Friday, October 7, 2011

Dear Diary:1980 - August



We posted a pic, some years back - of a buzzed-up teenage me wearing a just-bought muslin shirt (Anarchist Gang design). It was one of three tees bought from the ex-Seditionaries stock being sold off at Boy, while 430 King's Rd was being refitted as World's End. And behold, here's the very date in week two of our holiday (a week spent at home with trips and days out: Clacton, nan's...) 6th August!


After two weeks away, the record buying is back on track with everything from Spizz to Crass, being added to the collection (although I can't seem to find Discharge's (Fight Back). The Damned pitch in with three appearances - look away if you don't want to know the answers: White Rabbit (on import), the Rat Scabies produced Urban Gorilla and the entire band (minus Vanian) backing Magic Michael on Millionaire. We'll have more on this one-off curiosity later (with an exclusive from C Sensible)


But the key 45 here is Adam and the Ants. I'd heard 'Kings' deep into a Peel show one night - it may well have even been the playout track - the disjointed twanging and modal tones of Marco's riff, the clattering war drums and the tribal callback and chants crackling out of my radio at near-to-midnight, made it sound like nothing on earth - and of course I was hooked from the first hearing.

Well really! How's your blooming luck - all those stolen moments of flashes and snatches of free-eyefuls (if you'll pardon the phrase) from LOTR and she only goes and winks at my best mate Whitlow doesn't she (17th). Incredible! Although there's a snip of follow up news (22nd), but I'll leave that for another time...

Top 75 singles

Top 75 albums

A couple of oddities and obscurities rather than the obvious...The poppy-horror B-side to White Rabbit and an early doors version of 'Kings'...

The Satellites - Urbane Gorilla



The Damned - Rabid (Over You)



Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier (first version)




Speaking of Rabid - the 'rabbits film' noted on the 9th - is low budget, mutant bunny flick. Night of the Lepus

9 comments:

Dirk said...

Jeez, what a shirt: is the left arm really THAT long ... or are you holding a white PVC bag in your hand there?!

davyh said...

I have a feeling the underlying LOTR story arc is approaching a thrilling conclusion.

Mondo said...

That's the essence of what mum and dad said Dirk, when I bowled up wearing it. It's actually one of these shirts but I'd unclipped the D-ring on the sleeve so it fell to full length..

It never quite reached the Mrs Robinson wrap up I'd been hoping for Davy. But the 19th biz, There'd been an ITV shockumentary of dodgy record shop returns/sales and chart rigging.

Off the back of this, I'd phoned LOTR pretending to be from the official chart compiler (BMRB was it?)doing a spot check on recent records bought. Of course she rumbled it wasn't any sort of a BMRB endorsed survey - but played along, and put her name down for having bought some Diana Ross releases..

Being a teacher at a local school, she probably thought it was some bubbly pupil having a chuckle - rather than an offstage boggler

davyh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jon Peake said...

Just opposite Henry J Beans!

That's a very trendy shirt. I would have been far to shy to wear it. But it looks great on you. I wish I'd had your confidence.

Cocktails said...

What's that on the 24th? Paint scraping?!

What a top 75 too. Xanadu,Upside Down, Kings of the Wild Frontier AND Love will Tear us Apart all on the same chart.

Mondo said...

That's one Jon - although it's badged as Birds Nest in the pic - but had the vibe of a Schooner Steakhouse. It was a bitter sweet trip as I'd been obsessed with Seditionaries/Sex and the punk clubhouse of 430 King's Road for around a year before this visit. Only for it have gone by a couple of weeks when I finally got there - gutted. And then getting hassled by a couple of runaway glue-sniffing scots in the doorway of Boy for spare change..

It also shows how naive I was, the GSQTQ tee had a shoulder tab reading Anarchy 'For soldiers, prostitutes, dykes and punks'. I didn't have a clue what a 'dyke' was..

Yes paint scraping - not a clue though Cocktails...

Kolley Kibber said...

I'm a bit concerned about August 19th's entry. It looks like it says 'Clarke lit grunts'.

Did he? And did he get singed in the process?

Mondo said...

Do you know I think you're right ISB. But I can't for the life of me think for me who 'firestarter' Clarke is. Or if singeing occured