I always exercise to music, and Anthony, my better half,  kindly took the time to transfer all my music (yes, all) to my computer, so here I am every morning, stretching to Chopin’s nocturnes, weight-lifting to Vivaldi’s Sacred Music, or sweating to Bach’s Brandebourgeois.

Then one day, out of the blue, my computer went kaput, and I suddenly felt so lonely without my music, yet having to deal with my daily training.

Out of despair and looking for an easy solution, I turned to internet radio, which has a very extensive list of all sorts of topics and music. I stopped at the first decent-looking channel available, which was Sky fm, the music of 80’s…

Now, here I am again, counting beats this time to the soundtrack of Madonna, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Jackson, Barry White, etc, and it is like voyage down memory lane. I’m back in Paris, having evenings at Club Sept and Bus Palladium, squandering hours at the Palace or Les Bains Douches, reaching early mornings at Keur Samba.

So, yes, and I’m sorry to disappoint you, I do like other kind of music. Although classical has been, and will always be, at the top of my passions, along the way I have enjoyed other music, from jazz to blues and lately, even the Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga! Don’t worry – I’m not ready to start a website on R&B or Hip Hop just yet.

I have another radio station that I listen to when I am at the wheel in Paris, usually (or perhaps always) while I am stuck in a traffic jam. The station is called Nostalgie, featuring tunes by the likes of Claude François, Jacques Dutronc, Serge Gainsbourg, or Alain Souchon, whose hit song Allô Maman Bobo tells of the typical état d’âme of men’s growing pains.

Marcel Proust wrote about the madeleine lengthily, of how this little piece of cake reminded him of the old days with his aunt. For me, my memory has always been linked to music, at different stages of my life, through experiences, whether good or bad, some music has lasted ephemerally, while other songs have remained with me throughout my lifetime. And usually, those melodies are classical.

So, please allow me to share with you this time some of my other music.

Alain Souchon

Serge Gainsbourg

Claude François (yes, this is My Way, the original song was composed by Claude François )


Photo credit: independent.co.uk