Essex is not famous for its bands. It is not Manchester, Liverpool or even Sheffield. I can only think of three Essex bands that have been huge successes – Depeche Mode, The Prodigy and the only one from Colchester – Blur. Their first album was a baggy album and derivative of that scene from theContinue reading “And Then I’m Happy For The Rest of the Day”
Tag Archives: 90s
Straight Out of Zenn-La
This another artist and album I ignored when people were telling me who great it was. It wasn’t just one person either, it was Neil, all of Dumper and various Dumper fans. They all said that Joe Satriani was a genius guitarist. I even missed the chance to see him locally. The album cover featuresContinue reading “Straight Out of Zenn-La”
Exploding out of a tunnel
Julian Cope makes it onto the list as part of the Teardrop Explodes and solo. (His first group was the Crucial Three with Ian McCulloch and Pete Wylie – Echo and the Bunnymen and The Mighty Wah! Make the list too, in one way they may be the most influential band of that period). JulianContinue reading “Exploding out of a tunnel”
Like the deserts miss the rain
There are two types of missing/ lost TV stories. Early TV was assumed to be a one and done kind of happening, like a stage play, though most of it was recorded as live, rather than actually live. Equity (the acting union) were worried that their members would lose work if too much was repeated. Continue reading “Like the deserts miss the rain”
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”
But do I really feel the way I feel?
Right at the end of my time at Grant Thornton the senior partner’s PA, Jan Hannaford, asked me for a favour. A client who lived the far side of Colchester from Ipswich Had won a prize at an event that was run at the Suffolk Show. She asked me to deliver it and save herContinue reading “But do I really feel the way I feel?”
We all have our sins
1993 was a good year for stag nights. In those days it was a stag night, not a weekend in Amsterdam or week in Prague, making the British look like thugs abroad and cavorting with prostitutes. The worst that happened to men in Brightlingsea was being chained naked outside the Swan pub. First was Dave’sContinue reading “We all have our sins”
The City was sticky and cruel
I have been on both ends of redundancy. When I made people redundant while I was working in the insolvency team it seemed unreal – I was living a charmed life where my career was just on the rise. This came to a shuddering halt when Grant Thornton made me redundant. This despite a boomingContinue reading “The City was sticky and cruel”
Will someone turn the light on
Insolvency work can have its scary moments. In January 1992 Grant Thornton were appointed as administrators of a group of companies that ran several amusement arcades in Clacton -on-Sea and Walton-on-Sea. The companies were owned by an ex-Traveller family, whose patriarch treated it as an extension of his private bank account. The group comprised sixContinue reading “Will someone turn the light on”
With Total Dedication
A lot of my friends will get a dedicated entry about things we have done together and what they have meant to me in life. It is kind of embarrassing, but it is the truth. When we went on holiday in 1991 Dave Francis led the way. He had been abroad more than the restContinue reading “With Total Dedication”
Five Miles Out 