Not long after this I saw Lonnie Donegan on The Palladium and was soon listening to the sound of "My old man's a dustman" and delving into his already growing back catalogue. Still love "Cumberland Gap"
Then as I said in earlier post along came the Beatles, Stones etc. I also started hearing a guy called Donovan and I finally had my first real musical hero, sadly I have never mastered any kind of musical instrument, though I did have a washboard for awhile. Donovan had this strange voice and that high pitched mouth organ that fairly whistled through the air waves. Far too many of his songs to list that I love, but I have chosen as my tune of the day, my all-time favourite, which actually was written by Micky Softley, (who also wrote another of Donovan's hits, War drags on") but Donovan's version is in my mind the best.
Being a generation or so later, my entry into music was both different and alarmingly similar.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, my Dad was very into music (as is my mutti too), so I had the benefit of exploring their record collection as a kid.
The first record that I really remember absolutely loving was Eddie Cochran's Greatest Hits. Again - going back to what I said the other day - I read the liner notes obsessively and was massively impressed that he wrote his own songs and played instruments too. Elvis - who I never got into - didn't. Eddie Cochran 1 - Elvis 0.
Another song that I have loved longer than I can remember is - funnily enough - 'Cumberland Gap' by Lonnie Donegan. I guess without being exposed to bluegrass or later developments in metal, what stood out about it was how energetic and simply *fast* it was. You could hear Lonnie almost getting out of breath as he sang it.
I also remember loving some generic K-Tel compilations - especially one called 'Formula 30'. Again, the internet is a wonderful thing and instantly corrects me with the information that it was actually on Decca - http://www.discogs.com/Various-Formula-30/release/903957. It's a pretty good compilation actually!
When it came to the time to buy my own records, sadly hair metal was all the rage. Or at least growing up in the East Midlands it was - the midlands is, after all, the home of metal. So the first single I bought with my own money was either 'Signs' by Tesla (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gklM1AiZX0s) or 'You Could be Mine' by Guns and Roses. I presume no link is needed for that one.
I honestly can't remember which one came first - they may even have both been bought on the same visit to the little record store in Sutton-in-Ashfield's Trading Post. A little record store which I can see without any trace of exaggeration changed my life!
What Mark fails to tell is that I previously worked with his mum at Wakefield's Army Stores on Westgate in Mansfield before the Four Seasons Shopping centre opened. We used to listen to the Redifusion Radion during our breaks, in particular Emporor Rosko on a Saturday. Then several years later when we opened up our market stall in Sutton, Mark's mum & dad & indeed a young and as he says skinny Mark started coming in looking for stuff. Being rock fans, in particular Ten Years After, they had a big influence on Mark's early music tastes. Then when he was looking for somewhere to do work experience his mum thought it would be a good idea for him to work with me. Big mistake, or not, you decide. If you know Mark then you will no doubt have heard about some of the stuff we started to listen to, and after the work experience Mark became part of our team, working Saturdays and during school holidays
ReplyDelete