Well, it makes a chage for me to be in front of the camera, rather than my usual prefered place behind it.
So on Thursday, as a warm up, I did a twenty minute stint at the Open Mic at the Dolphin pub in Shrewsbury (top photo).
I was a lot less nervous than I used to be, when I played live regularly. I was worried that this was a bad sign. But the sound was good and I didn't play too shabbily. Which was a relief.
On Saturday (Sept 5th), I did a thirty minute set at the Castle Grounds in Bridgnorth, as part of Bridgnorth music festival.
It was a lovely day, with a decent size crowd. I had a few technical issues, with one of the leads and was attacked during one song, by a fly that tried crawling up my nose, but other than that it seemed to go ok.
I played a few Hair Thieves tunes (Shorewards, 21st CSM, Bad Consumer) and some covers (by Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Stiff Little Fingers, Porcupine Tree).
Some people said some nice things about the performance.
So hopefully, it won't be too long before I play live again and hopefully incorporate some new material.
This blog will be my musical highlights of 1986-1990. Basically, my
time entering the 6th form until I left school.
1986 was the year for me when everything changed in my musical landscape.
1985 has seen me buy Iron Maiden's "Live after death" album on a whim.
In 1986 I finished school and after deciding not to try for art school, I decided to go back to the 6th form and do some A levels.
This song instantly send me back to my time in the 6th form. Funny how music can do that!
Eurthymics - Thorn in my side.
In 1986 Maiden released the Somewhere in Time tour. When I started in the 6th form I was reunited with Ian, a friend from infant school. He was into metal and when he found out I had "Live After Death", said about Iron Maiden playing locally in a few weeks. So a ticket was purchased.
Iron Maiden - Wasted Years
It was during the guitar solo on this tour and them playing "Walking in the air" that I decided I wanted to play the guitar. I went home and asked for a guitar for Christmas.
Ian then spent the next few months plying me with metal vinyl to see what I liked.
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Anthrax - Madhouse
and Queensryche - I will remember
Def Leppard - Photograph
1986 was the start of hair rock with Europe and Bon Jovi!
Bon Jovi - You give Love a bad name
Christmas 1986 my parents bought me my first guitar and amp. Having never played the guitar, I promptly picked it up, played with the whammy bar and snapped a string. I then had to wait three days for the local music shop to open so I could buy new strings. Not a good start to my musical career.
I did work out how to play the bassline to Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" from ear
So that was it, I learnt to play the guitar by ear and by other guitarists at school showing me things on the acoustic that was in the 6th form common room.
In 1987, I saved up my babysitting and paperround money and bought the first of many guitars. A Marlin Sidewinder in Candy Apple Red. For a while I had a Marshall amp too. (which I didn't like)
It was a thing of beauty at £150 in the local music shop. I still have this guitar! It sounds quite bad, the electrics need some working on, but the neck is nice to play on it.
So the rest of the '80 was my rise in love of metal, as well as still following all the bands (still going) that I always liked before, Howard Jones, Duran Duran, Hazel O' Connor, Teard for Fears.
As well as getting into other pop things.
Suzanne Vega - Small Blue Thing
But rock was where I was heading. Thrash metal was what I was learning to play the guitar with.
1987 saw me travel for the weekend from my native Cornwall up to Donnington for my first ever festival.
Bon Jovi headlined, with Dio, Metallica, Anthrax, W.A.S.P and Cinderella
That was it for me, live music was a big love. I used to get Kerrang on a Wednesday, see who was playing live in London at the weekend, then occasionally jump on a train on a Saturday morning and come back on a Sunday.
Managed to see Queensryche more times than probably any other band.
Queensryche - I don't believe in love.
Exodus - Toxic Waltz
Testament - Practice What you Preach
Megadeth - Holy Wars
There was a definte change in music from 1986 - 1990. Stock, Aitkin and
Waterman, seemed to be filling the charts up with their brand of pop.
(Some of it good, some dreadful). And the rise of electronic dance
music / house music which really wasn't my cup of tea.
Mel and Kim - Respectable
Black Box - Ride on Time
There was some great pop songs in the late '80s though.
Sam Brown - Stop
The Bangles - Eternal Flame
The Pogues- A fairytale in New york
I could give loads of great music in the '80s. But this blog has gone on far too long.
The '90s / 00's and todays music should be shorter in length. The '80s were the formative years, since then the styles haven't changed much just the bands.
This blog will be my musical highlights of 1983 - 1986. Basically, my time from moving to the upper campas of my school until the 6th form.
By 1982 I was buying singles and albums, whenever I had the money. Sometimes compilation albums. Compilations albums were great for finding new stuff like...
Aztec Camera - Oblivious
and not so good for finding other music, (from the same compilation record)
Forrest - Rock The Boat
1983 - 1986 was a great time musically for me. Punk was pretty much dead. Synths were taking over music, it was an exciting time. For me, I couldn't get enough music (which was weird, given I dropped music at school for wood work....).
Heaven 17 - Temptation
Thompson Twins - Love on you side.
(still one of my favourite songs).
"Records and Tapes", my local music shop, was my Saturday pilgrimage into town, to check out what was coming out. John, the owner would let us play and check out new tracks, and occasionally track down some imports.
Late 1983, was the year I started and quite quickly stopped trying to be a break dancer...
Afrika Bambaataa - Renegades of Funk
Chaka Khan - I feel for you.
Malcolm Mclaren - Double Dutch
1983 also saw the start of the, still going, compilation series. "Now that's what I call music". A relatively cheap way of getting the latest hits. Of course, I was still taping the charts each Sunday and doing my own compilations. I did sometimes, compile the cd into the same order as the record. We did own a copy of Now 1.
Now 1 had, one of my all time favourite artists on ot. Namely Howard Jones. Human's lib is another of my all time favourite albums.
