40 years ago

Happy birthday to Howard Pearson and Rachel Turner. I hope they both live happily Musical Review of 1984 Top 5 7" singles 1. Locomotion - OMD 2. Close (to the edit) - Art of Noise 3. Talking Loud and Clear - OMD 4. Devil and Darkness - Freur 5. Shout - Tears for Fears Top 5 12" singles 1. Triangle / Atom Rock - Quando Quango  2. Sensoria - Cabaret Voltaire 3. Talking Loud And Clear - OMD 4. Tesla Girls - OMD 4. Thieves like us - New Order Top 5 LPs 1. Junk Culture - OMD 2. Sparkle in the rain - Simple Minds 3. Treasure - Cocteau Twins  4. Step Forward - Portion Control  5. Fried - Julian Cope * Top 5 LP tracks 1. All wrapped up - OMD 2. Sunspots - Julian Cope  3. Aloysius - Cocteau Twins  4. Kick inside of me - Siniple Minds 5. White Trash - OMD Top 5 B-sides 1. Her body in my soul - OMD 2. Jazz is king (?) - Freur 3. Garden City - OMD 4. How soon is now? - The Smiths 5. Lonesome tonight - New Order Top 5 Peel Session 1. Perfect Vision 2. Julian Cope. 3....

There was an item on the news about how Sir Keith Joseph will make sure that bad teachers get less pay and the NUT don't like it. Therefore the NUT must have bad members or they'd have nothing to worry about. * Anyway. The Review Of The Year 1984 January  The main event in this month was the sudden departure of Debbie Carr on 25th January. Absolutely nothing else happened. ** February  Main event is the announcement to Howard of my apparent "love" of Rachel Turner. Also Hagyard goes insane. OMD announce their tour and new LP. I find Radio Prague on Short Wave and I define the "Debbie Syndrome". *** Also the bloody Eisteddfod with Rachel.  March  Debbie reappears, according to Cooper and Holey. I tell Bev to tell Rachel that I fancy her. I have a terrible day on 23rd March. Brud goes to a Kinks concert  April OMD release "Locomotion" single and "Junk culture" album. I go on holiday to Oxford and return with more records **** May My birthda...

The question on everyone's lips is "Did Rob write to Debbie?" The answer which is in everyone's ears is "No" * Some great new arrangements of old songs - mainly those with a main "hook" line which can be sequenced. Playlist? Well take a guess! I haven't had the time or inclination to think about Rachel. (I have had the time but I'm just lazy) during the holiday.  ----- Footnotes  * Who did I post the letter to on the 28th???

What a day! I got a lift to town (Cardiff) with Mum and Dad and arrived at about 8:45am. After buying a stamp and posting a letter * I rushed off to HMV. I was first in but I didn't see much in the sale that I wanted. I bought "Shout" by Tears For Fears. Then on to the Tandy shop. They haven't got any mixers (not til February) so I take a catalogue. Then on to Gamlins ** and I buy their last Casio VL-tone. Good fun it is too! *** Then on to Spillers. I buy "Life's a scream" 12 inch by A Certain Ratio (fantastic!) and "Devil and darkness" 12 inch by Freur (weird) I have got 11p left from £36. Oh I met Rhiannon in Cardiff, and Melissa. The b side to the Freur single is excellent. It's called "Jazz is King (?)" - including question mark and brackets - and once it gets going from a slow drum and synth and voice part, a piano enters and the singer starts singing "The In Crowd" and shouts "Thank you, Lamb Chop!" And ...

My stomach is telling me to stop eating and I'm quite happy to oblige! I haven't written the lyrics yet! I'm trying the rerecord the backing track and of course it isn't as good as the original. A pity. "Airplane!" was on TV last night so I recorded it on video. Smiths session on Peel so I recorded it. Brilliant Festive 50 - 20 to 11. I missed recording "Murder" by New Order (it's better than I thought). Also more Cocteaus, Smiths, Billy Bragg (must buy his LPs)

Song to be written "Look back in anger". I've got the backing track, all I need are lyrics and that's it! * I dunno whether I should buy a VL-tone or a mixer. "Treasure" is a fantastic album. Liz Fraser has got a great singing voice. If only... ----- Footnotes  * "Look back in anger" was just a title, it became a song in June 1985 hidden away amongst the dross of "Help the fire escape"

Happy Christmas! Records. "Step forward" - Portion Control (brilliant!), "La Dusseldorf" - La Dusseldorf (I haven't played it yet). "Treasure" - Cocteau Twins (brilliant). "Hatful of hollow" - The Smiths (brilliant). "Music for fans" - Eno bootleg tape (brilliant). Also Volumes 2 and 3 in "The Album Cover Album" and Volume 4 of "Guinness book of hit singles". Also piles of food. Plus piles of cash (£36!) and a clock. * ------------- Footnotes  * Just the facts, ma'am. For a more considered (and slightly factually inaccurate) assessment of the weeks leading up to Christmas and the albums mentioned, try an old Goldfish post One Christmas For Your Thoughts.

