We were watching Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice last night. She is an incredibly great singer in so many genres. The number of connections she has with other great artists is phenomenal, and suddenly I was connected back to my very first day in Oxford.
My school organized a trip to Oxford for the students it was trying to encourage to try for a place there. I don’t remember too much about that day. The drive from Sidcup to Oxford in a mini-bus was tedious. The only thing I really remember about the day was that we went to Wadham College and a few of us had coffee in the room of the JCR President. He was playing The Greatest Hits album of The Eagles. It was the first time I’d heard them, and I was captivated. I’ve been an Eagles fan ever since, and it probably sold Oxford to me too.
As a writer of historical crime fiction, I’m always finding and making connections. Detectives find clues and try to make connections between the clues. Crime writers develop themes and connections, and plant clues to lead readers to the connections. At this point you may be wondering what the connection is between my first day in Oxford and Linda Ronstadt. Well, as I discovered last night on BBC Two, the Eagles were originally Linda Ronstadt’s backing band. The Eagles four founding members: Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner, came together on Linda Ronstadt’s 1971 tour. They realised how good they sounded together and decided to leave the tour and form their own band.
Oxford connections may make you think of the Bullingdon Club, David Cameron and Boris Johnson, but for me its about the friends I made there, my college, Saint Edmund Hall, and Linda Ronstadt’s backing band, the Eagles.