Adventures in Music Part 3 1980s Part 2

At some point I was given a old mono record player by someone living in our house. The record player was so old and useless that should really have been thrown away, it barely managed to screech out sounds and most likely ruined the few vinyl albums I played on it. It wasn’t long before I was bought a better stereo/record player. I used it to mainly play the 7inch singles that were lying around and the vinyl albums that both my mum and step-dad owned. We actually had three of these record players at one point in our house. My brother had one in his bedroom, so did I, and my parents had one in the lounge.

I remember the first vinyl record I was able to influence being bought was ADAM AND THE ANTS’ Kings of the Wild Frontier. The only reason I got to choose this album was on the proviso my brother also got to choose an album too. He choose the soundtrack to the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It was the start of a luckily short-lived career of bad decision making purchases by him that thankfully ended with A-HA. My parents bought the Pickwick Records version of the film Grease soundtrack that I later failed to trade for the Cluedo boardgame, but thats another story.

I listened to my new album purchase over and over again, and I began to discover music shops as being a place to explore new music. Most of the music I wanted to explore wasn't mainstream. I tended to visit the independent record shops as none of the main shops stocked this kind of music. I discovered that ADAM AND THE ANTS had back material and bought some of their 7inch singles and their Dirk Wears White Socks album showcasing music from their punk beginnings. It was their earlier material I enjoyed rather than the mixed banquet that was Prince Charming that they released after Kings. Only a couple of the songs were decent from Prince Charming, the title track and Stand and Deliver made a mockery of the music and it became embarrassing to admit to liking glam punk and such a “popular” song. They went from a punk to new romantic to ridicule in a matter of weeks.

I didn't identify with punk music, even though it had its roots in the 1950s and 1960s rock and roll. Punks had a reputation that was far worse than rockers and mods. Punks in Ipswich were notorious for causing trouble at birthday parties.

I found myself getting into anything that wasn't mainstream, including SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK, which was more electro-punk, and one of the few times I didn't buy a good album. I bought it because it was recommended to me from the same friend who got me into ADAM AND THE ANTS, without any other reliable music source I bought the album.

Adventures in Music Part 2 1980s Part 1

My mum and dad divorced and she later remarried and moved in with our new step-dad in Ipswich. My step-dad rented out rooms in the house we now lived to people, including American airbase service personnel which was common as we lived near several American Airbases. One month one of the American men couldn’t pay his rent and was heading back to the States and left an 8-track behind as payment. 8-track was considered to the the best quality sound recording at the time in the 1970s. There was limited availability of the 8-track format in the UK, so I was confined to listening to only what he left behind. I listened to the comedian and folk singer RICHARD DIGANCE and several albums by THE EAGLES other other country rock bands the names of which I’ve forgotten. Despite the limitations of the media (availability of new music and the inability to rewind the tapes), I did adopt the 8-track in my bedroom and played all the tapes it until it just stopped working. Being limited to just a few albums was interesting, but I started to crave for more diversity.

I dabbled with lots of different music types during the 1980s, helped in part by the fact that in the UK at least, the diversity of music that occupied the charts was incredible. It wasn't uncommon for every song on the top ten to be from a different genre. I listened to some punk, ska/two-tone, and mod music (again I was unaware of these genres at the time), none of which I liked or enjoyed. Everyone at school seemed to like pop music or MADNESS in the first and second year of secondary school. I still hadn't yet found the music I liked to listen to. A classmate was heavily into Star Wars and ADAM AND THE ANTS because of their punk and new wave romantic sound, although I was unaware of what they were classed as that until many years later. Music is music, I wasn't aware of genres, only music I liked and didn't like. I think the only reason I got into them was because a kid in my class who was a loner as well as me got me into them. I think from that point onwards I seemed to enjoy liking music that very other people knew about. I listened to the charts like every other kid, and was glued to the radio on a Sunday afternoon to listen to the Top 40 charts, something that in the 21st Century has almost become meaningless.

My parent’s taste in music was based in the 1960s and 1970s bands such as THE MOODY BLUES, MAMMAS AND THE PAPAS, THE CARPENTERS, THE HOLLIES, THE BEACH BOYS, and my step dad’s personal obsession, THE BEATLES. He also had folk rock from the 1970s too such as THE EAGLES and CROSBY STILLS NASH & YOUNG’s Four Way Street live album was a regular to be played in our house. Despite my best efforts these albums would influence my musical tastes, and become my guilty pleasures later in life reminding me of my youth.

I went on holiday one year with my parents and the only device I brought along was my tape-player. I brought along several cassettes to listen to but found myself playing ABBA’s Arrival album on continuous loop.

Along with QUEEN’s Greatest Hits was also played. This was the first of three greatest hits albums they would release. At this period in my life, while I listened to a lot of my parents music, but, I rejected it on of the principle that anything my parents liked must be rubbish. The only exceptions to this attitude was THE MOODY BLUES and THE HOLLIES.

Adventures in Music Part 1 1970s

My first introduction to music was the same I’m sure for most people, listening to my parents records. I never heard my parents play any of their records, but then I never saw them read any books, but they had plenty of those as well. Not having any knowledge on how record players worked, I was only able to look at the album covers and was curious about their cassette tapes. Their music collection seemed to be mostly Country and Western albums and I distinctly remember them having collections of MARIO LANZA, and the West Side Story Musical stage show.

Beyond that limited music collection I didn’t pay attention to any other music, other than bits and pieces I saw on Saturday morning television, but that was nothing more than music that got in the way of the cartoons I was more interested in.

The first 7inch single I was ever bought was SARAH BRIGHTMAN AND HOT GOSSIP’s I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper. A dire and average disco pop record. I’ve no idea why it was bought for me, I didn't have or know how to use a record player. That wasn't the first record I bought, but was only one of two records my mum ever bought for me. The other was much later, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’s Born in the USA 7inch.I remember being invited to a friends birthday party and I brought the record along to be played. I don't think they bothered. The dad of my friend was heavily into Jazz music and had collections of the stuff and listened to it constantly. I'm pleased I never got into that style of music.

I eventually learnt how to use my parent’s record player and was also able to play my parent’s music as well as my own 7inch. I spent countless hours learning how to queue up singles on a record player. I think I experimented with albums to see just how many I could balance on record player at once without ruining them rather than playing them.

One year later for my birthday I was bought a radio cassette recorder, and to go with it was THE BOOMTOWN RATS’ A Tonic for the Troops, containing the songs Like Clockwork and Rat Trap. I listened to this album many times, along with a couple of audio-books and found a few other tapes my parents owned, including the soundtrack to the film Exodus which was incredibly moving, inspiring and probably explains my deep love for soundtrack albums, the main theme was beautiful. I was too young to be trusted with my parents vinyl records.

The following year I was bought a Bontempi organ that had numbers on each of its keys, making it easy to follow and play music specially written for it. It came with half a dozen books allowing you to play common melodies, but I remember my mum buying a special book; SIMON & GARFUNKLE’s Greatest Hits. I’d never heard of either of them (Simon or Garfunkle), and oddly could play their music well even though Id never heard them played properly. So for almost ten years the only version I knew was my crappy cover versions.