The Music I Lost Touch With....

Isn’t is strange how you can forget about bands and songs yet years later you suddenly remember them and still know all the words to their songs? This happened to me recently, I was on youtube watching some classic videos from bands like Senseless Things, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and then Thousand Yard Stare.

Then there it was, a link on the side for a related video. The band? Airhead. The song? “Funny How”. I had to click it and remembered how amazing this slice of indie pop from the early 90’s really was. Then of course to check out their other singles, “Counting Sheep” and “Right Now”. I seriously loved this band when I was about 15, I used to play their album “Boing!” constantly. Not on CD though, on vinyl of course.

My rekindled love of Airhead then took me onto Myspace and there was an unofficial page and also I found an unofficial website. Just a shame I couldn’t get any free MP3’s of the songs. I never owned any Airhead CD’s but have all the singles on vinyl, but because I am now a Daddy, my vinyl collection resides nicely stored in my loft. Then I hopped onto eBay and it seems that “Boing!” on CD is quite sought after.

It then got me thinking about other bands I used to go and watch loads in the early 90’s. I can remember when I got my driving license in 1993 I just went to every gig I could for the next few years. Taking in loads of shows by bands I have no idea where they are now. Thousand Yard Stare, Voodoo Queens, These Animal Men, Kinky Machine, Mexico 70, Whiteout, Mambo Taxi, Joyrider, The Slingbacks, Compulsion and The Family Cat just to name a few of the bands I saw regularly. But back in those days, gigs were much cheaper, I could go see a signed band for £4, you’re lucky to get into a local show with bands you’ve not heard off for that price these days.

And of course punk shows were much cheaper then and the American bands seemed to come over more. We were always able to catch bands like Good Riddance, Ten Foot Pole, The Vandals, Lag Wagon and Strung Out in a smallish venue normally supported by Snuff or Vanilla Pod.

These were good times indeed and I wish I could still afford to head to as many shows as I did a few years ago, but as you grow up you get responsibilities and have bills to pay. And what with the global economy being as bad as it is, petrol prices are high, even though they have come down recently compared to a few months ago and tickets for shows are expensive. However much I love the excitement of a gig, I also love chilling out and spending time with my kids. I guess I’m just growing up, still it was nice to enjoy the songs I loved when I was 15 and I was so impressed I could still remember all the words. As I keep growing older that’s bound to be one of the things that changes…

Footnote: I will relay some stories from these days soon, especially of The Slingbacks!