At home, we’d always have music on, and my taste now has greatly been influenced by my dad’s music, which is a mix of 80s with elements of pop-punk and all-around upbeat songs.
However, my earliest memories around music are definitely to do with musicals, especially the Disney Channel Originals.
My dad being the person to introduce my younger sister and me to these.
My memory isn’t the best and is foggy so I will be looking back on a couple of small memories I have from around this time.
One of the first memories was of a High School Musical 2 toy, It was a small, grey, plastic phone filled with a selection of the songs from the film.
The songs themselves were separate from the ‘phone’, each song was on a clear piece of plastic that had the character who sang the song on, the easiest way to remember what song each piece of plastic played.
As this was only a kid’s toy, it wasn’t full tracks only snippets of certain songs.
I vividly remember traveling down to Newport on the bus and sticking in my earphones and listening to ‘Bet on it’ on repeat for the 30-minute journey.
Unfortunately, little me was heartbroken when I dropped it in the bathtub and it broke, to this day I miss that little piece of plastic.
The second memory is a short one however I doubt I’ll ever be able to forget this one as it was recorded on my mum’s phone.
My younger sister and I shared a room which meant that I had access to her cd player and cd collection.
One of my personal favourites to borrow was the Camp Rock 2 soundtrack.
Facing the window, I would perform the song, with the correct choreography, to the ‘audience’, the teddies that were on the window sill and outside.
I can see the one specific time vividly, I was dancing and singing along to ‘Brand new day’ from the soundtrack and my entire room was a mess.
As I was facing the window,my back was to the door and I didn’t realize my mum had come in and recorded the whole thing.
I was so embarrassed but to this day I dance around my university room and dance and sing to musicals.
Since then my love for musicals has grown and even sparked my interest in Drama, later taking it for GCSEs.
These kid movies hold a special place in my heart and whenever I go back to re-watch them or listen to the soundtracks, I’m left with a feeling of nostalgia and they always manage to brighten my day.
Katherine Witts