My Mum likes The Shadows. My Dad likes the Shadows. We had a Shadows LP when I was a kid. They were originally backed Cliff Richard and were part of the fallow period between the birth of Rock and Roll and the arrival of the Beatles, like the Everly Brothers. The Shadows were safe withContinue reading “Surprise, Surprise….”
Tag Archives: Music
Children behave….
Some time after this track came out there was an article in one of the tabloid newspapers about which of three solo female singing newcomers would be the superstar that dominated the charts for the next twenty years. Taylor Dayne was ruled out for being an anonymous dance artist and Tiffany for not having herContinue reading “Children behave….”
American Gothic
The second oldest song on the list. My love for Alan Moore’s work will crop up a few times here. He is the sage of Northampton and one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century. An average cartoonist in the 70s he focussed on writing as the decade went on and into the 80s. Continue reading “American Gothic”
Pump Up the Jam
The Golden Age of European techno passed me by originally. I was still only listening to the music that I had listened to since I was teenager – rock, new wave, new romantic, heavy metal, etc. Then there was the 1991 holiday in Kos where the techno hits that had passed me by were onContinue reading “Pump Up the Jam”
In his house at R’lyeh Dead Cthulhu Lies Dreaming
Minne the Moocher by Cab Calloway The oldest song on the list. When I was young I only read science fiction or fantasy. Slowly I added horror (big thanks to John Bonney). When I was 14 I started playing Dungeons and Dragons with John Bonney, Graham Wright, Paul Ashby, Alan Curtis and Martin Walker. IContinue reading “In his house at R’lyeh Dead Cthulhu Lies Dreaming”
Expanding Horizons
Open Your Mind by UsURA When I worked in Ipswich there was an independent music shop called Compact Music. It was really close to the office and there was quite community there of serious musos. Lunch time we would gather in there and chat about new releases and obscure groups. The owner, Stuart, had previouslyContinue reading “Expanding Horizons”
Drop That Ghetto Blaster
When I graduated I went to work as an auditor at Grant Thornton in Ipswich. I’ll talk about how that started in another entry. Training to be a chartered accountant is not easy. You have to be numerate and literate, with a logical brain, that is not the problem. It is the studying and workingContinue reading “Drop That Ghetto Blaster”
It’s Not Quite a Jaguar
Cars by Gary Numan This is the first time I heard syn drums quite this stark. When it was released I had no idea how much Gary Numan was ripping off David Bowie, his Berlin period in particular, as well as Kraftwerk. Numan’s time in the Sun was pretty short – he became obsessed withContinue reading “It’s Not Quite a Jaguar”
Fever times
I don’t really want to talk about viruses at the moment. But this song means I have to. Only three songs send a sinister chill down my spine just by listening to them – Straight to Hell by the Clash, The Cutter by Echo & the Bunnymen and The Harder I Try by Brother Beyond. Continue reading “Fever times”
We’re Wide Awake!
How could the concept ever work? Michaela Strachan and Pete Waterman going round Midlands’ clubs on Saturday nights in a show called The Hitman and Her. Playing silly games, filming dancing and interviewing people – this was before glamour clubs like Gatecrasher, Cream or the Ministry of Sound. These were places like Raquels in Wakefield. Continue reading “We’re Wide Awake!”
Five Miles Out 