3: Mobile phone operator plans to pipe music free into homes for older people

Would residents in Britain’s care homes benefit from a daily dose of Kanye West? A mobile phone company intends to find out, by piping music free into homes for older people, an initiative designed to have a therapeutic effect.

Studies have shown that listening to music and taking part in communal singing sessions often have beneficial effects on older people. But the corridors and rooms at many care homes are silent, depriving residents of the stimulating environment required to keep their brains exercised.

Tores Theorell, professor emeritus at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, aims to liven things up. He is working with the mobile operator 3 to stream free music to 100 care homes across Sweden. The scheme, which provides elderly people with tablets, loudspeakers, streaming software and unlimited internet data, will be extended to the UK, the phone operator said.

Professor Theorell, an expert in general medicine, said: “The human brain is like a muscle: it needs constant activity and training. If we don’t use our brain, perhaps by just lying in bed, it starts to deteriorate. To listen to music is a concentrated way of focusing on what is happening, and is therefore a form of brain exercise. Music can help thwart dementia and can make people feel both more spirited and happier.”

In a way, said Professor Theorell, “music can act almost like a lover”. For older people living on their own it acts as a “surrogate friend”.

“Singing together in a choir helps make people feel part of society. It’s not so easy for older people to get access to good music, so they need a large assortment to select from.”

Professor Theorell believes older residents are more likely to choose classical music or swing. Eighties pop star David Van Day, formerly of Dollar, recently undertook a tour of English old people’s homes. He believes more pop singers seeking a regular gig will choose to perform on the “care home circuit”.

So far, 100 state and privately run care homes in Sweden have signed up for the free trial. Residents at a home in Liseberg, the first to be equipped, have posted a YouTube clip showing positive reactions.

Nicholas Hogberg, CEO of 3 in Sweden, said: “The response to the project in Sweden has been really positive and, because of this, we are hoping that other countries will replicate the idea. It’s clear that the group of people we’re hoping to help are not used to being on the receiving end of these types of initiatives, and that silence in old people’s homes is very much a universal problem.”

Mr Hogberg, who hopes Abba and Sweden’s latest hitmaker DJ Avicii will make the gerontal playlists, added: “We saw that in many old people’s homes in Sweden, music and entertainment were not being prioritised. This wasn’t because the staff didn’t care, but rather because they lacked the time or resources.

“This project is much more than an attempt to acquire more customers. It is a socially responsible initiative that, if successful, hopefully will trigger other companies and organisations across the world to provide free music speakers, tablets, streaming software and internet data to local elderly communities and homes. It is simply about bringing music, and the emotions that accompany it, to often silent places.”

Being in the Rolling Stones saved Keith Richards from taking his own life after he learned that his young son had died, the veteran guitarist has revealed.

Richards, 71, was on tour in France in June 1976, when he was informed that his 10-week-old son Tala had suffered cot death.

“It was such a shock at the time, especially [as] I’m getting a phone call in Paris and this happened in Geneva and I thought I’m going to go mad unless I do this show tonight,” he says on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.

“Maybe it was a sense of self-preservation .... It was a rough, rough thing. And I had a feeling ... I must go on stage now and I’ll worry and grieve and think about all this after the show. Because if I didn’t go on the stage I’d have probably shot myself.”

open image in gallery

The guitarist also explains his attitude to drugs. “I think I really should say that there is really no correlation between drugs and music and how you perform it, but this is a lie. Some people can handle things and other people can’t. If the drugs become more important than the music, then you’ve lost the battle. I’ve never felt that it did anything to my creativity.

“It was something that I had to stop, because I realised that there are experiments that go on too long.”

In his case, the experiment with hard drugs lasted for decades. He stopped taking heroin in 1978, but continued to use cocaine for another 18 years. He still smokes cannabis.

The seeds of his rebellious streak were sown at school. Richards was a treble in the choir at Dartford Technical High School in Kent, and had sung for the Queen. But after his voice broke, he ended up being put back a year.

“The school said, ‘Oh you’ve got to go down a year because you haven’t done your chemistry’... There was no fairness here – suddenly you’re 13 and you’re down with the 12-year-olds ... so that’s when it started to ferment.”

During the interview, in which his growling voice is punctuated with hoarse chuckles, the veteran rock star describes himself as “indestructible”. Commenting on past health scares, he quips: “If you can go through all of that, what more can they throw at me or what more can I throw at myself?”

Just one song from the 1960s makes it on to his desert island list – “Are You Lonely for Me Baby?” by Freddie Scott. His other choices ranged from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons to “Extra Classic” by Gregory Isaacs, “one of the best songwriters” to have come out of Jamaica. His luxury is a machete.

Richards admits: “I watch other people rebel now, really,” and describes his rebellious reputation as “a ball and chain”. He adds: “That’s one part of me, and a lot of that’s in the past.”

Asked if rock’n’roll is “seemly” for people his age, he retorts: “I’ve never been worried about seemly. I’m here and I rock and roll.”

Now he’s more mature. “I’m growing up or rather evolving. I suppose with grandchildren it’s when you suddenly realise that you’re in for a longer haul.”

As for why The Rolling Stones keep going, he says: “We still think we’re getting better .... There’s promise of more. Who’s going to jump off a moving bus?”

Jonathan Owen