I think a liking of background noise may also have something to do with coming from a big family - there was never a quiet moment in my house growing up and I liked it that way. I always shared a room with my sisters, and then at university for 3 years with friends. Only in my final year did I have a room of my own, and for a while I found it difficult to get to sleep without the sound of someone else breathing in the room.

Some people may think that those who need noise all the time are airheads, but they can only look at it from their own perspective - nobody knows what it is like in another persons head and how things affect them.

For the record I love lots of types of music (but not all). Traditional folk, jazz singers like Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan etc, lots of indie/pop bands too. They all have a different effect on me, but they can all touch me.

Bagpuss