Yesterday's stage-diving photograph got me trawling through my old music shots again, where I still have a section marked 'Unknown'! This guitarist, for example. I haven't the foggiest idea who he is or what band he was in. It looks like a great gig, though, doesn't it?..
According to my 1981 diary, between May and June of that year I went to see The Tubes, Split Enz, U2, Modern Eon, Altered Images, Bill Nelson, The Cramps, Pauline Murray, Squeeze and Toyah! Oh, and Victor Blackman too, but he was a Daily Express Press Photographer giving a talk at Manchester University, so that doesn't count! It's no wonder I always say I've lived through the most exciting period of music there's been, and I feel so sorry for the kids growing up today having Adele and Sam Smith forced down their lug 'oles! Where's the 'Get up and Boogy' when those depressos come on the radio? In the mall where I have my studio the radio drones on all day long with Key 103. It's mind-numbing! Piccadilly Radio, as it once was known, used to be one of the most exciting radio stations in the country. Everyone had one of their pink stickers in their bedroom window. But now they're just corporate, and bland, and boring. Anyway, each to their own and I can't really diss a whole generation for its musical taste, and I know I sound like my Dad, but it's just that our music was better. So there!..
