“In late 1964 my dad was building his Beatles collection literally as the albums came out, so his latest purchase was Beatles For Sale which I believe came out in December of that year. At that time my mother was pregnant with me and suffering from morning sickness. So as my dad played the record over and over again, it was the soundtrack for my poor mother’s, well, vomiting. My mother tells me that as soon as I was able, around four years old, I put Beatles For Sale on the turntable and played it incessantly, dancing around in bliss while she, in a flashback, relived her nausea.”
“She thinks the song I particularly loved was “I’m a Loser” but she’s not sure. She helpfully offered to do some research by listening to the record to see which song makes her most nauseated. Not a typical response to that record I’m sure. I told her not to bother.
And so, I am, like many people, an avid Beatles fan. My dad collected all the records. I grew up with them. A friend once said “It’s like the Beatles are in my DNA.” That’s exactly how I feel.
However I’m trying to think back to my first date. I think I must have been around 15 or 16, (1980 or ’81) and the fellow I had a crush on was a punk rocker. My friends and I loved punk. We were totally into it, particularly Siousxie and the Banshees. (I would back comb my hair, spray about a can of hairspray into it, and copy her makeup to try to look like her. I thought I looked cool. Looking back I think I looked scary.)
So on my first date I’m sure I did not talk about The Beatles, or anything much at all actually. I think I just kind of tried to smoke without becoming ill, and snogged. If we had talked about records it may have been something by the Sex Pistols. This boy looked like Sid Vicious on purpose. But as I say, we didn’t talk much. He wasn’t a big talker. I think our affair lasted for one day at least.
The first records I bought were 45s. Singles to you kids. I think I bought one by the Electric Light Orchestra called “Mr. Blue Sky” that was on blue vinyl. So cool. I loved that record so much. Its blueness was almost like candy to me.
I would save up money and go uptown in Edinburgh where I lived. As I look it up, I see Mr. Blue Sky came out in 1977, so I must have bought it at Binn’s on Princes Street. I have memories of going to HMV on Princes Street as well, but that apparently didn’t open until 1985. (Here’s a great site I found about old record shops in Edinburgh from the sixties, seventies and eighties, if you’re interested.)
Punk of course started in the mid-seventies when my friends and I were a bit too young to appreciate it. I remember seeing clips from punk gigs on the news (the advent of punk was national news), of young boys in black with safety pins in their noses, pogoing and spitting, while the bands howled at them and spat back making obscene gestures and, also, pogoing. It all looked violent and chaotic to me when I was 12 years old in 1977. I didn’t like it at all then. Later it thrilled me.
While punk was starting and I was disturbed by it, I liked the Bee Gees and disco (ha!), and my friends and I would dance and dance to these songs. Grease came out and we were all agog.
I was obsessed with ABBA.
Then I became utterly obsessed and entranced by Kate Bush. I still am. I think she is a Goddess. So I bought all of her records and devoured them.
Back then it was so exciting awaiting the advent of a record, rushing uptown to get it, or getting it at Christmas. Then playing it over and over, and singing along with the lyrics, which were always printed somewhere on the record or as an insert. I would sing to the mirror as Kate. Actually, I long to do a Karaoke “Wuthering Heights.” I love that John Lydon later said he thought Kate was a true punk artist. I love that he loves her. I love him. I love her.
Going back to my parents’ record collection, I played most of them to death. Off the top of my head they had Desire, Songs From A Room, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, all of The Beatles as you already know. They had the famous King Crimson with the mouth. American Stars and Bars, Their Satanic Majesties, some Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The Stranglers (that was my brother’s—can’t remember which album but I remember “No More Heroes”—fantastic—and “Golden Brown”—also fantastic—Sweet Baby James (this was very influential in my early childhood), so god, an eclectic mix. The Isley Brothers! Stevie Wonder. I don’t remember any jazz in there. Joan Armatrading. Talking Heads. No Bowie funnily enough. That came later when I started buying records. Some Carole King, Tapestry.
When you start to cast your mind back you realize influences came from all sides, and everywhere. For example I was influenced by the Scottish folk band Silly Wizard. Their fiddle player, the great Johnny Cunningham, later came and played on my album The Four Marys which is a collection of Scottish folk songs. We had their record So Many Partings which I loved. I also loved Laurie Anderson’s Big Science. I also had the single by Prince “1999” which on the b-side had “How Come You Don’t Love My Anymore” to which I choreographed a modern dance in my brief semi-professional career as a dancer before I went to drama college in London. (Leaving grim, wonderful, haunting Edinburgh, never to return as a permanent resident). At the same time I was listening to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
Unbelievably to me, I was lucky enough to become a recording artist myself. I’ve made records that are dreamy and folky, influenced by Joni Mitchell, and stuff that’s (oddly) Brazilian in feel, and then more rock influenced things and more punky stuff more latterly (Bad Poetry). My latest record Sudden Exposure To Light (produced by the great Thomas Bartlett) and the second part of the double album Comfort, produced by multi instrumentalist Fernando Perdomo, has songs influenced by PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, punk, movies and movie music, Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), St Vincent. These I think were the people I was listening to as I wrote. I collaborated with David Batteau, a songwriter with a long and varied past, who brought his influences to bear as well.”
—Rebecca Pidgeon
Rebecca Pidgeon’s brand new, 20-song double release Sudden Exposure to Light and Comfort are in stores now.
