Every time I let the current Mrs Legg near the music she puts on The Lighthouse Family. To paraphrase Billy Connelly - never trust a band who's name rhymes with toilet.

doesn't rhyme with 'toilet' surely?

has a playlist on her I-Pod of Italian pop from the '80s. It is scary stuff... very scary indeed.

Alison Krauss and the like, mostly pretty great stuff. She does have a couple of Abba albums though and was first in the queue for Mamma Mia when it came out.

has currently got Tom Baxter in the car. Now I yield to no one in my admiration of young Mr B but the GLW is inclined to play one cd to death and then put it away for months. (see Amy MacDonald)

Just wish she would rotate her choices a bit more.

Probably Radio Four. I will say this. If I met a previously unknown family and was called upon to choose which member of them I would prefer to choose the music, it would be MRS GLW every single time.

Men, as a sex, use music to position themselves. Teenage boys use music to annoy everyone else. Teenage girls tend to go for sappy things. Whereas women, particularly women who have learned that there are more important things in life, such as childbirth, tend to choose music which is primarily pleasant to listen to.

I'll take that every time.

...listens to Radio 2 in the car a lot. That means that she's far more aware of things than I am; also I like it when she comes in from a 2 or 3 hour journey and says that she heard something that I'll like. Through the magic of the internet, within a minute we have found said song, even if she didn't know what it was called. Of course, then there are the times that she listens to The Fray. But you can't have everything.

always asks me if whatever I'm about to play her is 'better than silence'. I must admit that it very rarely is.

...currently has “Ultimate Disco Party” on in the car, a triple CD collection of 70s disco greats that “leapt off the shelf” at Tescos, with all the usual suspects and several forgotten gems - fantastic stuff, although it’s about the 6th similarly themed compilation that she’s got.

Also in her car are Orson’s first album, everything by Michael Buble, Carpenters Gold and the recent Take That album, all of which I’m now more familiar with than I ever thought I might be.

Her brother tends to put music on to deliberately annoy his wife and will skip anything that he knows she likes. And he frequently pours scorn on most of her listening choices. It’s an interesting family dynamic to observe !

defines things as 'music' and 'boy music'. The distinction, as you might imagine, is a tad subjective.

I bought Mrs Wonderful singing lessons last Christmas (she's always enjoyed singing, but never been very good at it). It was part serious / part joke, but she absolutely loves it (a tip for you chaps as the festive eason approaches). As a result she tapes every lesson and plays it back in the car and on her iPod. Her usual Dylan selections have gone out the window, although an imminent Leonard Cohen gig means that both of us are swotting up on his ouevre.

are still on my Khatru.

is that the male of the household has the best music, not that I would use that as a basis for a generalisation about the world at large. My teenage nephews like their music, both play in bands. One of them loves Lynrd Skynrd. Their mother likes that one that goes 'I'm a big big girl in a big big house' for example. I've not yet come across a household where the woman's music was superior. I'm sure they exist though.

I like quite a lot of what my other half likes - REM, Radiohead. She is also keen on Editors, Coldplay, James Blunt and Jamiroquai. Generally Radio 2 is best way to listen to music together without dispute we find.

Albums by:
Last Shadow Puppets
Sharleen Spiteri
Duffy
A homemade compilation with an MP3 of Feist's Sesame Street turn as the first track (A subtle plea: THERE ARE 20 OTHER TRACKS TOO DARLING)

And enjoyed Reading-Festival-Coverage-on-TV-wise:
Queens Of The Stone Age
The Killers

But didn't see 'the point' of Justice.
Hmmmm.

as Mrs Kitson and I share very similar musical tastes and in fact it was our mutual love of The Clash that sparked the romance. She also dislikes the same stuff as me which is handy as I don't have to accompany her to naff gigs.

Actually, Mrs K did broaden my musical horizons in introducing me to reggae and other bands that I considered wimpy pap when I were a young punk rocker like Roddy Frame, Monochrome Set etc.

Strange thing is that as much as she loves music and has good opinions on music she will never write on a forum or web-site and has an unhealthy disregard for making lists and filing the CDs and albums in the right order!

'Er Indoors or Ella en Casa has cool taste.
Next to the Cd player we have
Thalia Zadek-Been Here And Gone
Be Good Tanyas-Chinatown
The Evens-The Evans(Ian Mackaye from Fugazi and Minor Threat)
Cat Power-Jukebox ,Special edition
It must be said i've heard Thalia Zadek more times than i care to mention and just got punched for writing that.

