SEDA Inheritance Tracks
Last night’s amazing SEDA Shownight on 19th November 2017 continued the ‘My Inheritance Tracks’ feature, and this time it was Theo Loyla’s Inheritance Tracks. This is a spotlight on SEDA Members musical influences designed to give an insight into their musical story. I hope you enjoy this feature, and look forward to many more.
Theo Loyla’s Inheritance Tracks
Theo Loyla is SEDA’s Honorary President. Everything in Theo’s life is to do with music, when he grew up there was a lot of music playing all the time at home, and he has been lucky enough to make a living from music. So I thought we should ask him about his inheritance tracks. These were presented at the Shownight on 19th November 2017 at the Village Hotel to a packed room:
The week Theo was born, his dad, an avid music fan, bought a 78 rpm record which was no1 at the time.
Theresa Brewer – Music music music
Growing up, jukeboxes arrived on the scene, and Theo recalls the first record he selected, this cost him a sixpence.
Lonnie Donnegan – The Battle of New Orleans
As a reward for when he passed his 11 plus exams, Theo’s dad got him a Dansette record player (Think of it a primitive SL1200 with built in amp and speaker, covered in wallpaper!). The first record he bought which he still loves to this day is the 1961 hit from the Piltdown Men:
Piltdown Men – Piltdown Rides Again
As dad loved the big bands, and Greshwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was a firm favourite in the house. As Theo started DJing in clubs in 1967, and as his career took off, jazz funk exploded on the club scene. Brazilian pianist Eumir Deodato released his version of this track:
Eumir Deodato – Rhapsody In Blue
In 1996, Theo discovered country music as he took up line dancing. This is now how Theo makes a living as Line Dance instructor, working 3 nights a week. A million people line dance all over the world avery week, and this has a line dance chart. This incredible track from Australian star Aaron Goodvin has been at the top of the chart for the last 5 or 6 months, and Theo and his lovely wife Jan even gave us an impromptu dance demo:
Aaron Goodvin – Lonely Drum
Theo has been in the industry all his life, working with many top acts in fabulous places. But he has one big disappointment. In 1985, Bandaid was launched and raised millions of pounds for charity. Having seen this, Bristol based John Stallard got in touch with Theo with an idea to do something similar with the disco industry. So, in 1986, Disco aid was formed, and made a fab record with Theo’s friend Steve Walsh, Paul Hardcastle, Tina Charles, and Edwin Starr on vocals, amongst others and even Lenny Henry featured in the video. This record scraped into the charts, raising thousands of pounds. Theo regrets it wasn’t a No1 hit, but it was one of his proudest moments.
Dance Aid – Give give give
I really hope you enjoyed Theo Loyla’s Inheritance Tracks. I would love to feature YOUR SEDA Inheritance Tracks, so please get in touch with me to get the ball rolling. All you need to do is think of about five or six tracks which have had a major impact on you, some which you have inherited, and some which you would like to pass on.
Cheers,
Brian
