40 years ago

Rachel deserves her name on here because of an act of extreme kindness. She has a fourth anniversary present - some chocolate - and gave some to Newton, Huw, Barnaby, Alison, Bev and me. When Rachel gave me my "bit" Bev said to her "Don't rub it in, Rach!" That sent me wondering what the anniversary was. It happened to be because Rachel had been going out with Kinny for four weeks. Howard is waging war on the Bartlett uniform system by wearing brown shoes. Well done Howard for putting one across Bartlett and his assorted fools. * Last night John Peel played "Let's be adult" by the Ambitious Lovers again so I've recorded it on tape. He also had a live recording of Big Flame which was appalling. But they did have a song called "Deborah".  I'm not telling what happened in the mitching incident. ** No sign of "Never turn away" in the charts, thank God. *** -------- Footnotes * Bartlett was Mr Bartlett, our headmaster. Bit of...

Good and bad news. We welcome back into our ranks Bk 10, which has been away for some time. Good old Bk 10 * The great controversy with my diary has died down. The great controversy with Jackie Whitehouse and me has risen its ugly head and the bastard won't go away.  Before school I walked to the wall where Bev, Alison and Rachel were. Bev says something about Jackie so I ignore her. When Luty, Howard and Newton have made their respective entrances (what IS this crap??) Jackie appears on the other side of the road. Bev shouts "There's Jackie Whitehouse!" And I shout "Shut up!" Everyone says "Why? Do you fancy her?" - including Rachel - and I reply "No comment". Rachel says "I'll go and tell her" but she doesn't. Everyone got at me throughout the day about Jackie. On the way home, Jackie's behind us (Bev, me, Jez Hall, Spillers, Luty, Needham) and Bev says "Well look who it is!" And Jackie starts bashing her...

Absolutely nothing of importance happened but does that stop me writing? Not in the least. My room has a lot more room now cos my desk has gone and I've got a large area to do what I wish in. We - or rather I - will soon be getting my TV* repaired. It has been moved so I can watch TV in bed. Late night horror movies! You think I'm like that, do you? I'm sure you do. ** No additions to songs / poems etc. I can't really be bothered. I'd like to write a new song. I found some songs I wrote on 15th May (see Bk 9). I briefly read one song and the lyrics are absolutely corny. Here's a snippet. REDACTED *** Terrible! It's one of the worst things I've ever written. It's also got a tune but you don't care about that, do you? **** ---------- Footnotes * I had a quite massive colour TV in my bedroom, bought for £30 from Oxfam a year before. I used it for my computer mostly though I did occasionally watch TV in bed.  ** Who is the "you" here??? ***...

Side one of "Zoolook" may sound like musical death but side two makes up for it brilliantly. £4.99 from Boots. Favourites are "Zoolookologie" and "Blah blah cafe". * -------- I may resurrect "Haywire" - see Bk 4 or 5. It used to be about Debbie but could be about anyone at the moment ie it is a true love song! I don't write many. ** I'm thinking of going to a university, either Bristol or Bath. *** Well Brud's having his room changed and he's having my white desk so I'm having his radio and amp from his hifi system. **** --------- Footnotes * So I went to Cardiff and spent my £5 Boots voucher I had won the previous week on the new album by Jean Michel Jarre. "Musical death". Hahaha. What I meant to say was "a pioneering hyperdelic samplefest of ideas". Obviously. ** This must have been a different "Haywire" to the song I recorded a few months later which definitely wasn't a true lo...

Oh dear 1. Outside school this morning, for no apparent reason, Beverly shouted out "Jackie Whitehouse" and I stared at her. After school I was walking away from Beverly, Alison and the "lovers" when Bev shouted out for me to turn around. I turned round and Bev was pointing at Jackie. I said "No way, Bev". I walked with Jackie later and didn't dare say anything to her.* Oh dear 2 Almost everyone in the school followed my instructions from yesterday. To add to my embarrassment, Mulrooney cut the picture out and stuck it on her notice board in the computer room. I therefore publicly proclaimed the photo to be terrible. -------- My glasses shaded over at lunchtime and Newton and I wandered around school. By the Junior Bloc a kid said "Oh, dark glasses to look cool, is it?" I ignored him. As I entered the Old Bloc I walked into solid black. Ha ha ha. I chewed gum throughout the afternoon and nobody noticed. ---------- Newton was impressed by IBM ...

