I wonder if there's a Brazilian one-man air conditioning repair company called Jesus Of Cool?
Anyway, my mum phoned me up on Saturday to tell me she'd heard The Blockheads on Jonathan Ross's radio show. The new singer sounds just like Ian Dury, she said.
My mum still has me down as a massive Ian Dury & The Blockheads fan. Oh, and that "gravely voiced" Tom Waits.
It's been a long time since I listened to either. What I was listening to in the early 80s was limited to the records and cassettes I had. I couldn't afford a large, eclectic music collection. Even so, my mum's memory is selective. I had a reasonable number of albums for someone with little disposable income.
Reasonably well off young people these days have it all. A whole swathe of popular music available for free on the internet. Back then I took what I could from what was currently being pushed in the NME. The 50s, 60s and 70s were confined to history. Just imagine if NME readers nowadays stuck to the current indie music, ignoring pop's great history. What a boring generation they'd be!
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My Mum still offers me tartan scarfs because I used to like The Bay City Rollers...
ReplyDeleteSx
I've still got you down as a massive fan of Yes.
ReplyDeleteI think I prefer your mother's version.
P.S. When I first started consulting NME - pop had no history.
I spent years denying I liked Led Zep because of the NME - and that was before it turned into Smash Hits. Remember those "articles" by Ian Penman and Julie "let's bomb Iran" Burchill? I'd like, for the first time, to 'come out' and admit they either bored the pants off me or I didn't understand them.
ReplyDeleteWishbone Ash was mentioned on the radio today, when was the last time you thought of them eh?
ReplyDeleteMy Mum doesn't like the Fall.
ReplyDeleteScarlet - They're coming back in fashion. Tartan scarves, I mean.
ReplyDeleteKaz - Yes dominated my mid-teens. The NME should thank God for Cliff Richard!
Malc - I did go through a period of chasing sweaty funk and Latin American music. Rather too earnest in my enjoyment.
Ziggi - I'd forgotten about them 'til I saw them on a Prog retrospective a few months ago. Noodle to the max.
Billy - I think my mum has a soft spot for Ian Dury but Tom Waits' growl used to drive her mad.
We never had much of a range of music in our post war council house as my mum was worried about the eclectic bill.
ReplyDeleteVery good, Rog.
ReplyDeleteOh don't encourage him, Geoff.
ReplyDeleteI stopped reading NME when the Penman crowd took over. Penman, Morley, Tony Parsons, Julie Burchill. Little tyros who eventually turn into Daily Mail columnists and Late Review pundits.
ReplyDeleteI used to read NME before that, but ignored all their raves and just did my own thing.
Tim - Rog needs no encouraging!
ReplyDeleteBob - I suppose they were in the right place at the right time. How Parsons has become rich heaven only knows.