I have terrible taste in music in England. You can ask my friend Chris, who I am sure struggled to get past my response to “Who’s your favourite band?” when we first met (to be fair we were nearly 30 and I resented the judgy nature of the question). I am a complete disappointment in cool music, stroky beard debates. I decided long ago that I don’t care, that I won’t be judged for my poor taste. I love 1980s music – as long as it’s something that I’ve danced to at a wedding or in a working man’s club, then I’m happy. It’s the soundtrack of my youth. And yes I was very young in the early 80s, but the music stayed with me.

The same could also be said for Italy where at times the music of the 1980s feels almost contemporary.  So here in Rome, my musical tastes are completely attuned. “Of all the strange predictions people had made about our life in Italy, ‘You will listen to an awful lot of Culture Club’ was never among them.” says Cathy Rogers in the Dolce Vita Diaries.

Recent music heard in Rome includes:

The great Spandau Ballet Piramide train station

Terence Trent D’Arby Otium Club Garbatella

Jonny Hates Jazz  All over the radio every single morning. I can’t remember the word for boy band in Italian but I can remember every single word of this song…

It makes me very happy.

I’d love to hear your favourite 80s tunes heard in Italy or elsewhere.