Family members: Marc Stanford

Balearic Breakfast allows many music aficionados to meet every Tuesday to enjoy Colleen's selections. This time around, I had a lovely chinwag with Marc Stanford!

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1) Hi Marc! Thank you so much for joining us on the blog! It's a pleasure! Let's start this 'Proust Musical Questionnaire'! What was the first album you listened to that got you hooked up on music?

Bonjour Artur, It’s an honour to be here and thank you for asking me. Music of all different genres was always being played at home. The original motion picture soundtrack of the film “Oliver!” could have been the first album I listened to aged 5. It figured so much in my musical upbringing that when my mum asked me if I wanted to audition as Oliver for a local production, I jumped at the chance. I didn’t get the part of Oliver, they decided I would make a great Artful Dodger. 😂

There was a huge influence from Julie and Terry my older siblings. Julie playing Motown mostly and I remember she loved Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On. While Terry always had a much more eclectic taste which led to me being exposed to the following albums which I remember vividly:

1. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (discogs)

2. An Evening With Wild Man Fischer (discogs)

3. Moondog (discogs)

4. Ummagumma (discogs)

5. In Search Of Space (discogs)

6. Tarkus (discogs)

2) The best live show you've been to?

How do you define best? 🤣 I couldn’t begin to rate all the concerts I’ve been to, it would seem unfair as they all have special memories. Which ones stand out the most and why? Can I answer that self-posed question instead?😊

1. Blue Öyster Cult - my first big live show.

2. Stevie Wonder - Second-row seats

3. Rush - because Neil Peart was my drumming hero

4. Prince - because, well, it’s Prince

5. James Taylor Quartet - when James Taylor looked directly at me singing at the top of my voice during “Tore My Heart Out”. Yes, it was a good look. 🎤 🎶😄

6. Ancient Infinity Orchestra - because Colleen introduced them to me and I did some promo photography for them when they played in Brick Lane last year.

3) How do you listen to music? Are you an audiophile?

I suppose I have purchased separates in the past. Dunlop Systemdek, Nakamichi Tape Deck, Cambridge Audio amplifier etc. I’m unsure if my current set up qualifies? I have 2 SL1210s, a CMX 3000 dual CD player and a DJM 600 outputting from the monitor circuit into a pair of active speakers. Space doesn’t allow for much more 😂

All of my digital content is saved to two external hard drives for redundancy and I listen to that through Sony MDR-1000X headphones or Shure SE535 wired in-ear phones.

4) What kinds of music don't you like, like at all?

I will give anything a listen, once at least. I suppose I don’t really like current popular music very much. I believe that’s down to my ears detesting the amount of autotune being used with that awful metallic filter making most vocals sound the same. As an example, I looked at the top 100 singles on a couple of sites and gave the first 20 a listen. Stopped to listen to the whole of Eminem - Houdini, because Abracadabra. The rest lasted less than 20 seconds before skipping!

5) From the Balearic Realm, which record would you recommend?

Afterlife's "Simplicity Two Thousand" was the soundtrack to my honeymoon in the Maldives and still holds a very special place in my mind and heart even though I am now divorced. I love the way the sound on that album sums up doing nothing on a tropical island and then gets super funky when the remixes come in.

6) Do you listen back to previous Balearic Breakfast episodes? Do you have any favourites?

Since dumping Spotify, Balearic Breakfast is my, go to, new music algorithm. I always have at least 10 shows downloaded on my phone to play whenever and wherever I want. My favourite is probably the November 7th 2023 show. Colleen introduced us all to Ancient Infinity Orchestra which blew me away.

7) What does this sentence evoke to you: 'And remember, just be Balearic"?

Positivity toward life and empathy toward each other.

8) How did you discover Colleen? Did you see her performing live or maybe at a CAS event?

I couldn’t honestly say exactly when it was. I believe I happened upon the show via Facebook “you might like” because I follow François K it was only recently, really. One of the happiest accidents I’ve had to be honest!

And, while I think of it, I recall I was scrolling through my Mixcloud feed and remembered that I used to listen to Worldwide FM and I believe I either heard a mix by Colleen or looked at a track listing of one of her shows followed her for a while and became a subscriber so I could have the most amazing collection of songs I have both heard and never heard before permanently 😊

9) A fun/happy moment you experienced while listening to Balearic Breakfast?

The November 7th show mentioned above was special because at the time I listened to that show, I was in a very chic apartment on Avenue de la Bourdonnais in Paris, very near the Eiffel Tower, as you know, drinking wine and looking at the photographs I’d taken around the surrounding streets thinking how lucky am I to be here, listening to this right now. That and the fact Colleen played my request for Mink & Shoes by Psychemagik 😁

10) Why do you think Colleen is unique?

Colleen’s pure dedication to sonic fidelity in everything she does makes her unique. That and her warmth and approachability. When we met in person for the first time, it was like meeting up with a long time friend. 🥰

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1. The please refrain from dancing picture was taken after I had been reprimanded for dancing while listening to Alexander O’Neal in Boisdale in London.

2. The B&W photo is of my son Max and me at the Night Tales Loft for the release party of Balearic Breakfast 3.

3. The last one was taken by my friend and professional photographer Britt Willoughby while I was taking photos of her for her website.