Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
2 appearances
Pop star best known as one half of Eurythmics, with solo success earning Grammys, Brits, and an Oscar, and a dedicated humanitarian.
On the island
Eight records
When I hear this track I go to A Place in Aberdeen called the Beach Boulevard, and I remember walking down that street and singing that song over and over and over again.
The Beatles absolutely are intrinsically part of my life, and I've chosen Penny Lane because I think it's got all the characteristics of a of everything that the Beatles had to offer, and still offer in the in the most incredible sort of classic way.
I actually can play the next piece. It's Debussy's Syrinx, and it's exquisitely played by James Galway.
It really sums up the time that kind of exotic thing that I think I thought London would be, but maybe never really was.
I Say a Little PrayerFavourite
Ah, this is probably one of my favourite songs of all time, ever and ever. I adore Aretha Franklin's voice and the arrangements and songwriting skills of Burt Bacharach are just just phenomenal, really hugely special.
They are an extraordinary phenomenon. And the people that love the Blue Nile will relate to this because we're almost like a little cult.
Michael Schwalbé, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
I love the Valdi, I love all this kind of early music, I love Couperin and Purcell and Mozart and Handel and, you know we're going to listen to Winter from the Four Seasons because it's exquisite.
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay
Well, this is just a classic. I mean, this is just this is perfect. This is Otis Reading, Dock of the Bay. I mean, that's another one of my all time favourite songs.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:12What do you mean by [describing yourself as] an elegant survivor?
I think perhaps sometimes, you know, it's very interesting when you are someone in the public eye, you have to accept that there will be a certain erosion of your own sort of private, what would normally people would consider to be private. And I don't know why I said the word elegant, but perhaps I was trying to get the balance back, you know, sort of pull that back from myself…
Presenter asks
2:33Can you remember how it felt at the time [when Sweet Dreams became a big hit]?
Yes, of course I do remember that. And yet it seems like a parallel existence now. It's so funny that, you know, if you see a snapshot of yourself when you were a teenager or a child, it's something so familiar to you, and yet com contrasted with what who you are now, it doesn't bear the faintest resemblance, you know.
Presenter asks
3:18Who were you then [before you had children]?
Well, it was before I had children, it was a long time before I had children, and I think that having children was a huge turning point in my world, you know, in my whole life, in the whole way that I see the planet. I was… very focussed on music making. I wanted to be part of making great music. That that was always the the main motivation.
The keepsakes
The luxury
Presenter asks
4:06Why is it [that almost all your music choices are from before you started making money]?
One of the reasons why there's nothing really from now is because I mean I didn't know this consciously, but at a certain unconscious level one identifies with music the statements, the sounds, the whole identity of music was hugely important to me. And now I've in my years of wisdom, profound, solid wisdom, you know, now that I've been through so much in life and I'm extraordinarily evolved, I no longer need…
Presenter asks
24:22How much did [losing your first child] change you as a person at the time?
[It had] an immense impact on me. Immense impact on me… It made me realize that we're all, you know, the human condition is immensely fragile and strong at the same time… it's informed me that my, you know, real, very painful, difficult personal experience and loss, it's hard to put it into words, but it made me realise that life truly is temporary. You know, and when I hear about other people's tragedies and losses, I so, so, so empathise and so, so, so identify with them.
“I think that having children was a huge turning point in my world, you know, in my whole life, in the whole way that I see the planet.”
“I think because of the fact that I was an only child, there was so much time to kill. There was so much time to kill. So I just had to spend a lot of time alone.”
“The human experience is pretty much boils down to the same thing. And the music it cuts through all cultures and all boundaries.”