There is however, a type of music that I would be devastated to see excluded from their repetoires. That is Disney Songs.
As a child I was given the Reader's Digest Box Set of Disney LP's. Each of the six discs had a full coloured cardboard sleeve which showed a scene from a Disney film. I vividly recall studying the covers depicting Lady and the Tramp, Mickey Mouse as The Sorceror's Apprentice and The Jungle Book. The tactile glory of a 12" album cover has never been replicated by a CD box.
My stereo was one of those portable record players in a box. It had a blue lid and a cream base and I thought it was utterly precious...my prize possession!
The songs on the albums were originals from the films. My particular favourites were "Ugly Bug Ball" and "Everybody wants to be a Cat". I made up dances to both songs...literal interpretations of the lyrics with dramatic mime-esque movements. My bedroom was tiny and the space was so limited, I used to whack my hand against the wardrobe or the bunk bed. But in my mind I was performing on the West End.
The Rescuers song "Someone's Waiting for You" didn't have a dance. Instead I sang it with intensity and sincerity whilst gazing wistfully out across my bedroom floor. These were my special moments in our over-crowded childhood home. My escape.
My love of Disney songs has never diminished. My niece sang "Beauty and the Beast" at my wedding during the wedding speeches, which was a beautiful moment. (I just hope I wasn't the beast in her mind!)
Pixar films are wonderful and I love the Randy Newman soundtrack to the Toy Story films, but the classic songs remain unbeatable. I hope the wonders of "The Bare Necessities", "Baby Mine" and "Be Our Guest" live on in our family for generations to come. I still have my box set and my husband converted it into MP3's on my laptop, but it's just not quite the same as playing them on my precious crackly little box.
