#musicwasmyfirstlove

It started when I was 10, my love of music!

Our house wasn’t overly musical, we had a record player, it was a piece of furniture really, it looked like a sideboard but it had a record player inside it.

We didn’t have a lot of records but I clearly remember the soundtrack to Hair being amongst the few we owned.

The first record I ever purchased was either:

or:

#musicwasmyfirstlove

I think it was Yellow River but I can’t be 100% sure.

I wasn’t that interested in music really, but then…. everything changed. I saw someone on TOTP, someone who was to become a permanent fixture in my life. 1970, I was 10 and Marc Bolan and T.Rex were just on the cusp of greatness. Ride a white swan was climbing the charts and that one song had me hooked.

From that moment onwards music became the most important thing in my life.

Marc Bolan and T.Rex dominated my every waking moment (and my dreams). I was genuinely obsessed. the first concert I ever went to was T.Rex at Newcastle City Hall. What an introduction to live gigs, it was incredible. T.Rex  record releases were the only reason I ever played truant from school as I had to get down to HMV and make sure I bagged a copy of the latest single or album. I’d harass the shop staff and make them promise me I’d get the merchandise once they had finished with it. I bought every music magazine possible and cut out every pic or article that mentioned Marc. My bedroom walls were wall to wall posters.

I listened to Marc’s records every day, and my best friend, Stuart and I used to discuss, sometimes argue about who was best, Bolan (me) our Bowie (him).

When I went to senior school, as it was called back then, I was introduced to Bob Marley and the Wailers by my friend Robert. I had by this time expanded my musical tastes to include disco (naturally) but Bob was very new to me.

I felt very cool knowing I was listening to reggae, it felt edgy and grown up.  The Wailers led me on to lots of other reggae artists and I still enjoy listening to it to this day.

But, we were heading ever closer to 2 releases that would become staples in my love of music:

1976: at the age of 16, Jean Michel Jarre popped into my world and he has stayed with me ever since. I loved everything about Oxygene, it felt so modern. I grasped immediately that this was going to be a turning point in electronic music and to this day I still get goosebumps when I play the song. I also had a major crush on the devilishly good looking French man. It wasn’t mad obsessed love, like it was (and is) for Marc, but it was a proper crush nonetheless.

And then, 1978 ….. Wuthering Heights:

Kate came along and that was it, I abandoned everything and listened to the Kick inside constantly. The album  was played so often it had to be replaced as the scratches, which I always love when listening to vinyl, became so scratchy that it affected the sound of the album. Funnily enough, the same thing happened to Hounds of Love when it was released.

The Kick Inside was a masterpiece, unlike anything else that was released then; even now it still has a unique quality that has stood the test for time.

By 1978 I was buying huge amounts of vinyl and cassettes and was quite obviously becoming obsessed with collecting. The 70’s and 80’s were great periods for music, from Glam to Punk and on to New Romantics, and of course, disco, and I was now purchasing a wide range of music from Abba to X Ray Specs and anything in between.

The last great obsession came along in 1979, Gary Numan, or Tubeway Army as was, when Are Friends Electric came along.

From the start I knew Gary was going to be added to my list of ‘life long’ music must haves. The obsession with Gary was so great that I even went to Heathrow airport (with friends) to wave bye to him when he set off on his flight around the world. Driving to and from Heathrow in one day was quite crazy really, but it was a must do!

Of course there are lots more artists that I love, and lots more ‘all time favourite records that I listen to frequently. I also do try and keep up to date with the kids and the current musical landscape, but, like most people who grow up loving music, I always take myself back to the halcyon days of my youth.

And yes here I am, logging into Amazon to listen to Electric Warrior, ’nuff said!