2. The Beatles
I remember the tiny little living room we had when I was a kid growing up. We had our little TV and our little VHS player and the music system and this great vinyl collection that my mum had. I actually can’t believe to this day that she’d let me play them when I was really little, scratching everything to bits. I grew up just outside Liverpool, so part of your education growing up is: you must listen to The Beatles. I remember my mum having Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but it wasn’t until I was older that I discovered Revolver.
Why Revolver above all the other albums by The Beatles?
‘Eleanor Rigby’ has always been my favourite song by The Beatles, although I kind of think it’s impossible to have a favourite song by The Beatles. I think melodically I’ve always been drawn to the Paul McCartney-written songs, and ‘Eleanor Rigby’ feels very Paul. The storytelling is so vivid you just get lost in the narrative, wondering what she looked like as this picture builds up in your mind.
Another thing that struck me about it, which I didn’t pick up on for a long time being young, was that it’s literally just a string quartet and a vocal. That’s so unusual for a pop rock band! I did a lot of ballet as a kid and I used to love going to the theatre – I’m a big fan of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake – so hearing those beautiful orchestrations, and that crossover of classical and pop, really appealed to me. So that’s what drew me to Revolver initially, but there are so many great songs on there. It’s at the beginning of their psychedelic era, which is exciting, and George Martin’s production is incredible too.