Seems like there's an assumption here that your other halves will all be female and you can have a bit of a laugh/moan at their 'poor' taste in music when compared to yours. My other half is currently listening to the latest Randy Newman album, which to me is my greatest nightmare, but I guess many male Word readers probably think is a good thing.

Me ? I'm listening to the Ukrainians most recent live CD in the car. Not sure where that places me amongst female music lovers. But then, my taste may also be coloured by the fact that I haven't experienced childbirth either, which Mr H feels may colour the ladies' tastes.

Mrs Diz has a pretty catholic taste in music but never (ok rarely) knows who any of the music in our CD collection is actually by. So by and large she is pretty tolerant of what I buy but can roll her eyes at some of the more obscure stuff.

Left to her own devices more aften that not she will listen to the radio and usually Radio 4 over and above Radio 2. When she does pick something out to listen to it is often one of the following:

Hootie and the Blowfish - I know but we have been here before...
Joni Mitchell - not an artist I have ever really appreciated
John Martyn - much better!
Led Zeppelin - yay!
(Sir) Richard Thompson - and is pleased we have got tickets for January's tour.
Altan - a bit too acoustic for me but good enough

But as I have posted before, she rarely buys any album herself so I'm not really sure what she would go for given a complete choice.

Listens to: Abba, Smiths, Morrissey, Motown chartbusters, Prince and other similar stuff. I can't complain at all, since she used to listen to 'All Woman' compilations featuring the likes of Beverley Craven, and may still do given the house to herself. I'd say my tastes are more antisocial (a lot of Wilco and Replacements).

Hendrix
Zeppelin
Devandra Banhart
Joanna Newsom
John Cale
Gogol Bordello
Kate Rusby
Beatles

and by demand of our two year old - Blondie - lots of Blondie.

All good, nothing bad.

She is officially a Word subcriber, having signed me up for my birthday this month and forgotten to put it in my name.

has good taste in music...she probably picks up on new stuff more than me.

She introduced me to Band of Horses, Broken Social Scene and many others that I now enjoy.....and she made me like The Smiths and Morrissey, which was a some feat.

We disagree on certain music...she's not too keen on Nick Cave while I think Van Morrison is only ok in small doses

In previous relationships I have been subjected to the aforementioned Lighthouse Family and Celine Dion...so my soon to be GLW is a keeper!

playlists include selections by:
The Who (Sell out)
Alabama Three
Big Audio Dynamite
Dead Can Dance
and
Dar Williams

her fave album is The Hounds of Love

Who??

She has an uncanny knack of spotting a hit from a mile off. The source can be radio 2, capital radio, one of my records or somthing of the kids. Mrs D will be busy hoovering or dusting or making a nice omelette or whatever & then suddenly something will catch her interest & she'll enquire "Ohh what's that - I like it" and she listens intently for while. The song always goes on to be a big hit. Its uncanny. And it doesnt matter what type of music it is.

She's like a pig after truffles.

And like somebody up there ^^^^ mentioned about their other half, she will proceed to play the song to death.

Reverse side is when I try to play her something a little bit off the beaten track - in which case its 3 seconds, a look over the top of her glasses and then a brisk "Off Dolly!".

She will not listen to The Fall or Captain Beefheart.

On my iTunes: 48,783 individual songs.

On Mrs W's iPod: 366 individual songs.

Whatever she loves me for, it's not my musical taste.

And vice versa.

We both like The Wire though.

I think we're fairly equal in our house - I like Richard Thompson and rock/prog more than Himself, but that is probably balanced out with my love of pop cheese.

Recently I have been listening to Jarvis, PJ Harvey, Fleet Foxes, Sebastien Tellier, Shortwave Set, Seasick Steve, Duran Duran, Motown Chartbusters and Martha Wainwright.

But it doesn't matter who it is, cred or not, if I like it, I like it - eg, don't like Robbie Williams, but I love No Regrets because of the fab backing vocals by Neils Hannon and Tennant. The fact that it is Robbie williams doesn't spoil my listening pleasure.

The earlier comment on Radio 2 summed it up - the middle ground

Recent downloads on her behalf have been Amy McDonald, Duffy and the latest from a German acapella group called the Wise Guys. If you understand German then Nur für dich (an older song) is actually quite good - here it is on youtube translated via torch wood

on the board of the Word massive. While recently they have been metal influenced may I recommend the beautiful "Lazarus".

Enjoy.

Thanks for the induction guys. However, in this instance, both Lady G and myself infinitely prefer silence.

