A Life Defined By Music - Ghost Town

Now aged 19 I had been working for an insurance company for a year or so, so had disposable income. Most of which went on football and records, and the occasional girlfriend.

I had been interested in football for as long as I can remember. Not sure how this started, as no one else in my family was remotely interested in sport at all. I first started going to watch Burnham, my home village, from about five or six. Now with money to spend, I wanted to see a "proper" team. I did not fancy going into London, as this was the age of the hooligan problem. I could not drive at this time, so the choice was a team easily accessible by train. This narrowed it down to Brentford, Reading or Oxford. On the day I fancied going, Oxford were at home and the others were away, so the choice was made for me. I was a regular at the London Road End of the Manor Ground for quite a few years. I eventually stopped watching all football for a few years due to severe disillusionment following the likes of Bradford, Heysell, Hillsborough, and the ongoing hooligan problem.

About this time, another musical genre burst onto the scene, in a similar way to punk/new wave a few years before. This was ska as defined by the likes of UB40, The Beat, The Specials, etc. Despite being a rock fan at heart, and the fact that ska was adopted by the mods, I really liked this new sound. The groups had a political message, both in some of the lyrics, but also in the multi cultural make up of the bands. Punk to a certain degree was taken over by the skinhead movement, with racist overtones. Ska was the opposite, all inclusive and upbeat rhythms.

My own political leanings were beginning to awaken. If honest, no one individual political party preaches the message I want to hear, so I have always voted for the one closest to my ideals, in my opinion. Despite my inclination being right of centre, I also hold to some left of centre views. At this time the National Front had hijacked right wing thinking, and I found myself widely reading left wing material. Be this the liberation theology coming out of South America, or the anti racist league stuff over here. Coming from Slough, I was used to a multi cultural background. In Slough we hardly ever had racial violence. Yes there was gang troubles, but always white on white, black on black, or Asian on Asian! I am sort of proud to say that when the National Front marched in town, all three ganged up on them and drove them out.

I was also becoming aware of the major problem of unemployment in the UK at the time. Both in certain parts of Slough, and on the road out of Oxford up towards Headington, there were boarded up shops and houses. A song that for me sums up that period of my life, the confusion of having disposable income to "waste" and of the ever increasing poverty around me, is Ghost Town by The Specials.

It is sad to reflect that the situations that the song talks about, have become more common place again over the last few years, some twenty seven years later.

A Life Defined By Music - Babe

I left school in the November of 1979, having just re-taken some of my "O" levels. Somehow I managed to scrape out with four passes at grade c or above, so not too bad in the end. Trouble is, it was too bad for plan A. This was to be 6th form for "A" levels, then university to study something that I had not worked out at the time. Plan B was needed. I decided to try to get work in the travel agency business, despite countless letters to local firms, nothing materialised. I then saw a post offered via an employment agency, so went to speak to them. They said my qualifications were not of a good enough standard for what I wanted, but had I considered insurance? Whether this was true, or the fact that they had an insurance vacancy to fill I will never know, but hey it got me a job.

I was to start working in Ealing for a major insurance company at the start of January 1980. To kill time, and to get some beer money, I took a holiday job for three weeks with a local freezer company, similar in style to Iceland. This mainly involved running into and out of massive great freezer stores, looking for various different sizes of turkeys! We were provided with protective gloves, but when you are doing it non stop all day, you just go for it in the end.

At this time. I think I would say that my Christian faith was a case of just going through the motions. My best mate got me to go along to a schools Christian Union, or similar, event over the new year period in Sussex. I went, even though I was no longer at school. For probably the first time, things began to make sense, and I "owned" a faith rather that just being there as that was what was expected of me. The ironic thing is that Phil no longer has anything to do with Christianity, but there's always hope mate! At this event, I hooked up with a rather nice girl, and attempted to have a postal relationship with her. As these things tend to do, it soon died a natural death, but it had an indirect major influence on me.

Early in 1980, a romantic ballad called Babe by Styx hit number six in the top forty. It included the following lines:

Babe, I'm leaving, I must be on my way
The time is drawing near
My train is going, I see it in your eyes
The love, the need, your tears
But I'll be lonely without you
And I'll need your love to see me through
Please believe me, my heart is in your hands
And I'll be missing you.

Now to me, these lines had a pertinent ring to them at the time, so I bought two copies of the single, one for her and one for me! I found the B side I'm Okay to be better, so got the two albums that these two songs were on, Cornerstone, and Pieces of Eight. I was hooked, Styx were and still are, in my opinion, an awesome band. Through Styx, I then got into the likes of REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, and the Alan Parsons Project. My appreciation of rock started to widen, so the rest as they say is history.

