As is so often the case for me, it's all about the melodies. Neil Diamond has always been there: my parents listened to him a lot, and so many of the hits are patterned into my earliest memories ("Sweet Caroline", "Shilo", "Holly Holy", "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show", etc, etc); a bit later, "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" became lodged similarly inextricably thanks to the perfect use of Urge Overkill's version of it in Pulp Fiction; and many of the others on this compilation turn out to be so familiar as almost to have come out the other side. As I said, it's all about the melodies.
With the Corrs, it began with "Runaway". I heard it early one morning, and it carried me away; following that, Forgiven, Not Forgotten was one of the first handful of albums than I owned (it must have been one of the first 20 or so). I haven't really followed their career since, but a smattering of radio singles have penetrated and, you know, there's still something there. We don't shake these early experiences off easily; nor, after all, would we want to.