If PT does not rock your boat, Steven Wilson will batter you about the head with his other projects; No-Man, Blackfield or solo CD here:-
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes (trailer)

My wife has little if no interest in music so I tend to create compilation cd's for car journeys that try and cover things that she likes i.e. The Beatles, Abba, Blondie, Van Morrison, various Motown and Stax tracks amongst others. I've given up in throwing "curveballs" into the proogramming - finally accepted that she will never like The Gang of 4, Red House Painters and Pere Ubu amongst others.

I agree with those above who say that, speaking generally, women admit what they like and men have to weigh up the credibility first. Too popular and the band loses it's cool (always exceptions to this rule, such as The Beatles). We bemoan the fact that Ron Sexsmith, The Swans, The Go-Betweens, et al are/were not recognised, as they should be, but we don't really want them to become popular, do we?

I have trawled through my wife's dance/chillout collections - there are some nuggets but it's a bit like panning for Gold. For every Midlake remix there are dozens of Zero 7 yawn fests. I think that by now I know what she likes and so I save Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Led Zeppelin, and my Jazz and Blues cds for those long lonesome car journeys.

Mrs T is not too interested in music. Similar to an above comment my iPod has about 11,000 tracks on it (and I really should have bought a bigger one!) - hers has maybe 200. Coldplay, U2, REM. And R&B - I recently bought her 100 R&B Classic Anthems (which has some great tunes and some absolutely dire ones).

Normally I drag her to gigs (although I've given up on this recently) but two weeks ago she dragged me to Alanis Morrisette & Lenny Kravitz.

Can I get some sympathy please!! (OK, I'll admit, I enjoyed a few of Lenny's old tunes - Let Love Rule, Fields of Joy...anyone, anyone?)

wants the new Duffy CD and likes Van Morrison. She would never, ever come home with a Randy Newman CD. One of her most annoying habits is "surfing" through radio stations in the car trying to find "some decent music." Needless to say she passes on some splendid sounds - Ben Folds, Newman, the new Glen Campbell, etc, proclaiming that "you are always listening to the same kind of stuff." I have no defence, she is quite right.
Does anyone have a solution, a middle-ground, or should I find a replacement?

My wife generally like heavier music than me. She has a real problem with music like Prefab Sprout which she has an almost physical reaction too and if I try it she will leave the room. She's taken a recent dislike to Elvis Costello and is also none too keen on the folkier side of singer songwriter stuff I play. And anything by The Beach Boys!

Recently though they has a been a bit of a revolution. We put all the music on an apple tv connected to the stereo and she's playing more stuff and getting into playlists.

After what must have been three years of dismissing Ryan Adams as 'being too country' the penny finally dropped and one day she suddenly said 'Ok, I get him now' and she's become a big fan - we've just bought tickets for his latest tour with the Cardinals.

We went to see the Who a few years ago so their tracks are now played more often.

I bought a cheap Peter Tosh best of compliation on holiday and she's also developing a taste for quality reggae and some ska. Step forward Dennis Brown and the Skatalites.

But some things she continues to be immune to. Is it just me but is it mainly men who like The Decemberists, XTC and Steely Dan?

Hence when left to her own audio devices it'll generally be Queen, Meatloaf or some compilation of "uplifting eighties anthems". And she hates, it seems on principle, any of my faves reserving especial scorn for Kate Rusby, Richard Thompson and Lucinda Williams.

If I play her something new and she says this, she means "you may like it but don't play it to me again". Usually she reserves this comment for the sort of music reviewers would call "dark".

My wife has the three Shrek CDs on in the car most of the time, some pretty good stuff but I wouldn´t mind a change.

...I would never consider a 'significant other' who couldn't name all four Beatles and at least five people who were, or had been, Rolling Stones. Then I moved to China and the field narrowed somewhat.

Currently, I have the pleasure of listening to Rain, South Korea's answer to Robbie Williams (without the fat period, the drugs and the UFOs). If I'm really lucky, I get Hang On The Box.

Most of these comments definitely ring bells with me. Some observations from our own household:

1. Mrs BHKM grew up admiring her older brother's lifestyle, including his musical taste, so she has a strong liking for 70s rock & prog-type stuff.

2. As pathetically immature as I know it is, I do get a genuine sense of pleasure when she honestly mistakes some "music" I'm playing, for a noisy fault with the washing machine.

3. Strangely, although she bravely puts up with most of my (often industrial-based) grunge, she absolutely draws the line at Joni Mitchell (whose voice she finds impossibly grating).

... (and its proved above) that, no matter how important we might place music in our lives, it means nothing compared to finding our "other half".

Essex FM.

Thank you.

MrsP had bought that last Eagles CD, but now she tells me to take it down to the charity shop next time I#m going.