Blogtember Challenge Day 8: Music that Moves Me

Disclaimer: I'm not being paid to recommend any of these artists or albums. This post is written as part of the Blogtember Challenge, and as such, I'm listing my favourites. I hope that you like them too x

Hello again honeys
Here we are on day 8 of the lovely Bailey Jean's blogtember challenge.  Today's prompt is:  Sept 8th: Music that moves you. Are you a Spotify addict or a Pandora guru? Tell us your favourite artists/stations!

I adore music. It keeps me sane like nothing else when the world gets a little too much to cope with, which is often. When I'm feeling stressed, overwhelmed or even just have a desperate need to chill out, I put on headphones, disappear into my favourite music, feel my shoulders relax & the stresses just melt away.

I don't own an ipod or iphone, I'm old (fashioned) that way :) but I do love my teeny little Phillips MP3 player which is adorable and even pink & white for extra cuteness :) That's it honeys, that's as up to date as I get :) We still mostly buy our music on CD, still own LOTS of vinyl LPs & 45s & even cassettes :)  I was once called a "technophobe" and told to "get with the millennium" well... no actually! What can I say, I likes what I likes :)

Can I say first please that for me picking a "few favourites" when it comes to music, well it's very difficult! I love classical music, opera, country, rock.... as I said, it's difficult to pick favourites because I listen to whatever I feel like listening to at any particular moment.

So, in no particular order, because I love them all, here are a few of my current, as well as long time favourites.....

Tease Me by Chaka Demus & Pliers I love this album so much! It's wonderful, cheers me & makes me smile like nothing else. It is musical joy!  From the incredible "Murder She Wrote" to the fabulous title track, there are no words for how much I adore this album. I challenge anyone when faced with household chores to do, to put on this album. Try their cover version of the Isley Brothers song "Twist & Shout." I swear you'll not only get the chores done faster, you'll do them with such a huge smile on your face and find yourself dancing too :)  Absolute joy in a CD case :)

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by music legend Neil Diamond, whose voice always feels to me as if it's made of velvet. It's a breathtaking album written as a soundtrack to the 1973 movie adaptation of the book by Richard Bach. Mostly instrumental with only a few (beyond wonderful) songs sung by Mr Diamond it's beautiful, exhilarating, it's just an incredible album.  If you want a glimpse of the gorgeous (& heartbreaking) movie you can see a clip here. I can't say enough good things about this album honeys, it's just amazing.
               
Param Vandana is a fabulous charity album of Hindu religious music recorded to raise money to help those in under developed areas. I said at the beginning of this post that everything on my list today was here because I love it and this album is no different. It is the result of such hard work by a dear friend (Hi Ash <throws hugs> ) and so I would have downloaded it anyway, as my small way to support Ash and his wonderful friend's efforts to raise money for such a great cause.

Thing is, the morning I downloaded it from iTunes (which I have on my laptop) I played the whole album straight through & then played it again.  I was listening to it for a third time when Ash called. I'm sure he won't mind me telling you this honeys, but Ash seemed surprised that I was listening when I don't speak Hindi, but as I said to him then, I don't speak Italian either but I adore listening to opera. Language is no barrier in music, it's really not. Music defies logic and speaks straight to the heart I think, so understanding doesn't even enter the equation. Don't you agree?

This album is so beautiful, so calming. Remember what I said as an intro to todays post? Music can make all of the strains and stresses of the day just melt away like nothing else, and this beautiful album does exactly that. I hope that Ash doesn't mind if I give you some links to check out. He and his friends worked so hard on producing this album, and it's for such a wonderful cause too.  You can find it on iTunes download it from Amazon or even stream it on Spotify. Thank you honeys xx

Gold by Carpenters OK, is there anyone who hasn't ever heard of the Carpenters?  If so, stop what you're doing this minute and listen to this album! This is basically a greatest hits collection. Sheer joy to listen to from beginning to end. One of the greatest losses to the world of music was the far, far too early death of the incredibly talented Karen Carpenter. She had a voice unlike anyone else. Just incredible. Everyone has their own favourite Carpenters song & if pushed mine would have to be "Yesterday Once More" it can still make me cry.

1  and Help! by The Beatles  Again, no more needs saying! Help! is the soundtrack to the movie of the same name, and 1 is basically a collection of their most loved hits and hey it's The Beatles!  Listen, enjoy, smile :)

The Kick Inside by Kate Bush. I first bought this album with my birthday record tokens (OMG how old do I feel? Does anyone still get record tokens for their birthdays? I suppose it's iTunes credits nowadays :) I'm soooo old lol)  It was then (and remains to this day) an incredible album.  Kate Bush is such an amazing talent. She's back in the charts now due to the success of her live shows and anyone looking for a greatest hits collection should instead go listen to "The Whole Story" which I do listen to now and again when the mood takes me but I'll always love this album.

Hot Shot by Shaggy I love this album :) Hubby bought it for me too many years ago because I was wandering around the house constantly humming the incredibly catchy "It Wasn't Me" .... and me a feminist too :) Over a decade later and it's still a favourite.  There is far more to this album than the "hear it once and you'll be humming it all day "It Wasn't Me" though. Love it.

The Essential Collection by Nina Simone This is a double cd with the first cd in the set being Nina's debut album called "Little Girl Blue" & the second cd is Nina live in concert. Wonderful! I can't listen to "Plain Gold Ring" without crying.  Love, love, love this set. It was a birthday gift from my dear sweet friend (who is far closer than a sister) Miriam, so it's doubly precious to me, thank you angel xx

This list could go on & on & on (ooo I forgot to mention Abba!) it really could. So, so easily.  Can we just say anything at all by Sinatra (I swear the world around me actually disappears every time I watch High Society) Dean Martin (I absolutely turn to goo when I listen to him) Bing Crosby, Barbara Streisand (I literally sob listening to "Papa Can You Hear Me" from the soundtrack for "Yentl") As I said honeys, the music I listen to, very much depends on the mood I'm in, or how I'm feeling that day.  No matter what the mood or how I feel though, every day has music in it :)

I hope you're having a fabulous week dear ones, thank you for sharing my mini music road trip with me <hugs> see you tomorrow for day 9 of Bailey Jean's Blogtember Challenge. Till then honeys, hugs always xx