Hello, I'm Kirstie Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For Wright's reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1982, and the presenter was Roy Plumley. This week are cast away as the writer Julian Simmons.

Julian, how much does music mean to you?

Music in theory means a good deal to me.

In practice, I have to say that I'm almost tone deaf.

Did you never learn an instrument or start to learn an instrument?

Yes, I was what might be called put to learn the piano by my mother, who was intent that one of her sons at least should be able to play

the piano or the violin or something.

I learned the piano for seven years, detested it I'm afraid throughout, and now I will be difficult for

me to find Middle Sea. This doesn't mean that I'm very happy about being unmusical,

and it doesn't mean I suppose that I'm totally

unmusical. There are certain songs that I like that I enjoy. They're mostly songs which

carry with them a reminiscence for me of some particular occasion, some particular place.

Where do we start? What's your first record?

We start with a record called Yes, we have no bananas and the reminiscence it carries for me is of my childhood

1921. We moved down to Brighton. My father bought a small hotel in Brighton and ran it.

And I recall very clearly when I hear, yes, we have no bananas, my sister who was a very pretty girl who used to sing it.

My mother standing on the steps of the hotel with an absolutely atrocious little pecanies dog

called Chang in her arms and me a small child riding around Brighton on a scooter

around Pool Valley around by the Palace Pier a scooter that I was very proud of indeed.

So yes, we have no bananas.

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