planet mondo

See Friday the 16th, It's where I spent the evening of my 18th birthday

So another birthday rolls round like a bad penny, or to be specific - the 25th one since my 18th (ouch!). And, considering it's the Silver Jubilee of possibly my booziest of all birthdays - I've still got a fairly full recall of the day..

*Cue plucked harps, wobble vision and screen melts*

Which included getting my first Walkman (Saisho, not Sony), some 'as requested' LPs from the parents - 'Let's Stick Together' Bryan Ferry, and a glamtastic comp' 'Ballroom Blitz' were a couple. Hoovering up the Tennents Extra on the commute to art college, rounded off with a few 10 O'Clock vodkas in 'The Refractory' with Paul T Marmite, Bleech, Lil and Mrs-PM-To-Be (although we were just classmates at the time ) then hoofing along to the lipsmacking, non-stop, snog-a-longa-Christmas that was, the end of term Tech' tear up..

Following a quickie drop-in at my dull-as-dumplings former sixth form disco, I don't know why I went, how I got there or even got in (it was an over subscribed sellout, and I was totally ticketless), but Hanoi Rocks were playing at Crocs, just a short train hop away. Before the gig I only had swift shrift for H.Rocks - but Snakes Alive! The Rocksy rockers put on one of the most explosive shows ever seen at the venue, and I came reeling out a complete convert.

Hanoi Rock - 'Blitzkrieg Bop'. Filmed at The Marquee 19/12/1983 - three days after Crocs.


Their albums are lightweight wishy-washy affairs, but live and in action they packed more wallop than a one inch punch, and for me, are still topped only by The Damned's Crocs show a few days later...

The Damned come to Crocs - rammed to the max - where you stood was where you stayed

So how bizarre then that almost 25 years to the day, I'll be back at the same venue (now the Pink Toothbrush), on the 23rd next week, for a Crocs '80-85' reunion 'do', where a sure-fire floor-filler was always The Sweet's 'Ballroom Blitz', a track that featured in The Damned's set of the time (see above), and of course The Sweet who did the Rayleigh run sometime in '85 (see below), .

Brian Connolly at The Pink Toothbrush '85

But as it's my birthday (and I'll sigh if I want to), and being on a micro glam-buzz at the mo', I'm treating myself to a couple of tunes from the crypt that fit the mood of the moment...

The Damned tag-teaming with Motorhead as Motordamn on The Sweet's '73 shuffler

Motordamn - Ballroom Blitz



And another goth-gone-glam anthem that was guaranteed to get 'em flapping on the floor

Bauhaus - Telegram Sam



Should you happen to be at Crocs reunited next week, and see someone wearing mostly this - give 'em a tap on the shoulder and let's raise a glass and shake a leg together..