It is ironic to think, that a song that I now regard as complete and utter garbage got me and Phil into our favourite band, and indirectly got Phil to meet his second wife. As that went pear shaped, I hope he doesn't hold it against me!

So here is the original version of Styx recorded in 1979 singing Babe, which was written by the keyboard player, Dennis de Young, for his wife.

Musical Catch Up (XIII)

This is the last post in this series of catching up with the music for earlier threads. I have not been able to find any or decent videos for Rock & Roll Feeling, Hallelujah Chorus, I Can See For Miles, or The Message. All of those are the Styx versions of those tracks, they may be available by other artists. The other unmusical tracks in the archives are named after album titles.

This last one is a slightly different version of Waiting For Our Time from the Cyclorama album. This version is from a pre-tour documentary, and features three members of Journey, and three from REO Speedwagon, along with Tommy Shaw and James Young, as all three bands toured together.

A Life Defined By Music - Oliver's Army

In the last post, I mentioned that the way I chose to deal with the bullying at school was not my best career move. Instead of knuckling down and studying hard, I took the easy option, that of messing around. That way my grades dropped, but I was left in relative peace. I realised too late that this was not the best way to get the grades needed to do anything half decent. My school had "O" level options that worked against me as well, timetable constraints meant I had to sit two languages and two sciences, both of which are not me. I was not allowed to do two of the subjects I wanted to. As a result I had to resit some exams, but just about got away with a credible outcome.

The years running up to the exams were 1977-79. My memories of this time involve cycling five miles to the next village to play football with my mates. Also spending countless summer afternoons in Windsor, annoying the hell out of the tourists for the fun of it! The Italians were the easiest to wind up if I remember rightly. This was also the time when I first really discovered girls, though unfortunately for me they did not want to discover me! They preferred the idea of friendship with me to anything deeper, if you can be deep as a teenager.

Over this period, there was a sudden and dramatic change in the style of music available. Suddenly the punk and new wave scene took off. It was loud, in your face, and anti-establishment. Whereas I did not get totally immersed in the culture, I did really get bitten by the music. The likes of Blondie, The Jam, The Stranglers, The Undertones, Sex Pistols, Sham '69, The Clash, and The Ramones all found their way into my ever increasing record collection. The best of the lot though, in my opinion, were Elvis Costello and The Attractions. Here was a talented songwriter, with a good voice, doing short sharp incisive lyrics, backed by a equally sharp band. In fact the Armed Forces album is still one of my all time favourites. The artwork featuring the elephant graveyard is also awesome.

Oliver's Army is my favourite track from this era. It is also part of a musical genre unique to me, "music to fail your "O" levels to"!

A Life Defined By Music - Bohemian Rhapsody

Probably the next significant period in my life as defined by music, was the advent of winter in 1975. By now I was 13, and was just completing my first term at the local grammar school. I had been brought up to try to do your best at everything. I was eager to learn all these new subjects that were offered. I was finding out, however, that if you do well at school, you become a target for the bullies. Life was becoming a pain, both literally and metaphorically. With hindsight, the way I reacted then was not the best career move I could have made, but more of that next time.

As mentioned in Crazy Horses, to me the music scene at the time was pretty uninspiring, but out of this came a track that still blows me away today. From amongst the ordinary, came the extraordinary. The constant change of musical style and pace in this track to me was revolutionary. It had everything from opera to heavy rock, all in one song. It even had an accompanying video, nearly unheard of at the time. For many years, this track was my all time favourite, in my fantasy top ten, (since replaced by Freebird, but that's another story, that does not even make this mini series!).

To me this song brings back a sense of escapism from the times at school, it also defined me at the time. As I said, the track has several different styles within it, it could also be said that my life at the time had several different aspects to it. Some of which would appear to be at diverse odds, the same as opera and heavy rock, but all of which fused together somehow to be me at the time.

Nottingham

Just spent a really enjoyable night up in Nottingham, with some fellow members of the Planet Rock forum. For those that do not know Planet rock is the best station you can get via the digital medium. About 20 of us met up for five hours of drinking and conversing in the quaint old pub the Old Sal. It may look quaint, but plenty of real ale and rock music makes it even better! Stayed overnight in the height of luxury which is the Travelodge. What it lacked in style, it made up in the fact that it was two minutes from the pub. Handy when someone spills their beer all over you, could go and change and get back in less than five minutes. Later on, six of us headed on to Rock City. I have not been clubbing for years, if not decades, but it was loud and a cracking atmosphere. I snuck out at 1.30 not being able to hack the pace anymore, found a Subway still open to get some tea, and crept back to sleep.

