Music, including history of popular music & its pioneers, computers, radio

Have been interested in Music as far back as I can remember. For a couple of years now have been involved in the Music Activity Groups at the daycentre where I work – for last few months have been researching music of African origin & assisting with the musical output of the African Beats Show.
 
Many years ago (not saying exactly how many!!?) regularly did the ‘disco’ at the teacher’s college I attended for three years. However I turned my back on this, when I left college & came to work in Gloucester, for various reasons including starting a family.

My most vivid musical memories are of from the mid ‘60s to mid ‘70s though I can remember music from before & after this period. Now catching up with the latest trends through listening to & my involvement with GFM

My love of music covers many different (& recently more increasing) genres. Formerly, if I was pushed to state my favourite type, although finding a particular favourite hard, Motown & Soul from the aforementioned period perhaps topped the list. Now listening to & researching the history of music genres relevant to the show including music from the Caribbean I find it even harder to define a particular ‘favourite’!

One thing becomes increasingly obvious though – the great debt popular/dance music owes to many former pioneers of music of African origin from the early spiritual/gospel onwards; many of whom we do not seem to hear much about these days (unless/until they die)!

Within two weeks from being invited as a guest to Dino & the Team’s African Beats show he asked me if I would like to join the team. I felt really honoured! It did not end there however. Christmas week he announced that from then on he was inviting me to become the show’s producer. This is a responsibility that I intend to live up to with commitment and enthusiasm & carry out to the best of my ability!

Short term to complete training on GFM & to be able to ‘cover’ the show for Dino when needed. Hopefully sometime in the future to have my own show. Part of which would be to try & enlighten the community on the history of Music Of Black Origin, key people in it & its/their influence on many kinds of popular music and musicians. Playing tracks to reinforce this. Equally advancing awareness of Black history generally (whatever the time of year) & promoting pride in & awareness of the history & culture of African people.
(Put Briefly - to play my part in using the medium of music [& radio] to send out a positive vibe & help build pride & self-esteem in the community)

This is the hard bit - I find so much music inspirational but here are three very different examples!

The onion song:  Marvin Gaye (let’s keep “planting the Love Seeds until it dies”!)

One Love-One People: Bob Marley (What we should all be striving for - & Bob’s right “There ain’t no hiding place from the Father Of Creation”!!)

Beethoven’s choral ‘Ode To Joy’ (he could have only written this inspirational music for others to hear & be uplifted – he was completely deaf when he wrote it & would never have heard a note of it for himself!)
(+ many others – I could change this list daily for many weeks!!)

GFM is here for real & hopefully will be for the foreseeable future (more than just 5 years) - keep supporting it and make it happen. GFM is a focal point, which can send out a positive message into the community helping to build individual & community identity, pride, responsibility & respect. This would seem to me to be a far more appropriate and permanent way of getting crime off the streets than building more prisons or flooding the streets with armed police officers!!

Finally don’t let the original pioneers who worked so hard to make GFM become a reality get forgotten as time goes by – many thanks to you for giving us all the opportunity to play our part in serving & benefiting the community.