Uncategorized – Page 22 – Five Miles Out

That feeling that remains

In 1990 this was going to be the album that was going to change the game. A band from Liverpool that were going to eclipse the Madchester scene and would dominate music. This single was released and it was good, though it sounds like early Stone Roses rather than the next stage of musical evolution. Continue reading “That feeling that remains”

Do get ready, ‘cause here I come

I was born in 1966 and my first political memories are of the Vietnam War and the 1973 oil shock. I remember the two elections of 1974 (two days off school), but the first one where I had some understanding of was 1979. Thatcher. Capitalism. Capitalism was the answer to everything, the market would alwaysContinue reading “Do get ready, ‘cause here I come”

This is the coastal town that they forgot to close down

There is something about of season seaside towns – Clacton, Yarmouth, Southend, even Felixstowe. A lot of closed shops and one or two open amusement arcades ringing away to the sound of the hard-core fruity fan or a group of teenagers in the evening. My first proper job at Grant Thornton was the audit ofContinue reading “This is the coastal town that they forgot to close down”

The only thing that helps me pass the time away

We were parts of two families stuck together into one. Anne and her daughters, Alison and Fran plus Dad, Mike and me. Divorce was lot less common then and there was some grief at school. It did not matter how often I explained to Mark Terry or Sean Kenny that my parents were married whenContinue reading “The only thing that helps me pass the time away”

Good times never seemed so good

Neil Diamond was another of my guilty secrets. A proper teenage New Romantic/ Heavy Metal fan (and that was a pretty big dichotomy when it was all about tribes) did not like Neil Diamond. I did from when I first heard Love On the Rocks. Really there is only one form of cricket worth consideringContinue reading “Good times never seemed so good”

And sleep out in the rain

This is about my friend Diane – don’t read anything into the title of the song we are, and have always been, just friends. When I interviewed for the job at NewVic we were shown the room that we would work in and there was Diane. She looked up in bewilderment as this motley groupContinue reading “And sleep out in the rain”

It’s just a rumour that’s been spread around town

Robert Wyatt was drummer/ co-vocalist in Soft Machine, a band from the early 1970s. In June 1973 he fell from a fourth-floor window due to being very and drunk ever since he has been paralysed from the waist down. I had never heard of him until I heard this song in 1983. It was writtenContinue reading “It’s just a rumour that’s been spread around town”

Let’s Get Electrified

How many people in entertainment will be revealed as predators on children? Afrika Baambata is the Godfather of Hip-Hop and the father of Electro-Funk. To be fair he has not been convicted of molesting any children, but prosecutions are barred by the New York state statute of limitations which is hardly a ringing endorsement. WhenContinue reading “Let’s Get Electrified”

The world turns around

Every year Grant Thornton recruited a group of trainees. You not only had to be good at the job but you also had to pass the tough exams each year – failure more than once would mean you were definitely gone. The trick was to recruit the right number of graduates to balance the lossesContinue reading “The world turns around”

I’m Hearing Only Bad News

What does Africa mean to you? What do you think when you hear Africa? Famine? Dictatorships? Poverty? Corruption? Perceptions count for a lot and particularly those that are embedded in someone’s mind at a young age. For my parents’ generation it is was the end of Empire and the emergence of a wave of dictatorsContinue reading “I’m Hearing Only Bad News”