English woman Joanne Milne, who has been deaf since birth, has been able to listen to music for the first time in 40 years with the help of a cochlear implant, and her friend’s ‘Introduction To Music’ playlist which was broadcast on BBC radio.
Milne suffers from Usher syndrome, a disorder which can cause visual impairment as well as hearing loss. Milne is legally blind because of the condition. After being fitted with the implant in February, Milne had to wait over a month before the device was switched on.
A playlist was created for Milne by her friend Tremayne Crossley, who selected a song from each year of Joanne’s life and sent the compilation to radio presenter Lauren Laverne for her BBC 6Music radio feature ‘Memory Tapes’.
The station played the playlist in full for Milne earlier this week, which included songs from Bruce Springsteen, Nirvana, Prince, Radiohead, Daft Punk and many more.
In an interview with The Journal, Milne said, “The switch-on was the most emotional and overwhelming experience of my life and I’m still in shock now. The first day everybody sounded robotic and I have to learn to recognise what these sounds are as I build a sound library in my brain.”
“Hearing things for the first time is so emotional from the ping of a light switch to running water,” she said. “I can’t stop crying and I can already foresee how it’s going to be life changing. I’m so happy.”
Check out the playlist below, along with the remarkable moment in which Milne’s implant was switched on.
Watch: Jo’s Implants are turned on and she hears for the first time
Jo Milne’s “Introduction To Music” Playlist:
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’ (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’
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’
