My daughter told me the other day that music of the Eighties is now a Big Thing. My response was of the "what the fuck" kind until I remembered how much I'd loved the music of the Eighties.
Joy Division. New Order. Siouxsie and the Banshees. The Cure. The Birthday Party. The Bad Seeds. Nick Cave. Einstürzende Neubauten etc etc.
But of course these are not the bands that turn up on current playlists. "Take on me," said my daughter, trying to think of an example, and I realised it was all pop. The kind of pop you really want to forget. Pretty much like the whole of the Eighties, come to think of it. It's the one decade of my life that I would like very much to fold up and shove into a black hole, given just how truly fucking awful it was. Everything bad that ever happened to me and everything bad I ever did happened in THAT decade. The scars I still bear today happened in THAT decade. Everything about myself that I'm still trying to escape happened in THAT decade.
Except, perhaps, the music (but not the pop music). By chance, when I turned on the telly last night, an ancient episode of Top of the Pops was playing......."Take on me." By chance, when I walked into a shoe shop this morning on Oxford Street, they were playing......."Take on me."
Aargh. Was I being haunted? Was this silly song going to follow me everywhere? Then I walked into another shop on Oxford Street and they were playing New Order's "Blue Monday" which was so goddamn cool that I stayed for longer than I'd meant to and spent too much money.
I still have the original 12" extended version somewhere. I used to blast it out on the speakers whenever my parents went out for filter coffee (they were probably trying to get away from me). Instead of rushing off to dig it out (I hardly need to thanks to YouTube), now all I can think is: how much could I get for this ancient piece of vinyl.
And continuing with the Eighties theme, I then went to a branch of Costa I didn't know well (Rathbone Place) and discovered they have filter coffee. Wow, rare find! I was so delighted I had a giant cup and will now no doubt be awake for several days.
"How does it feel..........."
(And yes it does take over two minutes for the vocals to kick in!)
Joy Division. New Order. Siouxsie and the Banshees. The Cure. The Birthday Party. The Bad Seeds. Nick Cave. Einstürzende Neubauten etc etc.
But of course these are not the bands that turn up on current playlists. "Take on me," said my daughter, trying to think of an example, and I realised it was all pop. The kind of pop you really want to forget. Pretty much like the whole of the Eighties, come to think of it. It's the one decade of my life that I would like very much to fold up and shove into a black hole, given just how truly fucking awful it was. Everything bad that ever happened to me and everything bad I ever did happened in THAT decade. The scars I still bear today happened in THAT decade. Everything about myself that I'm still trying to escape happened in THAT decade.
Except, perhaps, the music (but not the pop music). By chance, when I turned on the telly last night, an ancient episode of Top of the Pops was playing......."Take on me." By chance, when I walked into a shoe shop this morning on Oxford Street, they were playing......."Take on me."
Aargh. Was I being haunted? Was this silly song going to follow me everywhere? Then I walked into another shop on Oxford Street and they were playing New Order's "Blue Monday" which was so goddamn cool that I stayed for longer than I'd meant to and spent too much money.
I still have the original 12" extended version somewhere. I used to blast it out on the speakers whenever my parents went out for filter coffee (they were probably trying to get away from me). Instead of rushing off to dig it out (I hardly need to thanks to YouTube), now all I can think is: how much could I get for this ancient piece of vinyl.
And continuing with the Eighties theme, I then went to a branch of Costa I didn't know well (Rathbone Place) and discovered they have filter coffee. Wow, rare find! I was so delighted I had a giant cup and will now no doubt be awake for several days.
"How does it feel..........."
(And yes it does take over two minutes for the vocals to kick in!)
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