1986: Bruce Hornsby. Who?

Annie and I had gone off the rails, suddenly, and big time. Our holiday was off, but I had the sense that I should get away as far as possible to clear my head. But where, on my own? Somewhere deep inside my memory banks I remembered that I loved trains, especially European trains, and that I was curious about the Europe beyond the Iron Curtain. Hungary at least looked safe, and I already felt confident about Yugoslavia. So that was it, a grand rail trip : Vienna-Budapest-Siofok-Hvar-home.

And just at that moment the radio started playing somebody I'd never heard of, someone who played a piano to sooth a raging soul, to conjure up sunny days. I didn't know anything about Bruce Hornsby, but The Way It Is was great, and I sought out the album, and was hooked. He came with me as I went through the Curtain. And he has stayed with me ever since. The single longest, most consistent musical love of my life; I had to wait 33 years to see him live, and when it finally happened it was another iconic night, in Berlin.