Music to write by

You might say that there are two types of writer: those who required complete quiet when they write - and those who don’t, and who (in most cases) listen to music whilst they work. I’m firmly in the latter camp.

The only explanation I can offer is that, when I was a schoolboy doing my homework, my parents always had the television on in the room where I was working. So I’ve always been accustomed to something going on in the background. (Of course, you may say I’d be a better writer if I worked in silence, but that’s another matter entirely…)

So what do I listen to? Here is a selection taken from my most played tracks (some of them fairly obscure, it must be said) from the iTunes library on the computer I use for writing:

Roy Budd – Get Carter
John Barry – Body Heat
John Barry – Midnight Cowboy
John Barry – The Persuaders
Chiara Civello – Trouble
Dave Koz – Don’t Give Up
Carly Simon – Coming Around Again
Carly Simon - Why
Shonagh Daly – The Woman in White
Matt Monro – On Days Like These
Joni Mitchell – Man from Mars
David Bowie – Life on Mars
Al Stewart – On the Border
Burt Bacharach – Please Explain
Burt Bacharach – The Sundance Kid
Dionne Warwick – Captives of the Heart
Aretha Franklin – Falling Out of Love
Chris Botti – The Last Three Minutes
Joana Zimmer – Hearts Don’t Lie
Ronald Isley – Love’s Still the Answer
Desmond Child – Obsession
Siedah Garrett – Everchanging Times

A good many of these tracks are wholly or mainly instrumental, often composed specifically for film or tv, and perhaps that’s why they suit me when writing.