Tag: newbies

London: Bright lights, Black cabs, Ab Fab and Free Love. Armed only with this optimistic vision and my Mum’s backpack (both c1968,) I stepped off the plane and into the abyss. Mind the gap indeed.
Looking not unlike the wide-eyed naif from the antipodes I in fact was, I strode jauntily through the streets of London singing the Beatles and seeking…I wasn’t sure what. But I was assured Big Cities Cater to All Tastes, and I guessed I’d know it when I saw it.
I hoped for something with a generous helping of Culture, lashings of Fun and a big dollop of Queer on the side. My demands were not so unusual. Certainly the less well-lit bystreets and alleyways of Soho have seen and satisfied far more particular appetites than mine. Still, I searched for weeks, to no avail. Continue reading “Mind the gap”

What will the people be like? What music will they do? Will they be good? Will I be good?” I think the phrase ‘bag of nerves’ about covers my first walk from the tube up to the slightly-imposing Royal Academy of Music. Luckily, a group of equally-jumpy individuals standing at the bottom of the stairs looking alternately at their feet and at each other showed that I was not alone. Our first rehearsal with the Pink Singers! Our shaky introductions were interrupted by a sudden influx of beaming Pinkies welcoming us & showing us up to the rehearsal room. Everyone was chatting, people of all ages & experiences, some just meeting and others having clearly known each other for years.
The warm-up cleared the dust off some of my vocal muscles, and reminded me why I love singing with others so much. Mladen the Musical Director got us all in line & we knocked through some of the pieces for the season. This was the reason I’d got interested in joining the Pinkies – the music. All the choirs in London since I moved here a couple of years ago seemed to be Latin-only, gospel-only or something else. With the Pinkies we were switching from Latin to jazz, French to pop, all over the course of a rehearsal! Continue reading “Beaming Pinkies”

Jukebox Saturday NIGHHHHT! Sorry, I can’t stop myself from singing the Pinkies songs! Actually, I cant stop singing in anyway… In fact, you can find me singing everywhere, from the stereotypical singing sessions in the shower – though I try to avoid it during the early hours as I don’t think my housemates would appreciate it! – to even singing while walking in the street. Yeah, if you see a handsome Mediterranean bloke singing, its me!
Back home I used to sing in all sorts of stuff, from fundraising choirs, to musicals, to bands, to weddings and even as a soloist. Hence I couldn’t imagine myself moving to London and not sing at all. I tried different activities including a local musical group and a church choir, but they were too boring for my liking. Continue reading “New Pinkie’s view – Andrew F”

From an early age I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. A Pinkie. For other girls their dream was to be Madonna or Kylie, but for me nothing less than singing with the Pink Singers would do.
I bided my time, dallying with other, lesser groups which provided some small distraction but was never fully satisfying. And then one day the call came and I was invited to join a rehearsal and do a voice test. In preparation I immediately embarked on a week long training regime which consisted of singing along to every song on my ipod, irrespective of whether or not it was in my key, and actually giving up the booze the night before. Finally the big day came and I walked into the rehearsal room at RAM. It was magical; all the pinkies lined up with their smiling faces and angelic voices. And when at one point we all hit the right note at the right time the hairs on my neck stood up and I realised this was where I belonged. Continue reading “New Pinkie’s view – Naomi”