A Year in Music – 2019 – John Caddell (Today FM)
by Killian Laher

Let’s begin with 2019.  What music/albums have you enjoyed most this year?

My favourite album this year has been Robbie Robertson’s ‘Sinematic’, his first studio album in 8 years.  Also, The Specials’ new album ‘Encore’ was far better than I expected, and like most people, I was blown away by Billie Eilish’s debut ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’

Do you think this decade has been good for music?  What are your highlights?

The major shift in this decade I guess has been the move from physical to digital music.  While this shift has democratised who has access to music, which is, of course, a great thing, I think people may not feel as connected to music as much as they did when you actually ‘owned’ a song/album.  The whole concept of going out and buying the physical object has largely disappeared. I think music is seen as more throwaway, and it’s not at the centre of our culture the way it used to be.

Is streaming taking over from owning music completely?

I think for certain age groups, the idea of having a clunky disc, or a 12” x 12” piece of plastic is largely undesirable, but there’ll always be people like me who’ll want to own their favourite music.

Anything really big for you musically that ten years ago, you had no interest in?

I’m finally starting to appreciate Classical Music.  When I was younger I just thought it was ‘uncool’ or whatever, but there’s only so long you can deny that Mozart kicked ass.

Is music as important for you as it was ten years ago?

Even more important.  In the last few years I’ve become really interested in learning about the personalities behind the songs, and the stories behind the records.  All I ever read is music magazines and music biographies, so I’m always feeding my head.  I don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for music.

How are things yourself, have you any interesting projects going on?

Well, I’m always busy working at Today FM, and I still love doing the music slot on Matt Cooper’s The Last Word show every Tuesday.  Added to that, I ‘assist’ @musicprickdad with his Twitter profile, which is always good fun.