Music – Page 31 – Five Miles Out

Poor Man’s Moody Blues

“Home taping is killing music”. Except it didn’t. Neither did Napster, of course that was on an industrial scale compared to home taping. Home taping was a gateway to music when you were young. I taped from the radio (for about a month and came to loathe DJs who talked over tracks) and then fromContinue reading “Poor Man’s Moody Blues”

The Hut of Baba Yaga

I have said that Brightlingsea was a couple of years behind Royston musically. There were few people into older 70s rock. I was quite happy to listen to punk, prog rock, heavy metal and New Romantic. So, it was great to connect with Steve. He had an older brother and had really been infected withContinue reading “The Hut of Baba Yaga”

There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis

Kirsty MacColl is now most famous as one half of the vocals on Fairytale of New York. She had a solo career too, at least she did until she died in 2000 in a powerboat accident. The circumstances of her death were murky. The powerboat should not have been in the area and was ownedContinue reading “There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis”

I Wish For My World of Make Believe

It is really hard to pick a favourite Toyah track. I love Thunder in the Mountains and it would be easy to write about Toyah’s reinvention of herself as a cross between Boudicca and Mad Max. Toyah was the punk princess who had been in the movie Jubilee. Her music was more New Wave thanContinue reading “I Wish For My World of Make Believe”

Then it all went black

One of the most modern tracks and groups here. My boss at work is a really big music fan. When he started at Monoux I had been acting Principal for nearly a year, which may have made it difficult for him. It shouldn’t have, as I was suffering from ME and desperate to go backContinue reading “Then it all went black”

In the State of Ecstasy

This song is odd. It was a hit years after it was made and if you listen carefully you can tell. One minute and four seconds in there is an instrumental break that is so 1991 that it might as well be flashing up a neon sign flashing – “We are ripping off the Prodigy’sContinue reading “In the State of Ecstasy”

The Alcohol Loves You While Turning You Blue

There’s no place like home, but where is home for someone who moves around? I didn’t want to move to Brightlingsea. I had finally got a group of friends in Royston who shared my interests in books, music and RPGs. Also I was at a school that really suited me (very disciplined, low disruption andContinue reading “The Alcohol Loves You While Turning You Blue”

In the Cruel Garden of Delights

They say that if you tell someone your favourite music they should be able to estimate your age, in most cases. This is the kind of track that marks me out as a teenager in the early 1980s. Bauhaus have not had one of those groups careers that has been marked out by endless reunionContinue reading “In the Cruel Garden of Delights”

“For theirs is a land with a wall around it; and mine is a faith in my fellow man”

The Bard of Barking. Billy Bragg is an amazing guy. I love his song A13 set to the music of Route 66, but it is a bit of a novelty from an artist who has said a lot of important things. He released a compilation of his early material called Back to Basics, the mostContinue reading ““For theirs is a land with a wall around it; and mine is a faith in my fellow man””

A Hatful of Hollow

It is really hard to pick the best track for the Smith as I like two so close to equally it just depends on my mood. I could write about Panic, in particular how it such a good commentary on what was happening to music in 1986. That would be so easy. However….. On mostContinue reading “A Hatful of Hollow”