Instructions. 1 - Buy a copy of the Penarth Times newspaper  2 - Ignore a load of OAP news and turn to the 7th page  3 - Look at the photo under the headline "Computwr Whizzkids" 4 - Laugh yourself silly. Ok I know it's a terrible photo of me but there are worse, I can assure you -------- Other matters. Rhiannon reckons I fancy Jackie Whitehouse!  Yet more sightings of the two lovers walking arm in arm around the school. As usual, a boring day. A session from Microdisney last night with some brilliant songs ("464" and "Horse overboard"). * They've got an album called "We hate you South African Bastards". I haven't written a song for days. Who cares? I've got one line "Why do we take it in turns to spit venom at each other?" which could go into "We should be talking to each other", if ever I write it. To be honest I told Rhiannon for a joke to ask Beverly about Jackie cos Rhiannon is nosey and wanted to know who...

Joy all round, nearly! A new JMJ LP out next week, called "Zoolook". Also a Julian Cope LP "Fried" including "Sunspots"!!! Also a new Tangerine Dream live LP. Also an album with Hard Corps on it *. Also a single by The Performing Lovers** - I think - called "Let's be adult" on EG. Also a Red Guitars LP, a Cocteau Twins LP, Cabaret Voltaire LP and a Kinks LP. Oh well, all good things come to an end. Yet more sightings of the two lovers walking arm in arm around the school. I've added more lines to "You say". Newton has got IBM T4. People are noticing my "shades". Mainly Lesley and Elaine. Not that other girl with the initials RT. "Oh how long will it take Till she sees the mistake  She has made" ("Baby's in black" / Beatles '64) *** --------- The rest of the day has been boring in the least. Song I want to find and buy. "Every conversation" by The June Brides (I think). ...

Ha ha ha! Spiller said he couldn't hear anything on side one of the tape but liked the song "The impulse factor"! WHAT??? Anyway, Newton told me to make a good copy of the tape. No way! I'll put all my instrumentals onto the tape - mainly my sequencer rambles * He also wants his other tapes back. He can have them back, blank. No evidence but I'll make a copy for myself. Addition to list of songs that remind me of Rachel - "Language" by 23 Skidoo. ** Alison's boyfriend wants to read Bk 12. Jackie wants to know when I'm forming a band. What band?  Oh yeah, we had another performance of the "R + K" kissing game outside school today ----- Footnotes. * "Sequencer rambles". I had an Oric computer which I programmed to be a sequencer, playing up to three notes simultaneously. This can be heard on my early tapes where I also programmed the Oric to be a primitive drum machine.  ** Could it be that the songs didn't remind me of Rach...

Short and simple. I took IBM T3 and T4 to school and gave them to Newton. No sales, just lending them out. Spiller has got T4. Much interest aroused by their presence. Short, sharp and simple.

At last I've written a guitar song I can be proud of. "She's so automated". A killer bass line, great soloing and silly lyrics add up to a hit song, to be the star of IBM T5 * Someone will have to be very foolish to buy IBM T4. Side one is side one of T2 but quietly. Side two is absolute silence. I'm not going to be a popular character in school. Who cares? Who would bother buying it anyway? "She's so automated" is really good. I mentioned the title in Bk 9 and wrote the bassline about 3 weeks ago. I wrote the lyrics on the spot rhyming "her" with "answer". Hopeful track listing for T5 - "Dance", "Slight", "Waltz", "Transit", "She's so automated", "Parallel objectives". Side two. "60 seconds in heaven", "Heaven and hell", "You say", "Insult", "Live without you" ** (could be a reject?), "Embarrassing situation...

Good afternoon! It's been a good morning but this is being written in the afternoon. Went to Plastic Wax in Bristol. Saw "Dindisc DIN 2 - a Factory Records product" version of "Electricity". I bought it and it's appalling *. Also a German 7" "Trans Europa Express". I also bought some jelly beans, chewing nuts and a small pack of Milk Gums. ** Oh dear. All five songs (out of ten tracks) on "Radioactivity", "Diamond diary" by Tangerine Dream, "Love and violence", "All wrapped up" and "Sensoria" remind me of Rachel. Rather unfortunate really. Dad bought me an Xmas present at Bristol record fair but I haven't got a clue what it is. That's the whole idea. Oh and at Plastic Wax, "DEP 2 live tapes '78" for £1.50 ***. Also "Doot doot" picture disc.  We went to an Italian restaurant and I had "Fried rice with prawns, peas and tomato sauce" **** For d...

