I like rock, heavy metal, blues, jazz, classical, almost anything, except much of the rubbish that comes out today. With the exception of Oasis and a few others, most of it sounds the same to me. If upon reading these words you think I'm some old forty-something fuddy duddy, then think again! I'm only 25!

The aforementioned family member, upon being told I had developed a taste for opera, used an expletive before he called me a weirdo. This brother, in 1982, introduced me to the likes of Deep Purple, and didn't like me listening to the classics. But Ritchie Blackmore, former guitarist of Deep Purple, has gone on record as saying that he liked Beethoven more than his own music. In 1981, he recorded a rock version of Beethoven's 9th, and in 1984, while on a tour of Japan with his group Rainbow, performed this piece with a full orchestra.

Jon Lord, Deep Purple's keyboard player, is a big fan of Bach, and often plays Bach and Beethoven during the quiet moments of Deep Purple's concerts. In 1970, Lord wrote the Concerto for Group & Orchestra, a fine work and liked by my rock-hating brother whom I live with.

I've gained a liking for other music over the past few years. Another brother introduced me to Fleetwood Mac in 1987. Italia '90 introduced me to the delights of opera. While working at the Anglia Court Hotel, I was introduced to jazz through their jazz nights. As of yet no one has introduced me to the delights (?) of house, or garage, or barn, or whatever they call it!

I don't claim to know an awful lot about any of these types of music. I just know what I like!