More on IBM T5. On side two, a version of "Statues" by OMD - only one overdub - and some very strange noises to finish side one. I did a version of "Closedown" but I didn't like it. I have discovered a way of making oscillations and that's about it on the music front * ----- Footnotes * I don't remember "Closedown" at all. "Statues" was already my most favourite song of all time at this point and still is up there with the Durutti Column and the Yesterday Sky. The version of "Statues" is absolutely dreadful. No you can't hear it, though I may listen to it myself today. The oscillations were made by hooking the music centre outputs to the mic input and adjusting the mix control. You can hear it towards the end of side one of "Learns to dance" which is clearly being created at this point. It's 30 seconds long and called "Technical fault".

What a day! It was the last day of term today so I was happy. At the wall I had a chat with Huw and we were told to move a piano from the main hall to the Youth Wing* for a carol concert. We returned to the wall and waited for others to turn up. Bev and Alison appeared without Rachel which made me happy. ** When Huw asked where she was we got the reply "She's at the doctor's" which caused much hilarity between Newton, Huw and me. Then Howard, Spillers etc appeared and I was still happy at the non appearance of Rachel. Howard and I went off to our form room (Room 6) and Mulrooney told us to take out a computer for Mr Garnet. So I carried a BBC Micro, Evo carried a VDU *** and Howard carried an apparently empty box. Many people turned up and the newsletter was given out. I got my name in (at last) because of the Computers quiz. Rachel got her name in but I can't remember why. **** We all went off for the carol concert in the Youth Wing which was hilarious. Howard an...

My exams are over at last. German 66% B+. Rachel's birthday is Howard's birthday is Harald's birthday is 31st December. Nice to know. * Brilliant Festive 50 last night. I must buy "It'll end in tears" by This Mortal Coil because it has "Another day" on it and that is brilliant. ** -------- Footnotes  * Harald was my penfriend in Germany. The last time I googled him, he was a local representative for Angela Merkel's political party. Again showing up where I have ended up. ** Finally bought "It'll end in tears" towards the end of 1987, if you're interested.

This isn't an embarrassing situation anymore, it's an impossible situation. Spillers sat at the desk I sat and wrote on yesterday. He read my message and told Alison. She read it and told Rachel. Rachel read it and said "Well that's nice to know". Spillers said "I wonder who wrote it" and pointed at me. Then Rachel says "Robert?" I turn to look at her (rare for me!) and say "Yes Rachel?" She says "Thank you!" It appears the more I try to insult her the more she enjoys it. Alison hates me. I hate Alison. The Festive 50 - 50 to 41 last night. Quite good it was too. Cocteaus, Bunnymen, Hard Corps, Bronski Beat - and more tonight! The ultimate in my list of songs that remind me of Rachel. The incredibly awful "Embarrassing situation".  Isn't that where we started? I can't find "Rough justice" by Portion Control and I want it desperately. After Friday I won't see Rachel for a long time. Oh dear. I...

German - easy. Chemistry - hard. During German I wrote something rude about Rachel on my desk. When I met them at the wall, Huw and Rachel were talking about my diary tapes. I don't know why. That's about it really. My dream was like real life. I'm deciding what to buy after Christmas. Bev was giving guided tours of the "Hi Rachel it's me Kinny" desk before Chemistry. History tomorrow. Kinny will be taking his driving test soon, therefore Rachel will be all nerves that day, or so she told Huw. ------ The start of John Peel's Festive 50 tonight! Also the best sessions of the year. Last year one he played was OMD's session (see Bk 2*) Another he played recently was "Groove jumping" by 400 Blows, a great track I've got on tape now. ------ The charts are still pathetic. Loads of records with jingle bells and / or choirs as back up. I wonder why! ------- Footnotes  * The first time I listened to John Peel was for OMD's 1983 session around ...

My first three thoughts of the day were 1 - "Shut that bloody alarm clock up!" 2 - "I've got my Latin exam today, oh dear" 3 - "What the fuck is Rachel doing in school?" Explanations 1. Dad has gone to Windermere. So has to have a travel clock so he has taken mine * This leaves me with the old "bomb* clock and it explodes every morning at five to seven. 2. Quite obvious really. I have sat my Latin exam and I have failed it. 3. I went to school later than usual (I got there at 20 to 9) and I wasn't expecting to see anyone. So the first person I see is Rachel. ------ I have finally decided to write to Debbie. I'll write after Christmas but I've got the letter all planned in my head. Word of the day - cadence. I've seen ITV's Christmas schedule and boy it looks BORING! I had another look at Brud's video. Now he has recorded lots of Breakfast TV (does he fancy Selina Scott?) and another disgusting film about brothels, but the t...