"Darling" Rachel indeed! We had another performance of the "Kinny and Turner" kissing game after school. ---------- I've decided that for the tapes for Newton and the public it will be the real Bk 11 with me and my guitar* feeding back over it. I have advised people not to buy it. It really cons people. I'm getting tired of publicity stunts and shall make my exit with these tapes. ** Songs of the day. "Love and violence" / "Messerschmitt Twins" - OMD, "Triangle" - Quando Quango. Not much happened as usual. Brud*** keeps interrupting my recordings and I'm on the 5th take of the dream paragraph of the last but one entry of the book. My rendition of "Secret life..." is hilarious, I crack up at the end of the third verse and at the end say "Copyright R. Morgan, 1984, IBM songs ltd". **** I saw another, totally different, video for "Sensoria" today. Beverly didn't know what it was. We are going t...

Hello again I've got good plans for the diary tapes. But I'm not writing them down yet. Bev read Bks 12 and 13 today. Good for her. * I might be getting a La Dusseldorf LP (Who?) ** ------------ I think Lesley read all of Bk 11 because she asked me about "Love and hate" and my (non existent) play ***. No-one knows what "MFL" stands for. ------------- Ok cruelty corner. Newton gave me four tapes**** for Bk 11 and I've been told to make one master and three copies. I've almost finished the master and apart from one or two hiccups at the start, it's brilliant. My use of record lyrics for the Rachel / "Pocket calculator" sequence is great. Anyway cruelty corner. I'll make one copy and give it, out of the kindness of my heart, to Rachel. The other two tapes will contain (a) guitar feedback for Newton and (b) blank for the auction. Everyone will accuse Newton of conning the public and Rachel will have a copy of Bk 11. Screw Newton, the ba...

The time is 7:15 am My terrible dream It is a normal day in school but everyone's parents come in on this day too. I sit next to Newton and wait for my parents. They sit behind me and - horror of horrors - they are sitting next to Rachel's parents. (I have never seen Rachel's parents, I only realise it's them because she was sitting with them) * I leave for home very quickly. No, I don't leave for home, I go to the Old Bloc and meet Howard. We watch parents and Rachel out of a window and I go home. When I arrive I go straight to my room. After a short while Mum and Dad come in with "some friends". These friends sit outside on the patio. Ever curious I go to see who these friends are and it's Rachel's parents and Rachel. I run back upstairs. That's about all I can remember. There's a bit about cats but that part was horrific. It would be even more horrific if it came true. ** --------------- The time is 4:50pm This book must progress not reg...

"Life through green tinted glasses" * I hate Mrs Mulrooney **. Not only did she drag me into last year's computer competition (sponsored by IBM!) but she has also dragged me into next year's too. At least I get an afternoon off tomorrow *** but I'll still be scared shitless. Beverley has told me, or rather ordered me to phone Debbie! **** She wrote a letter to Debbie and said "Expect a phone call from Robert". I'm not going to, though. I just can't. What would I say? I never spoke to her when she was here, why should I speak to her when she's not here? "Rachel Turner is a..." time again. After school I saw her and her boyfriend locked together kissing. (No rude ideas here, this is a respectable book) Before that, after last lesson, I was walking down the stairs of the Junior Bloc and surprise surprise there's Rachel! I almost tripped over in shock  After break (this book regresses) I entered the Old Bloc and she left. I actually...

"Well / Here we are again..." ("Georgia" / OMD '81) * First things first I can't escape from "MFL"** still! I went into Oxfam to laugh at their records and in the LPs there was "My fair lady" soundtrack LP! Which brings us to ... Rachel Turner! Howard, Luty and Spillers went on a Duke Of Edinburgh scheme walk with her (and others). Howard and Luty had a chat with her all about me. She said she didn't realise I felt so deeply for her (this is what Howard said, Rach, so kill him if it's not true) but she knew I was lonely. She also said she feels some sympathy for me! Maybe that's why she offered me a sweet this morning? I declined anyway. I might take Bks 11 and 12 into school tomorrow. Then again I might not. Now, second things second. I got my glasses back today. I hardly notice any difference. Oh well! It is freezing cold and feels like winter. What a surprise! I haven't written a song / poem for, oh ages... About two da...

Diary book 13 5th November to 11th December 1984 "Everything's gone green" Or  "This is all your fault* This book is dedicated to all those lucky people who saw it on 27th November. These are Bev Barker, Alison Rix, Steve Newton, Nick Luty, Rhiannon Lloyd, Huw Thomas, Howard Pearson and "darling" Rachel Turner. Not forgetting Nigel Spiller (Sorry, forgetting Nigel, he didn't see it)