Music and Musicians, Sparky, Jez Eden

Music is so much part of people's lives these days, almost from birth.  When I was a child the songs we sang at school were sea shanties (lived in a naval port), and hymns - that was it and the only radio programme we listened to was children's hour.  (The record player I have drawn previously didn't actually have any records with it!)

Sparky, Pitt Pen and Coloured Pencils - Jez

When I was 12 there was a programme on the radio at lunch times called 'Forces Favourites' where people wrote in with requests for very varied types of music for their loved ones in the army, still stationed in Germany for a few years after the war - and the soldiers requested music for family at home.

One day we heard this marvellous new record of Sparky and his Magic Piano on the programme and it was so popular it was repeated almost every week.  If you do remember it, there were 8 pieces of classical piano music played by the magic piano, and four of them were Chopin pieces.

That was when I fell in love.  I can remember the actual words that went through my mind as I heard the Chopin pieces:  "You mean people can listen to beautiful music like this?"  I had never heard anything like it, and to this day Chopin is still so magical for me and I thank whoever wrote and recorded that record (or probably a series of records) for introducing me to music.