My favourite ex-pat, Toni, is my inner voice when I get a bit ranty. She is the angel on my right shoulder when things get a bit heated. She soothes my ruffled feathers by giving me a good verbal kicking when it all goes a bit Pete Tong, and for that I am ever grateful. Let's have a listen to the musical memories she's chosen for Soundtrack To My Life and see if she calms you down too...
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When I lived in London, in my 20's, my mate Diane (Hayman, founder of In the Powder Room) used to "perform" this ditty after we'd had a few. (We also used to fight over who was Marilyn). Di was on the scene when I met my future, American husband. We were all out at dinner and I asked him where he was from. Little Rock. I stood up in the middle of the restaurant and yelled at Di - "He's from Little Rock!"
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George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
I got my love of music from my dad. Although his real genre was Sinatra, Tony Bennet etc back in the 50's, he was open to anything. I was a kid when My Sweet Lord came out in 1970. I loved it and would just stop whatever I was doing when it came on the radio. One Saturday, he must have seen this, and he said "Come on, let's go and get it". We jumped in the car and drove to Boots and just bought it. That's not something we typically did. It was my first single and a memory I'll treasure. (Dad died when I was 20 and he was 50.)
Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes OST) - Two Little Girls from Little Rock
When I lived in London, in my 20's, my mate Diane (Hayman, founder of In the Powder Room) used to "perform" this ditty after we'd had a few. (We also used to fight over who was Marilyn). Di was on the scene when I met my future, American husband. We were all out at dinner and I asked him where he was from. Little Rock. I stood up in the middle of the restaurant and yelled at Di - "He's from Little Rock!"
The King And I OST - Getting to Know You
I was brought up watching this movie and love it still. When I had my first child (now 20), I used to sing this to her as her lullaby. When she was about 18 months, she used to sing it all the time in her little toddler voice. (For some reason my boys were never really into it despite my best efforts.) Hearing it now, I get a tiny lump in my throat when I think of singing it to my babies.Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl
This is a song from my youth and was huge at all the rock discos. That opening guitar line is just iconic. I'm thrilled these days because all three of my kids (ages 20, 18 and 10) love it, and it still gets a lot of air play. They even allow me to get up and dance with them when it comes on anywhere. And - my 18 year old can play the whole thing so I have it on-demand now!Uptown Mayhem - Seeing Stars
This is my son's band; he wrote the lyrics and music and although it's very "young" sounding, I really really like it.¨¨°º©©º°¨¨
The easiest way to find out about Toni, her writing and her the links to her blogs is to visit her main website - Toni Summers Hargis. You can also find her on Twitter as @tonihargis.
You can view all previous Soundtrack To My Life entries by clicking on the mix tape to the right. If you want to participate in 2014 please complete this form and I'll be in touch very soon.