Category: 41-4-40

Vic Reeves and The Wonderstuff - Dizzy LCR 963. Loughborough Campus Radio. Broadcasting all over the student village. And live to the Purple Onion. Ahh. Those were the days. As I mentioned a few years back, as a kid I used to pretend to do radio shows in my parents' front room. At University I … Continue reading 1991

The Las- There she goes Those of you who knew me in the late 1980s will know that I was a militant little git. Although the Anti-Apartheid Movement was the only organised political group that I was actively involved in (and one that spanned party politics for the most part), I tended to have a … Continue reading 1990

The Cure - Lovesong And so to the last year of the 1980s, and a song by The Cure, the only band that I become a bit obsessed with. There was something mystical about Robert Smith. The crumpled clothes, the bird's nest hair, the hi-top trainers, the wavering voice and the songs. My old Smooly … Continue reading 1989

Yello - The Race I love a bit of ultra-produced pop. Yello were the weirdest of things... Dieter Meier, a millionaire Swiss industrialist, and his sidekick Boris Blank. Looking like a European Terry Thomas, I can envisage Meier holed up in his depths-of-a-mountain lair, surrounded by Fairlight CMI music computers and over-fluffy cats, plotting to … Continue reading 1988

New Order - True Faith My favourite song. Ever. True Faith is special to me in so many ways. New Order were a musical bridge for me, taking me from hip hop and electronica into the world of guitars, indie and later grunge. The video a kaleidoscope of colour, oversized dogs, and face slapping. And … Continue reading 1987

Run DMC - My Adidas So back to the hip hop for a short while. Run DMC's My Adidas is an important song for me in two ways: firstly, for the adoration of the sports brand which still is my preferred choice of trainer; and secondly for a bit of a muso reason. Adidas are … Continue reading 1986

The Waterboys - The Whole of the Moon This is the last song on this list that I got into at a date later than when it was released. I was introduced to The Waterboys when I met (a now long-standing friend) Becky back in 1987. The album that this came from, This is the … Continue reading 1985

Chaka Khan - I feel for you In my early teens I was into hip hop. The Street Sounds electro series of albums provided a slice of East Coast/West Coast urban culture to the mean streets of South West Hertfordshire. Once a week I'd join a bunch of assorted misfits at a church hall in … Continue reading 1984

The The - Uncertain Smile The The are a band that I came to in the late 1980s, with the wonderful album Mindbomb, but (because of the glut of wonderful memories from the late 80s) it's a track from their first proper album that makes this list. Uncertain Smile has the best piano solo on … Continue reading 1983

Joe Jackson - Steppin Out I don't know why this song has stuck with me over the years, but it has. Something about it takes me back to the early eighties. 1982 saw the beginning of the football season that would nurture the affection for Watford that has stayed with me ever since. Starting with … Continue reading 1982