My music likes and dislikes for the 1960s, and through to 1975, is a strange mix. Firstly, it is a mix of music I listened to as a teenager. Secondly, it includes music I didn’t really listen to until I met my wife in the mid-1970s. Thirdly, it includes music I only started to listen to when I had built a substantial audio-CD collection in the early-mid-1980s.
I first met the love of my life, Monique, on the 5 November 1974. When I moved in with Monique in spring 1975, she didn’t have a record player, television or (if I remember rightly) even a radio. But she did have one vinyl, the 10″ LP entitled “The Great Artistry of Django Reinhardt“.
I had never heard of Django Reinhardt, and Monique had never heard of most of my “favourites” from the 1960s and early 1970s.
On top of that she never went to the cinema, which in any case living in a village in Italy was easier said than done. But she had been to the Opera in Milan several times.
My likes and dislikes for the music of the 1960s were in a large part created as time progressed through the 1960s and 1970s, and into the 1980s.
Monique’s likes and dislikes were often not created in realtime. When I moved to the audio-CD (1982-84) I replaced my old vinyl collection and rapidly added several hundred new optical discs. By the mid-90’s I had nearly 500 discs in two SONY jukeboxes. Monique’s dislike of my favourites of the 1960s and early 1970s was often only decided as we listened to (my) musical preferences in the early-mid-late 1980s.
Monique’s likes and dislikes actually became even more evident post-2007, when we started to take regular long-distance roadtrips between home and southern Spain. I would play music in the car from an iPod or my iPhone, and Monique would quite often, if she was not sleeping, say “next” when one of her “dislikes” appeared.
Monique's music "likes"
My wife Monique was not a passionate music listener, and her musical tastes were a bit of an enigma. She clearly came out of the 50’s, but more than anything else she liked something she could dance to. I’ve already described her musical tastes from the 1950s, and it’s true she did have her likes and dislikes about the music of the 1960s and early 1970s.
When I moved in with Monique we bought a television, and I also bought a stereo system in the UK, and later brought over my vinyl collection (which I’ve described elsewhere).
I took it on myself to “educate” Monique’s musical tastes. Naturally my hope was that she would “like” what I liked. All I did was to define and expand substantially what she “disliked”.
During the 1960s Monique had added to her “likes” some of the more popular French artists, but surprisingly had not added any Italian artists (despite living in Italy). She thought Italian singers, particularly Italian women, shouted too much.
Her French music tastes were very “mainstream” with Johnny Hallyday, Françoise Hardy, France Gall, Sylvie Vartan, etc. She had also added some mainstream American singers, such as Chubby Checker (famous for The Twist), Roy Orbison, Little Eva, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra, come to mind.
In terms of English music probably the only group she “liked” and could “put a face to a name” was the Beatles.
She also liked the music of Simon & Garfunkel, The Beach Boys, Santana, Elton John, and Bee Gees, but had no idea who they were. And she had heard enough of the Rolling Stones to know she “disked” them, but she had never even heard the music of Bob Dylan, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, etc.
As I “educated” Monique in my musical tastes, she was willing to put the Rolling Stones on her short (very short) “maybe” list (just to keep me happy). This was because she was able, with my help, to rapidly fill up her “dislike” list. She “disliked” Bob Dylan, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Animals, Cream, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, David Bowie, Procol Harum, etc., and she created a “hated” list just for Janis Joplin.
She didn’t think much of Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Carole King, and Don Mclean, but ended-up liking Joan Baez, Mungo Jerry, and Rod Stewart.
Monique could not understand my interest in modern English folk music with Pentangle, Bert Jansch, Donovan, Judy Collins, John Renbourn, Cat Stevens, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, Lindisfarne, Trees, Sandy Denny, etc.
The high spot in the music of 1960s and early 1970s was that we would later discover together the wonderful Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, and Roberta Flack.
Our playlist for the 1960s
Our playlists of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s obviously holds tracks that I like, but also includes songs that Monique liked. I can’t imagine deleting what she liked, even if some of them bring back difficult memories.
My beloved Monique passed away on the 23 December 2023, and since then my musical tastes have been slowly mutating. I have deleted several tracks of my past favourites simply because they bring back memories of Monique’s “dislike”. This is particularly noticeable with Janis Joplin. Monique’s hated her and her music, and I fear that one day Joplin will disappear from my playlists.
As of today 12 August 2024, our playlist for the 1960s contains 249 tracks. I wonder how many of those tracks will I delete in the years to come.
