Julio Iglesias: Begin the Beguine

This one takes me back to some of my earliest memories.

Iglesias' disco version of the Cole Porter classic was a massive international hit in 1981. At about that time, my Dad had moved us out to Nigeria to spend a few years as expatriates. I was a little over one year old at the time.

We were based out in Enugu, erstwhile capital of Anambra State. Apparently we lived in several houses over the few years of our African adventure, but only one sticks in my mind. I forget exactly where it was.

One of my most vivid memories is of being take around Ogbete market in Enugu. I remember it as a vast, swirling mass of humanity, assaulting my toddler senses from all angles. My Mum and I would occasionally be given free stuff by the traders, such is the hospitality and generosity of the Nigerians. I remember one time being led through the market, munching happily on a paper cone filled with peanuts; I cannot have been more than two years old.

I also remember sitting out in the front porch one afternoon - with my Richard Scarry book - and being scared witless by a group of local children running around the corner and shouting their heads off.

My parents had a Julio Iglesias cassette; Begin the Beguine is the only song that sticks in my memory. Apparently, at the time I was also in to Don Williams and Neil Diamond, as well as being a fan of the Kenny Everett Show on Radio 2 which we would tape on our brief visits to the UK.

Still, it hasn't done me any harm .

Has it?