The Durutti Column

I have just got tickets for the Durutti Column at the Bridgewater Hall on April 30th. I can't remember how many times I have seen or heard them in the distant past, but I think this will be the fourth time in the last ten years or so. Many years ago my former boyfriend was their roadie. A few years later I lived next door to Bruce Mitchell and Vini Reilly with my former husband. The band would occasionally rehearse at home - very civilised, Bruce would come round to let us know, and it was always during the day. The houses were semi detached, so Vini's room shared the wall with our bedroom. I had my two older children at home in that house, and when I was giving birth to Vicky, Vini was playing guitar next door, unaware of what was going on. It's 26 years ago on January 26th! Unbelievable. The midwife who attended me was very impressed - her son was a big fan. As Vicky and Jamie grew up, they discovered the Durutti Column and I was able to tell Vick this story. We moved from that house in 1987, but they have met up with Vini at one of his concerts. The Durutti Column name came from an anarchist group known as the Movement of the 24th January, according to Tony Wilson - another connection, as that's my birthday! I'm looking forward to seeing them at the Bridgewater Hall - it will be an interesting venue.

Burundi drummers in Halifax

Last week I went to listen to a talk a neighbour was giving to a local WI group. She runs a small charity in Rwanda in her spare time, raising money for very practical projects. Her talk was illustrated by some great photos. I hadn't realised that Rwanda was a green and very pleasant land - lakes, forests and hills. One photo looked just like the Peak District, until I realised the earth was a deep dark red. Burundi used to be part of Rwanda, and I guess the landscape is similar. Many years ago I saw the Burundi drummers play in the courtyard space at the Piece Hall in Halifax. It was a surreal and inspiring experience. I had first come across their music on Joni Mitchell's Hissing of Summer Lawns, possibly my first experience of world music in the west, though I do remember that John Peel occasionally played unusual tracks from far flung places.
On that fine summer evening the distinctive rhythm of the Burundi drums echoed through the galleries of the Piece Hall and round the hills of Halifax. I appreciate now that the landscape of Calderdale may not have seemed as alien to the performers as I had imagined.

Terry Reid

I knew inspiration would come thick and fast for this particular blog. I have scrawled pages of band names and associated memories in a big notebook, so I don't forget who I want to write about. A song heard on the radio by chance, news of an untimely death, buying tickets for gigs in Spring 2011, connecting with old friends - it's all going to prompt me.
Last week my old friend C P Lee posted a link to Terry Reid's new Irish tour on Facebook.
In the mid 60s there was a fantastic run of package tours in Manchester. A theatre was a more respectable venue for a young teenage girl to visit- I didn't hit the basement dives until I was about 15. My friends and I saw an amazing range of artists including the Small Faces,the Beach Boys, Gene Pitney, Roy Orbison, Dave Dee etc, the wonderful Walker Brothers ( oh how we screamed for Scott). On one of the package tours, at the Odeon as I remember, there was a band with a great young singer - Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers. The singer was Terry Reid. The single was The Hand don't fit the Glove, and he was unforgettable. In the early 70s I rediscovered him as a solo artist, and some years ago ( before Spotify, Youtube and even Amazon) my lovely children tracked down River on CD for me for Mothers' Day.
I'd like to try and see him again this year.

Stuck in the Middle

I had a feeling that events might prompt memories, and sadly it's a death that has prompted this one. Gerry Rafferty died earlier this week, and even the Today programme played Baker St. I first came across him as a member of the Humblebums with Billy Connolly - such a daft but happy name. When Stealers Wheel were touring the university and college circuit in 1972/3 I went to see them at Salford University. At the time I was part of a hippy dance troupe, formed by Allan Prior. By day he was a computer wizard, working for ICL. By night he was an idiot dancer, leading a group of like minded in his wake. Small, round, with a red beard and longish hair, he looked like a character from the Hobbit. I don't think he had any academic background in computer studies. He had just grown up with them. I believe he eventually got a honorary degree, possibly from one of the Manchester universities. He enthralled us with his visions of a computerised future - the idea that sound and vision could be combined - computer driven light shows - all too much! He had six children - where are they now? - and sadly he died of cancer mid to late 70s. Thanks to him, as his dance troupe we were on every guest list for every gig or concert in the Manchester area. Salford University gigs on a Friday night were particularly good. I can remember seeing Wings and Curved Air there among others.
For some reason when Stealers Wheel played we shared a dressing room! Our status as dancers may have been to do with how amazing we were, but you have to remember this was a time when the audiences sat cross legged on the floor, nodding their heads to the music. So a group of hippy dancers were worth watching - especially Juliet Begley!
Someone from the band told me to listen to Pharaoh Saunders, so I did. This is how you learnt about music in those days. Luckily I worked at Salford Library at the time, and they had a record lending section. You had to take your stylus in to be inspected, and if it made the grade you could borrow LPs.
How times have changed.....

My back pages

I was about ten years old  when I went to my first concert. Music has always been really important to me. At Junior school we argued the relative merits of Cliff and Elvis until the Beatles and the Stones hijacked our lives. I fell asleep listening to Radio Luxembourg and Radio Caroline from an early age - absorbing lyrics subliminally. Johnnie Walker signing off with "Let me wrap you in my warm and tender love". Lunch time discos at the girls' grammar school I went to featured records hot from the Twisted Wheel. 1967's Summer of Love took me into new worlds.

The first LP I bought was the Temptations' 'Getting Ready'. The second was Love's 'Forever Changes'. My father had already introduced us to Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Dave Brubeck on one of his flying visits back from working abroad. 

There's a soundtrack to my life. Songs and lyrics are more evocative for me than any smell of baking. I know I'm not the only person that feels this, and I find that if I let myself focus on the memories, I can recall the experiences. Nearly five decades of seeing live music, as well as listening to radio and records, and all the other ways you can access music nowadays. You tube is amazing for reliving the past - every style of music exists simultaneously through the internet. In recent years I've shared old and new musical interests with my three children - something that's constantly evolving and developing.

I'm starting this new blog as a travel through time, but I may change that plan to respond to events - the sad recent death of Captain Beefheart inspired me to put a piece on my first blog, Life and Death in the Peak District - it's the last post (no pun intended, but I quite like the idea of that).

Music has always been my inspiration and comfort - and live music, going to see bands, working in clubs and concert halls has been a really important part of my life - and continues to be so.

I hope you'll enjoy reading these experiences as much as I'll enjoy recalling them.

First group I went to see

I listened to Annie Lennox on the radio yesterday - she chose Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks as one of her all time important tracks.
She reminded me of how important the Kinks are to the development of contemporary music and song writing. They were the first group I ever saw. It would have been 1964, I think, and they were on a package tour at the Eccles Broadway. The Broadway was a cinema, and I don't remember there being concerts on there again. I'm convinced that Marianne Faithful was on the same bill, accompanied by a guitarist who could have been John Williams. There was also a singer called Bobby Shafto. the Kinks wore their matching pink jackets and were fantastic. What a privilege to have seen them back then.