My Fileden account has also been suspended but the links still appear to work.
Prog alert!
I’m 48 today so time for a short but self indulgent Birthday Post. 48 (that’s nearly 50!) used to be old. Look at old movies, say a 60’s grim up north kitchen sink drama, and people in their 40s are proper grown-ups and usually miserable and look like what would now pass for 60 (at least). Thank God for the extended adolescence we all have now. I’m going to do my best to grow old disgracefully and resist the urge to moan out loud about the crap the youth of today calls music because that gives me away (I’ll still do an internal groan). And don’t get me started on the state of the film industry!
Some synth pop from before the term was invented. Take a look at the scans. These records look great, especially Laser Love with its orange vinyl and cut-out sleeve. One Rule For You and Laser Love were both minor hits in1979 (No. 40 and No. 62 respectively).
Time for a spot of blog tennis with the ever brilliant Ib at Sibling Shot On The Bleachers who posted an old Daevid Allen song yesterday. Of course, he’s done four posts since then so it’s a bit late but I can’t keep up with the pace.
An under appreciated gem from Todd.
Andrew Sachs kindly signed this album cover in Quicksilver Record, Reading nearly 30 years ago. I’m pretty sure his granddaughter wasn’t even born then and I managed not to enrage him, the licence fee payers or the dear old Daily M**l. Look here if you don't know what I'm talking about.
Not entirely unexpected but my 8-year old is not pleased.
This is my oldest surviving record bought with my own money when I was seven. If you look closely I’ve even written a little M for Michael on the label as a mark of ownership. It’s not my first; that honour would belong to Manfred Mann’s Semi-Detached Suburban Mr James but I’ve no idea where that is now.
If that last post doesn’t suit you how about this? I was reminded of it whilst browsing the ever brilliant Post Punk Progressive Pop Party blog a few weeks ago. I pooh poohed this a bit on release because with the first Monsoon single Sheila Chandra claimed she wanted to make Indian pop music and get away from the ‘mystical’ approach the hippies used and here she is covering Tomorrow Never Knows! Still, it is a nice version and that’s Bill Nelson on (e-bow) guitar.
Davy has just got back from Hangover Square and wants a quality post but ‘no prog’. I didn’t have anything planned but actually a bit of laid back symphonic prog is good Sunday morning music. Just let Soft Vanilla from Focus wash over you and soothe away your pain Mr H. Hard Vanilla is a bonus and you might wonder if Messrs Becker and Fagen heard it around the time they were writing Haitian Divorce.
After several years as a house husband I started a new job about a month ago and I’ve found it hard to find time for posts and when I have had time I’ve been too tired. Over the last few weeks I’ve treated myself to the entire Be Bop Deluxe back catalogue. This was my favourite band in my mid to late teens. I was trying to put into words how I felt about them and found the following on an Amazon album review which says it better than any of my efforts:
mp3: Fashion - Move On (Audio Extra)
It’s Friday night and I’ve got several cans of beer so it must be blogging time. It occurred to me recently that it’s almost exactly 20 years since I bought my first CD player and from that moment I stopped buying vinyl albums. I'm pretty sure my last vinyl LP was Joyce Sims Come Into My Life mainly for this:
I bought the Daily Mail today because they were giving away Spandau Ballets True CD. I enjoyed listening to it but nothing quite matched this:
Want to hear about my day? What’s the point of having a blog if you can’t have the occasional rant?
I bought this record back in 1979 purely because I noticed Charlie Tumahai, previously of Be Bop Deluxe, on the cover. At the time I thought it was ok but not really my thing. It’s a sort of light funk/soft rock hybrid with nice harmonies and a cracking tune. All that went over my head a bit in those heady new wave days but I re-discovered it in the mid 80s and I’ve considered it a lost gem ever since. 
The comments on my OffBEAT post turned into a bit of a ‘my first live band’ thread so I’ve decided to run with that. My first live band was Daryl Hall and John Oates which may surprise some of you. Most of my interesting, unusual or rare vinyl is from the new wave era so that’s what I usually post, but I started collecting before that and Hall & Oates were one of my early faves. In fact, I think they were the first band that was totally my discovery, completely independent of friends and family.
Matt Fretton supported Eurythmics, Depeche Mode & The Boomtown Rats, released four singles and recorded an unreleased album in the 80s. I loved this at the time so it’s odd that I don’t remember seeing or hearing any of the follow ups. You can hear more at his myspace page.
mp3: Matt Fretton - It's So High (1983)
As you may have noticed I’ve been very lazy with my posts recently and my daily hits are dwindling as a result, apart from a recent deluge of people downloading Wire’s Our Swimmer thanks to a link on the excellent Post Punk Progressive Pop Party. The last time I posted Blue Rondo A La Turk I got a bollocking from the taste police but looking at my stats I get a fair few hits from people Googling them, usually looking for Klacto Vee Sedstein, so I’m going to risk their wrath (like I care) and post Klacto and a later effort sans la turk in the hope that more people will visit and I’ll feel wanted again.
