Music Was My First Love, And It'll Be My Last
If I could start my life again, I'd make the young me continue with piano and guitar lessons. I might even make me stick with the violin. It's not just because I revere music makers. When I was nine years old, watching the walls close in around me as a violin teacher grimaced at the aural wrangling, I didn't know I'd enhance my cognitive firepower if I practised more. Music can train the brain for higher-level, more abstract thinking. Learning to play music and understand the patterns it generates assists us with problem-solving and being able to infer and conclude, synthesise ideas and evaluate intricate pieces of information. For God's sake, if I'd have known that then, I might have been smart enough to avoid a career in politics.
I still shudder thinking about my last few, brutal years in political life. By the end of it, about the only activity that wasn't partisan was the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Music, which brought MPs from all parties together with shared love. There are things I still wish I'd done. I wish I'd taken up Tory MP Greg Knight's offer of drumming lessons whilst I had the chance, for example.
I've mentioned before that after standing down from Parliament, I set two rules: Remain an instrument for good and only work with positive people. It's the reason why I applied to be the part-time Chair of UK Music, to put the experience of thirty years in full-time politics at the disposal of the creators, technicians, performers and promoters who make our country's music so deeply rich.
I could weep when I see the hardship caused by the comprehensive collapse of live music this year. It’s a big issue for the UK. Not only does our music industry open doors in every country in the world, it’s a net contributor to the Treasury, helping to pay for our schools and hospitals. Next year it’s our job to make the case to ministers that enhanced support for the music industry is in the national interest.
And when you think about all that division in Parliament and our country, isn't it incredible that it was music that brought us all together in a common purpose? Or maybe it isn't so surprising. It was the historian Arthur M Schlesinger who told us that nations would be judged "not by its economic power nor by its military might….but by its character and achievement as a civilisation…..Monuments fall, civilisations perish, but artistic creations survive. One cannot study a nation without studying the music, art, literature of that nation. It is through the arts that we understand and appreciate both the individual and the culture." Well said, Arthur. I agree.
Horace Panter aka Sir Horace Gentleman
Music dominated my adolescence, and it has nourished me through good times and bad. And the band that gave my teenage life meaning, that politicised me; changed me, was the Specials. We worshipped them. Next year it will be forty years since their most famous song Ghost Town came out. Here's what I said about it on its 30th anniversary.
I was struck by Horace’s recollections of dealing with Nazis at gigs. Racism in youth culture was rife for my generation.
This is the kind of shit we were exposed to when I was a teenager. Nazi propaganda for alienated youth.
I was deeply honoured to speak with Horace during the last lockdown about his experiences as the bass player with one of the most influential bands of the last century.
Listen to Persons of Interest
Reading
Here's some of the books relating to music I've dipped into this year:
Bass Culture, Lloyd Bradley
"It was always a downtown thing, only among a certain sort of people. But more than just hearing the music, the equipment was so powerful and the vibe so strong that we feel it. Like when we were dancing you were actually part of it. It was ours, and so many of us wanted to do something to contribute to it" - Derrick Harriot
Phil Taggart's Slacker Guide to the Music Industry
"…designed to help every single person who lives and breathes music."
The Great British Dream Factory, Dominic Sandbrook.
"One Friday afternoon in 1965, Tony Iommi chopped off his fingers."
The Stone Roses, john Robb
“The Stone Roses have become folk heroes, frozen in time. And their story, with roots in punk through post-punk, scooter boys, skinheads, Northern Soul, psychedelia, acid house and Manchester, is everything that is great about British street culture.”
Overdue Reads I'm planning for Christmas:
Daughters of the night by Laura Shepherd Robinson
I'm lucky enough to have an early copy before a delayed publication in January. I've started it already, and it feels like a page-turner.
Ernie Bevin: Labour's Churchill, Andrew Adonis
Ernie Bevin is one of the most influential architects of the global reconstruction after World War Two. When you think of his background (very poor), his industrial lineage (he was arguably the founder of the entity that is Unite the Union today) and his achievements (NATO for one) you realise what an exceptional character he was. When I look at him and then turn to the current leadership of my union; but these thoughts are probably for another time, if ever.
Music
We will always love you, The Avalanches. It holds your attention. And I need that at the moment.
PoP Club Now Has A Logo
I think we've settled on calling ourself Persons of Positivity. After a statistically accurate poll of our members, we've decided on this logo. If you are a person of positivity, who wants to join a group of mutually supportive people trying to live healthy and fulfilling lives, then join us!
David Ward, Me & Alex Ward
Remembering Alex
Alex Ward was a road safety campaigner and Labour councillor. He died of Motor Neurone Disease. I'm friends with Alex's parents, David and Emma, who worked for the Labour party when John Smith was our leader.
To honour Alex's short but impactful life, David, Emma and his widow Elizabeth are dedicating themselves to supporting vital research. Their funding target is £250,000 for the King’s MND centre pre-trial research on two gene mutations called SOD 1 and FUS. They also set up a twitter channel: @alexwardfund
If you can cope with watching me speak for four and a bit minutes, here is my first speech in the House of Lords. I hoped to describe Wyre Forest and big up Bewdley Civic Society, but debate time was cut. I’ll find another opportunity to do this in the new year.