Great time, thanks to those who organised it, good to meet some new people, and to catch up with some old friends.

There is a link to the Planet Rock forum, on the side of this main page.

Musical Up Date (XII)

Yet another one from the Paradise Theatre album, this one called Lonely People. No video as such, just the album cover for a backdrop. Still a cracking good song, with lyrics to match.

A Life Defined By Music - Crazy Horses

I have unashamedly "borrowed" this idea from some friends of mine, notably Hitchmo and Nai T. On reflection, my life has had some defining moments, all of which have been shaped to some degree by music. Narrowing this mini series of posts down to ten has been hard work, but for what it's worth this is me...

My first real exposure to music was on Top of the Pops, which my parents somewhat reluctantly let me watch from about the age of ten. At that time, 1972, the bands on that show appeared to fall into two or three categories. There was the ballads by people such as Gilbert O'Sullivan, there were the sing along anthems by the like of Wizard and Slade, or the original boy band battle between the Jacksons and the Osmonds. I now know that other genres such as prog rock were in the background, but at the time, to me that was it. The first record I ever bought was Circles by the New Seekers. The second was this - Crazy Horse by the Osmonds.

Yes they were a clean cut teen heart throb group, but this track just grabbed my attention. It was not just another soppy ballad. There was something about it, that made it stand out for me. I love the keyboards in it for example. If asked for the most embarrassing record that I own, my answer is not this one, but I will openly admit to having it. I would go as far as to describe it as a rock track.

So, for me, in a life defined by music, this is the first track that led me to where I am today.

Musical Catch Up (XI)

Every band that ever existed has at least one cheesy Christmas song! This is the Styx one, and goes by the name of All I want.

We Will Remember Them

In this day and age it is not "cool" to observe Remembrance Day. To me, that way of thinking is a load of cobblers. By remembering the sacrifice of those who have given their lives for our freedom, we are not celebrating war and death themselves. To me the act of remembrance is something that I have observed for as long as I can remember. The church I attended as a child, held the town's official service, and now as an adult, I still try to have a time of reflection at 11am on 11th November. It is not just remembering history, but the ongoing situations around the world. I am fortunate, in that I have not lost anyone directly to war, but I am still grateful for those who have defended the liberty of this country.

In my opinion, a greater sacrifice was that made by God, the giving of his only son, Jesus, for the freedom of all mankind. The shame is that not everyone has accepted this gift.

Years ago I bought the book Up the line to death, which is a collection of war poems from 1914-1918. The one that always gets me is by E.A.Mackintosh, who was killed in action in 1916. It is called In Memoriam, and is dedicated to Private David Sutherland, who was killed in action on May 16th 1916, and others who died.

In Memoriam

So you were David's father,
And he was your only son,
And the new-cut peats are rotting
And the work is left undone,
Because of an old man weeping,
Just an old man in pain,
For David, his son David,
That will not come again.

Oh, the letters he wrote you,
And I can see them still,
Not a word of the fighting
But just the sheep on the hill
And how you should get the crops in
Ere the year get stormier,
And the Bosches have got his body,
And I was his officer.

You were only David's father,
But I had fifty sons
When we went up in the evening
Under the arch of the guns,
And we came back at twilight -
O God! I heard them call
To me for help and pity
That could not help at all.

Oh, never will I forget you,
My men that trusted me,
More my sons than your fathers',
For they could only see
The little helpless babies
And the young men in their pride,
They could not see you dying,
And hold you while you died.

Happy and young and gallant,
They saw their first-born go,
But not he strong limbs broken
And the beautiful men bought low,
The piteous writhing bodies,
They screamed "Don't leave me, Sir,"
For they were only your fathers
But I was your officer.


I for one, will continue to remember them for the rest of my life.

Musical Catch Up (X)

Time for On my way, which is one of the bonus tracks on the Return to Paradise album. This track is now used to open most of their shows.

Musical Catch Up (IX)

Back in August, I did a post based on the song Paradise, dedicated to my lovely wife. Have discovered that the song was written for a musical based on the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Whilst the words are still more than applicable, she bears no resemblance to the hunchback! She may be a Welsh dragon at times though, only joking if you are reading this!!