Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Dear Diary:1980 - May


Phew! May is a month of high jumps and runarounds. Literally

Spooky doings on the 14th when a cracked and phantom voice started summoning me (by name) from the record player 'are you there' - 'come in'. Dark arts that had me bolting from the bedroom a'Scooby Doo style. Worra relief then. when, mystery solved! It turned out be a ham radio fan that had somehow beamed and broadcast himself from my speakers, trying to tap up a fellow enthusiast - one of the 'Spud' family across the street.

Sleeping in the park - not in anyway likely to be the soundest of nights snooze is it. Factor in being charged and chased by a local gang of older skinheads known as the Ant Hill Mob ( named after the Wacky Races mobsters - not for crime connections, more the bonehead-count they could cram into a single Cortina). Bolting off again to grab a few shattered hours in the back of garage forecourt 'Self Drive' transit van. No wonder Sunday was spent sleeping. And behold! Budgie spin-off series Charlie Endell Esq..

All that and,  a first shave, switching from DM's to Monkey boots (J J Burnell influence there) and local busybody 'Boing' poking his beak in.

Chart-wise it's just the Subs Teenage, but items bagged being: The Damned's debut album, and,  for the first time, dipping an indie toe outside Top 75 with two Crass albums and one single..

UK Subs - Teenage



Crass - Bloody Revolutions




Would you believe it -  the exact chart I flunked on my 'which year' Pop Master Q..

Top 75 singles

Top 75 albums

The full Persons Unknown foldout - incredible. And all hand drawn

15 comments:

davyh said...

May 13th - 'some kid had a fit' ?

John Medd said...

Not that The Leader gets as much airplay at Medd Towers as he did back in the day, but even now when I listen to 'Hello Hello It's Good To Be Back' I can still hear someone near the end shouting 'Mrs Medd!' The first time I heard it my blood ran cold. I've always blamed the parents.

BTW, I know this will be construed as a plot spoiler by your many faithful disciples, but when did you hang up your Dear Diary pen? Or do you still keep a Zane Lowe/Grooverider/Chris Moyles calendar hanging over the marital bed?

Mondo said...

80s teen-speak Davy– think:Grange Hill (Gripper, Zammo, Tucker etc…)
I remember most scribblings, but not a clue on that one.

Well, the calendars in this format draw to a close in Dec 80 J. Although I did dip in with a five year format at other times during the 80s – but had no stamina for it. Until blogging came along that is

davyh said...

Ah, yes. I remember we would frequently describe teachers, entirely politically incorrectly, as 'throwing an Epi'. Happy days.

God DLT was foul.

Hawkfall said...

The 1980 album chart continues to be an intriguing mixture of MOR, pop, NWOBHM, New Wave and ska, at least once you get outside of the Top 10. I'm more and more convinced that the years 1978-80 were a time when a lot of different genres were all peaking at the same time.

planet mondo said...
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Mondo said...

Almost everyone seemed to be on the sharp end of a dodgy moniker at one time or other. And the teachers could be just as crushing - I was labelled 'Blow-wave' by the PE Teacher for the first two years at Seniors. I mean, if it isn't unsettling enough being at Big School anyway. No wonder I found comfort in punk.

DLT - he's like the troll from the Billy Goat's Gruff meets Gimli

You're right Thumper it's like pop, rock and all the spin-offs and sub-genres have come into alignment. Look at the Top 20: Sky, The Undertones, Jacko, Barbara Dicko! Lena Martell seated between Iron Maiden and The Pretenders - head-scratching stuff..

Jon Peake said...

Ah, the days when DLT was still a pin-up...

Anonymous said...

Monkey boots! with neon laces?

Mondo said...

He's like one of those faces drawn from iron filings and a magnetic pen FC. Kid Jensen is Mr June, and who knew chinos were all the rage back in 1980, 30 years ahead of the 2011 revival.

I had white laces with my DMs Jacqui, but no neons with my monkeys - did you then?

Piley said...

Good to see Sid's birthday solemnly noted every year. Does it still make it to the yearly Mondo calendar?

Boots got fixed - handy

School disco - crossed out?

and some drugs talk too.

all good!

Kolley Kibber said...

Now, whatever were you planning for May 16th when Mum and Dad were 'out'? Cider and snogging??

Mondo said...
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Mondo said...

We've forgotten Sid's birthday in the Mondo Nerve-centre P. We'll have to correct that one.

After the previous month's Mr Nasty copper, some amiable ol' bobby visited our school to do the Drugs Lecture. Of course the minute he offered 'who'd buy this tobacco tin for a fiver?' (the point being: his pretend drugs had a street value of several multiples more) - some wag put has hand up and said 'I will'

Cider - very likely ISB, Triple Vintage being my tipple of choice back then. But snogs and similar, all that went out the window for a bit went punk came along.

Anonymous said...

Yes I did! Neon green, I loved my monkey boots.