Is it time to change the soundtrack at our Care Homes

I was asked to play some gigs in care homes in Scotland.

The lady who booked me asked if I played and sang “Care Home” music.

That got me thinking … what exactly is Care Home music these days?

You see, my father-in-law Drew is in a care home in Arbroath, on the East Coast of Scotland. His bedroom window looks out to the Bell Rock Lighthouse – built by Robert Stevenson between 1807 and 1810 – still standing resolutely against a constant battering of waves from the North Sea.

Drew is 81 and suffers from dementia.

Some days he’s fairly lucid. Other days he thinks he’s working for MI5 on assignment and has a licence to kill. You want to avoid him on those days. He’s like a slow moving, slow speaking, slow thinking, Sean Connery.

His favourite band though is Status Quo. Last time they toured Australia where he lived for a large portion of his life, Drew asked me to get tickets and go with him. He rocked his head back and forth as Francis Rossi (who is now 70 and still touring) and Rick Parfitt drained every last 12-bar blues sound out of their guitars at the Brisbane Convention Centre.

Rocking all over the World

Drew had his white t-shirt and white runners on as he shouted out the words to Down Down, Whatever You Want and Rockin’ All Over The World.

So “Care Home” Music for Drew would be me standing on stage with my Fender Telecaster, Vox Amplifier turned to 11, blasting out a Quo classic like Caroline.

Drew sits pretty much at the average age for people in Scotland in care homes.

There are more women (68 percent) in the homes than men. And women tend to like their music a little more mellow than Status Quo.

Just to put that age thing into perspective though, Charlie Watt from The Rolling Sones is 78. Rod Stewart is 74. Neil Diamond turns 79 this year. Tom Jones is 80 in June. Tina Turner turned 80 last year.

So it’s fair to think that if my set list has songs from this cohort then I should be on the money.

I sought Google’s help to see if there was a list of songs that people expected to hear.

The first one that popped up was You Are My Sunshine, a timeless song that was a hit for Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell in 1939. My Aunty Molly used to play it on the piano and sing it to me every time she baby sat me. Aunty Molly turned 95 the other day and is recovering from hip surgery.

Classic songs for classic people

Other songs suggested by Google included Somewhere Over the Rainbow (1939), Vera Lynn’s 1939 hit We’ll Meet Again, Amazing Grace (1779), She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain (1899) and What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor (1824).

All great songs, but I find it hard to imagine Tom Jones, Neil Diamond, Tina Turner and the 78-year-old Bob Dylan sitting around the campfire singing these tunes.

I avoided the temptation to include Status Quo in my playlist but added some comparatively thoroughly modern tunes with songs like Sweet Caroline, Wild Horses, Drift Away, Ain’t No Sunshine and Dock of the Bay.

I also stepped back to the 1950s with Elvis Presley’s Don’t Be Cruel, Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues, Dion’s Runaround Sue and a medley of Buddy Holly’s best including Oh Boy and Peggy Sue.

Here’s a thought though, in 10 years time the children of the AC/DC generation will be booking their head-banging parents into care homes. If you need proof, Brian Johnson, AC/DC’s lead singer, will be 82 in 10 years time.

I’m not sure AC/DC fans will be requesting soulful renditions of We’ll Meet Again. It might be time to start updating the “Care Home” playlists