Lib Dem Susan Murray: I used to be referred to as a wild child

A dietician by trade, the MP for Mid Dunbartonshire knows a tasty tune when she hears it. But, ever the Lib Dem, she’s not about to hurt Kylie Minogue’s feelings

What was the first record you ever bought?
Abbey Road by The Beatles. Because my brother was two years older than me and was very keen on buying vinyl, I didn’t have to buy my own until I was in first year of high school. I would borrow his, and he was furious because I took a pile of singles up to the local community centre and they got ‘borrowed’ and he never got them back.

I don’t remember The Beatles breaking up, but I do remember John Lennon being assassinated. To have him die a violent death was just terrible. 

What music do you associate with your childhood?
We didn’t have a lot of music on in the house, because my parents had a record player but it was in the front room, which was kept for visitors, and they didn’t play it. They had the Reader’s Digest collection of Gilbert & Sullivan and the Hallelujah Chorus by Handel, but it wasn’t on in the background and my mum wasn’t dancing in the kitchen. I was sent out to play the piano but wasn’t diligent. I could sight read by the end of it, but I couldn’t play a recognisable tune. 

Which song will get you up on the dancefloor?
Probably Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits. Mark Knopfler is just brilliant. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da by The Beatles was one that was played at the primary school disco. I remember feeling quite grown up because this was a pop song and we were dancing to it.

I did a lot of aerobics, which was to music. I worked for Johnson & Johnson in Edinburgh and they had a studio on the premises, so you could go downstairs at 5pm and do the classes. Everybody was so proud to work for them, and they instilled a feeling of wellbeing in the community. It was a good grounding for me in how to approach business.

What music reminds you of university?
I was always in shared accommodation, and it was like living in a jukebox. My flatmates would listen to things like Bob Marley and lots of eclectic stuff. 

I went to the University of Aberdeen for one year. I was having far too much fun. I then temped for various companies just as the oil industry was developing and had a fly-on-the-wall view of that before going back to study dietetics. 

Now I just love Spotify because when I hear a song on TV I haven’t heard for ages, I go on there and like it and start to get all sorts of mixes that remind me of people and places. I like music from the 70s onwards, but no one particular genre.

Do you have a karaoke song?
I’ve never had one. I haven’t ever done it, I think, and I don’t think I’d ever do it now because I’d never be drunk enough. The music I like now is a lot of baroque and meditative types – things like Goldberg Variations by Bach. I listen to it while walking or travelling or walking the dog. I need to learn to relax and that music helps me get into that place. 

I was introduced to Baroque through the Campsie Baroque Players at Milton of Campsie Village Hall. A lot of the live music I see is at local community halls.

What was the first dance at your wedding?
I can’t remember, and when I asked my husband he said, ‘it was 40 years ago, how are we supposed to remember that?’ You can tell we’re so romantic.

My mother was dying of breast cancer when I got married, and it was very much her event. She was from Yorkshire and we had family coming up, and it was really the last time she was with her family. She was a primary teacher and the one song she really wanted played was Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep by Middle of the Road, and I did not want that song. She had to wait until we left and then it went straight on. 

She was a lovely person and just didn’t have a malicious thought in her head. 

Which song do you hate hearing?
I was never a teenybopper, so a lot of Bay City Rollers-type stuff. But the song I really hate is Can’t Get You Out of My Head by Kylie Minogue. It’s dreadful. I’d turn the radio down if it came on – down but not off, because I appreciate that everyone has a different point of view. I’m just in a very moderate place as I get older. And I used to be referred to as a wild child. 

What song really matters to you?
Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel. For a period of my life, it was really, really hard. My husband had a brain haemorrhage, it wasn’t the kind you were going to fully recover from, and I had to stop working and it was very difficult for the family. People came round, my friends came round, the council helped, all to support us. That song reminds me that there is always help out there, and part of my role as an MP is to make sure we signpost and get help for people.