Another song written especially for IBM T5. Currently called "Verpassen" - because I couldn't think of anything else to call it - it's in two parts and uses the Oric for a baseline in part 1, followed by explosions then constant noise for part 2. It's quite good. * "Verpassen" means "to miss". It's a nice title. Brud's gone to Bristol for the day. Dad has gone to Windermere for a "silly" course. I've been in my room all day. Mum's been working as usual. ** I've only played one record ("Cha cha 2000" - La Dusseldorf) since daylight. Before daylight (after midnight last night) I played my Cocteau Twins session and "Texmex" by Portion Control. *** Christmas is getting on my nerves. So are exams. ----- Footnotes * "Verpassen" is about two thirds of the way through side one of "Learns to dance" and was performed and recorded only once. It's actually ok - part one is the Oric s...

Eight down, five to go! Maths was a doddle and Newton agrees. 45 in Latin, 77 in Computers Theory. Which brings us to... The competition again! We were up against Cardiff High * and thrashed them 36 - 23! When I got home I watched Brud's video. Really disgusting it is too. All about tarts (note : Rachel) and pornography. During some disgusting pictures there's background music of a rotten version of Kraftwerk's "The Model". Note : Rachel. As she and Bev, Alison and Helen approached this morning Huw said "Here come the slags" which is not a very nice thing to say about them. I tell Huw that it's not a nice thing to say and he says "Why don't you say it? You used to!"  I didn't talk to Rachel today. Playlist. "Tesla Girls" - OMD 12" "Impossible blue" - Perfect Vision live track "Je suis passe" - Hard Corps live track ** -------- Footnotes * This one felt slightly personal. Cardiff High was the school...

I thought today was going to be boring. How wrong can I get? ------- I went into school and told Huw about the writing on the desk. He denied having written "Rach loves Huw". I'm not sure whether I believe him. Along come Bev, Alison, Helen and Rachel. Rachel tells Huw about the writing on the desk and accuses him of writing it. Turns out Helen wrote the "No she doesn't". I side with Huw and this causes Rachel to turn on me saying "Shut up Robert!" * Then we all go into the main hall for our English Lit exam. Barnaby tells me I came top in German (a "B" apparently) Then Mulrooney appears at my desk and tells me that the computers competition** is this lunchtime at ten to 12. This causes much groaning from me cos I didn't know about it ***  So I did my English Lit exam. I expect I failed because I was under so much pressure and dying for a piss. When the exam was over at 20 to 12 I rush to the bogs and appear a few moments later very r...

Six down, many more to go. Latin. You'll be more interested in what was written on the desk. Huw Thomas had been sitting there before me (he had signed it). One message written on it was "Hi Rachel! It's me, Kinny!" Huw had written under it "Rach loves Huw", an anonymous writer wrote underneath "No she doesn't".  I was in a terrible mood going to school this afternoon for the exam. Everyone passing me in the opposite direction didn't help. I didn't see Rachel once.

And I put the 12th on my Maths paper! I have done my back in. On the way home I kept thinking it would collapse on me but apart from some close shaves it didn't. Maths was relatively hard. Challenging is the word. I can just about talk to Rachel. * The old - very old, in fact - classic song "Dance" but previously called "Timing and precision" - has been brought into "Dance", a song about girls and discos which has been a lyric for a long time. ** I feel like sending my horrible Stanwell Xmas card to Bartlett anonymously, writing the message "This is all your fault" on it. I think I've just titled this book Latin tomorrow. I hate Latin with the intensity that I hate certain people in school. *** I should really be writing The Teacher Files. I should really be writing my play. I should really be doing revision. But instead I'm playing "Ralf and Florian" relatively loud. This seems like a very good time to say "End of book...

Four down, a lot more to go. Physics - bad. German - bad. Brud has just about told me I've got the Julian Cope album for Christmas. * Some of my songs received their first public airing on a piano in the junior hall at lunchtime. I didn't see much of Rachel today. I got depressed over my German. I cheered myself up with a humorous essay about cars breaking down. I got depressed again on the way home. ** ------- Footnotes  * Readers of A Goldfish Called Regret will know this isn't true. ** I don't know if it's true but I would guess something happened on the way home from school, probably involving a girl or two. Some embarrassing situation or other. 

It's Saturday! It's deadly boring! Who cares? Rachel did not appear in my last dream. It's so silly that I'm not bothering to write it down. Brud's party was a big success. He was the only one who turned up so he came back home.  Brud reckons he can play "Europe Endless" on his guitar. I'd like to hear that. * There's a package which looks suspiciously like 4 or 5 LPs for me under the Christmas tree. I made a list of wanted LPs today 1 - "Step forward" - Portion Control  2 - "Fried" - Julian Cope 3 - "Treasure" - Cocteau Twins  4 - "The way we Wah!" - Wah! ** 5 - "Strange boutique" - The Monochrome Set  There's also a cassette under the tree which could be a bootleg. Who knows? Playlist. "Viva" LP - La Dusseldorf  "Sensoria" - Cabaret Voltaire 12" "Neon lights" - Kraftwerk LP track ------ Footnotes * I'd still like to hear this. Knowing how badly he played ...