Howard Jones - Hide And Seek
Hide and Seek, is my favourite song ever. I don't know why!
Now 1 also had such classics on it as
Men Without Hats - The Safety Dance
Will Powers - Kissing with Confidence
All manner of dodgy '80 tunes went through our house.
Though it did have my favourite Madness song on it and the Cure.
Madness - The Sun and the Rain.
The Cure - Love Cats
1983 was also the start of my 12" collection and possibly the start of me starting to collect everything by a band.
Christmas 1983 and I got for Christmas something that would define me for the rest of my life. Namely my first computer. The Zx Spectrum. From that moment on, I wanted to be a computer programmer. Thirty plus years later I am still computer programming. (Plus I got Seven and the ragged tiger on cassette!).
1984 for me is THE music year.
The year when I started a paper round, and starting really having my own money. My mum once complained I was buying too much vinyl. My reply was that my friends were all drinking and smoking. I bought records. Which would she prefer.
My favourite memories of 1984 were playing games on my ZX Spectrum listening to Seven and the Ragged Tiger (Duran Duran), Human's Lib (Howard Jones), Thriller (Michael Jackson), No Parlez (Paul Young) and Into The Gap (Thompson Twins).
1984 was also the year of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Yep, I have some
rare 12" versions and picture discs of Relax and Two Tribes
Other 1984 highlights include
Nik Kershaw - Wouldn't it be good.
Bronski Beat - Small town boy
Plus 1984, I was introduced to two of my soon to be favourite all time bands -
Marillion.
and the Cocteau Twins.
1985 and my 12" and album collection continued to grow.
Two big musical highlights of 1985.
Live Aid
and me picking up this album, on a whim, well I quite like Run to the hills.
As a synthy punk, I'd seen Iron Maiden on Top of the Pops a few times,
and liked a few of the tunes. Bought this album with some Christmas
money. Never looked back.
Seems a bit weird to go out and buy an Iron Maiden album and also at the same time buy this album.
Whitney Houston - Saving all my love for you!
and this album. Sade - Your love is King
But that is the way I roll. I'll listen to anything me and decide myself, regardless of the genre. If I like it, well, I like it.
Highlights of 1985
Aha- Take On me
Kate Bush - Hounds of Love
Madonna - Like a Virgin
King - Love And Pride
Tears for Fears - Shout
Stephen Tin Tin Duffy - Kiss Me
Marillion in the meantime had released Misplaced Childhood and had a hit single with Kayleigh.
Not my favourite album of the band. Lavendar spoils the album for me. But I did get to see them live in 1985.
So that is it for part two. still into pop music, and synth pop, still got my motown influences, but slowly adding a rock touch.
The 1980's the decade fashion forgot. My formative years so to speak. The '80s was a decade for me of inventive music and terrible fashion.
The big change for me was going from junior school to secondary school. I had hated junior school with a passion. By comparison. I loved Secondary school. My form were (still are) a great bunch. (Can you spot me?)
So at the time of joining, I was still into my punk.
Peter and the Test tube babies.
Though I couldn't get around some of my brother's love of Crass.
1980 saw the release of the film "Breaking Glass". Starring Hazel O' Connor.
The soundtrack being one of my favourite albums of all time. One I've bought far too many times.
Hazel O' Connor - Will You.
(with one of the most famous saxophone solos ever).
Hazel O' Connor was the first gig I ever went to see. At the Cornwall Colliseum in St Austell. Allegedly, Duran Duran supported, but I'm not convinced from the research I've done in the gig.
I also managed to photograph her at Farmer Phil's Festival a couple of times and got to speak to her too!
Our secondary school was split over two sites. In some ways my musical influences are split over those two sites.
The lower site (years one and two) were defined by Ska, and particularly Madness and The Specials.
Madness - Baggy Trousers
The Specials - Ghost Town
As well as the other Ska usual suspects.
The Beat - Mirror in the Bathroom
I was lucky to photograph The Beat a couple of years ago. I'll try and find a photo!
Selector - Three minute hero
Another band I've been lucky enough to photograph (a couple of times)
As well a the normal Thursday's top of the pops, I had stared home taping the charts every Sunday night, making mix compilations of the best bits.
This was additionally suplimented by the Friday night discos at Swanvale Youth Club. Where a lot of the local kids in my area would go to dance and see whom you could slow dance with at the end of the night.
At some point at least some of the Grease soundtrack would be played.
ABC - Poison Arrow
Altered Images - Happy Birthday
My love of synthesiser music was also growing. Duran Duran were my
favourites, though to be honest, I prefer a lot of the album tracks more
than the actual singles. Ultravox were also influential. As well as
Tears for Fears.
Duran Duran - Careless Memories.
This one time in music, I was asked to bring in a tape with a song on. Careless memories, being my favourite song at the time. Naturally, I spliced the song, so it went straight into the Sex Pistols' "Friggin in the Riggin". Oh how we laughed!
Ultravox - Hymm
Tears for Fears - Pale Shelter
Spandau Ballet - To cut a long story short
Visage - Fade to Grey
For me though with the new romantic movement, I was never into the fashion aspect of it. It was all about the synths and funky bass for me.
1982 was a big year for me, firstly, we got our first VHS video. This meant we could hire films and music videos, which meant we could see all the rude banned videos. Plus Channel 4 launched so had The Tube as well as we could stay up late and watch music video exclusives and some previously banned films. (plus Countdown! Comic Strip presents etc_).
Belious Some - Imagination (uncensored 12")
Duran Duran - The Chauffeur.
Public Image Limited - This is not a love song - The tube 1983
So that is the end of part 1 of part 2. Which basically covers 1980 - 1982. Part 2 will cover 1983 - 1986
Part 3 will cover 1986 - 1989.
