And you thought Mr. Holland’s Opus was a tear-jerker (don’t worry, we won’t tell). Jo Milne, a 40-year-old British woman who has been deaf since birth, is finally able to hear thanks to cochlear implants, and you can watch her incredibly emotional first listening experience above, via Gawker. Although not captured in the video, the first music Milne heard was John Lennon’s “Imagine,” which must’ve been quite a moment.
Awesomely, BBC6 Music’s Memory Tapes has compiled “An Introduction to Music” playlist for Milne, which is loaded with plenty of music SPIN loves. Check it out below. “The switch-on was the most emotional and overwhelming experience of my life and I’m still in shock now,” Milne told the Newcastle, U.K. Journal. “The first day everybody sounded robotic and I have to learn to recognize what these sounds are as I build a sound library in my brain.”
Given that the rare genetic disorder she suffered from was called Usher syndrome, all we’d add to her recommended listenings for now is the R&B smoothie’s pressure-bottling “Climax.”
BBC6 Music’s “An Introduction to Music” track list:
Ken Boothe – “Everything I Own”
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – “She’s the One” – Live at Hammersmith Odeon
Paul McCartney – “Silly Love Songs”
Joni Mitchell – “Black Crow”
Steely Dan – “Peg”
Electric Light Orchestra – “Mr. Blue Sky”
Gary Numan – “Are ‘friends’ Electric?”
The Specials – “Do Nothing”
Soft Cell – “Tainted Love”
The Jam – “Town Called Malice”
Eurythmics – “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”
Prince – “When Doves Cry”
Kate Bush – “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”
The Smiths – “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others”
Fleetwood Mac – “Big Love” – Live (Lindsey Buckingham solo acoustic version)
Tracy Chapman – “Fast Car”
The The – “August & September”
Deee-Lite – “Groove Is In The Heart”
Ozric Tentacles – “Sploosh!”
INXS – “Baby Don’t Cry”
Nirvana – “All Apologies”
Richard Thompson – “King Of Bohemia”
Pulp – “Common People” – Full Length Version / Album Version
Everything But The Girl – “Missing”
Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
Massive Attack – “Teardrop”
Jimmy Eat World – “For Me This Is Heaven”
The Avalanches – “Frontier Psychiatrist”
Daft Punk – “Digital Love”
The Streets – “Turn The Page”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Maps”
Beastie Boys – “An Open Letter To NYC”
Nine Inch Nails – “The Hand That Feeds”
Arctic Monkeys – “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor”
Radiohead – “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”
Elbow – “One Day Like This”
Maximo Park – “Tanned”
Gruff Rhys – “Shark Ridden Waters”
The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
Bat For Lashes – “Laura”
Haim – “Don’t Save Me”
