Category Archives: Personal Histories

Chatting at the bar of a Podiatry conference with Ian, we got onto the topic of favourite bands and both waxed lyrical about ‘Teenage Fanclub’. “You should write me a Personal History” I said “I will” he said – and (eventually) he did…. Continue reading →

Angst ridden, guitar sodden, bass heavy, hilarious conversational lyrics what more could a young man want! Lead singer and weddoes mainman David Gedge became an indie hero. This band did everything right. Continue reading →

The summer of 1976 was very long and very hot, I was 12 years old. I had spent most of the summer playing cricket and generally lounging around, a friend of mine Steve Page offered me the chance of either listening to the best of the Everleys or the strangely entitled ‘changesonebowie’. I think it must have been the art work but I chose the Bowie album. Continue reading →

March 2007 sees the 50th birthday of a national treasure Mark E Smith. He’s produced some of the most exciting LPs committed to vinyl, never rested on his laurels and never shied away from speaking his mind. My personal favourite quote of his was after Boy George had been exposed as a Heroin addict: there was hysteria in the British press about the example he was setting to his fans. When asked about it Mark said “Well I’m a big Elvis fan but I dont eat 20 hamburgers a day!”. Continue reading →

It was summer 1984 when I went for a drink with my cousin Digger and he couldnt stop singing this song hed heard on Peel the night before: “I spied a Jelly Mountain, and I chased it to the sea. I waded in with a banana skin and had it for my tea. I swam the English channel, and climbed up onto France. I said the 12 times table, the French for gloves is gants.”

Its fantastic when something like enters your life a magical moment Ill never forget. It was so bizarre, so funny ……so Ivor Cutler. Continue reading →