Thank you Jo, for this lovely invitation.
(So tough though, making the choices!)
When I was six, we went to live in a tiny Victorian railway terrace, with gas lighting (these be ancient times!) and one dark, dripping, cobwebby outside loo, half-way down the garden.
Ooh, the absolute horror of racing out and back in your Winceyette nightie in the dark, before the baddies lurking out there could leap out and grab you!
That was when I started to love the Westerns on our tiny black-and-white TV – that contrast of big sky and open, empty land, stretching out to the horizon. (It probably spawned the idea for my first book, too!)
Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell still sums up that wide-plains feeling for me.
At eighteen, I started my two-year photographic course in London.The girls I flat-shared with had just spent the summer in America and brought back two LPs by someone I’d never heard of before. To my ignorant ears, his voice sounded a bit like a dog with it’s back leg caught in barbed wire.
(Me:‘Ha, that’ll never catch on!!’)
It was my first introduction to Bob Dylan and later, ‘Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright’
In my twenties, a boyfriend from home introduced me to jazz and Ronnie Scott’s club in London. The atmosphere was always electric and over the years, I saw some wonderful musicians play there.
Telephone Song from Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto brings back the absolute thrill of those early visits.
When our eldest son graduated, he decided to go to San Francisco for further study. The other side of the world! I couldn’t imagine when we’d next be able to see him. Those introductory strains of Tony Bennett and I Left My Heart in San Francisco, always made me boo-hoo, (and sometimes still do!)
During the fabulous 1960s, I worked in London – a time when absolutely anything seemed possible! The style and fashion, the music and buzz of that time all feature in my new WIP.
Aretha Franklin’s – Say A Little Prayer sums up the joy of it all for me.
(I met someone recently who’d saved every single one of the clothes she’d ever bought from Biba! Why didn’t I do that?!)
Biography
An only child, June Kearns was always a daydreamer who spent a lot of time staring into 
space and making things up.
She was brought up by women – grandma, mother, aunts – and it was their influence that made her want to write.
June started seriously after leaving teaching, and winning a national magazine competition for the first chapter of an historical novel.
A founder member of the indie publishing group, The New Romantics Press, she’s published two novels – An Englishwoman’s Guide to the Cowboy and The 20’s Girl – and currently, in a warm corner next to the airing cupboard, is working on a third, set in 1960’s London.
A member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, she lives in Leicestershire, with husband and family.
Website: http://www.junekearns.com
Twitter: @june_kearns
Instagram: junekearns
Facebook: June Kearns
An Englishwoman’s Guide to the Cowboy http://viewbook.at/B009XRRU2M
The Twenties Girl http://viewbook.at/20sgirlkindle
JO LAMBERT 
Thank you, Jo!!
I really enjoyed taking part in this. It brought back so many memories!
Oh June, you’re choices are just fabulous. Adore the Glen Campbell song, it’s heartbreaking and Tony Bennett was totally idolised by my dad, Harry so I know every word of San Francisco … and then Aretha … well, just a goddess not unlike yourself. Brilliant! What a fab series, Jo – thank you. X
I love Aretha too. Jazz – not so much.
Love Linesman too! I’m really enjoying this blog feature, brings back so many memories. Thank you, Jo.
Great choice, June! Tony Bennett and Aretha Franklin are among my all time favourites đŸ™‚ The only mention of Ronnie Scott’s brings back so many memories for me, too! (I never managed to get there, but it reminds me of one of my favourite radio shows when I was in my 20s).
Thank you, Isabella! So glad that you enjoyed the selection. (I’d love to hear your choices!!)
Morning all – June, I adore Lineman for the County. (So much more romantic than saying I work for British Rail!) It always makes me cry, especially: I need you more than want you, though I’ll want you for all time. Dylan – natch. Great choices and memories – rock on!
Lizzie, you introduced me to Jo’s blog – and as with so many other things, you spotted a real winner!!
Thanks to you both!!
(We’ll have to talk about jazz!)
Thank you June, I had no idea when I started this it would result in such a positive response and deliver some amazing choices. The whole idea came about after watching a documentary on Genesis one Saturday evening on BBC4. Phil Collins commented that the band had been around so long that most people would have at least one of their tracks on their Life Playlist – and so the feature was born! Once again many thanks for coming along and making such a wonderful contribution, Jo x
Ah, thank you, Adrienne!! So glad you enjoyed the tracks. Tough though, trying to choose! There have been some absolute classics in Jo’s posts.
June, this is such a lovely post and conjures up so many images. My dad’s a huge Glen Campbell fan and we listened to his songs a lot growing up. Still do! And Tony Bennett – what a voice! Love all your stories behind the song choices. Great post, June & Jo Xxx
Ah, thank you Jan. Glad you enjoyed the music. It’s been great taking part. (All credit to Jo for a cracking idea!)
Loved this, June. So many of the songs you chose were, or could have been contenders for my own playlist. Tony Bennett has definitely always been my favourite of the so-called crooners. There was truth in his voice. Sinatra was always too much of an actor. XX
Glad that you enjoyed, Gilli! I’ve loved all of Jo’s posts here. (Love your last two comments re Sinatra & Tony Bennet. Fabulous!!)
Great songs.