I Know What I Like - Genesis

Over here in the UK, there has been much said and written recently about the supposed return of Prog Rock. There is even a new magazine dedicated to all things Prog. A sure sign of a perceived revival if ever you needed one.

I'm not sure that Prog Rock ever really went away though. I personally think that it was just having a bit of a rest and biding its time, waiting for the right time to rise once again, capes and all.
It can't be denied though that there do seem to be far more bands, which could be classed as Prog Rock, around at the moment.
I've even noticed this trend in local music. Even if the local band might not class themselves as Prog, elements of their sound certainly hark back to that era.

All of which takes me way back to 1973 and the release of "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)", (Don't forget the wardrobe), the first ever hit single from the band Genesis. The song reached number 21 in the UK charts in April 1974, even though it had been first released in August 1973. Hence the 1973 date on the record label.

I can see from the record sleeve that i bought the single on 8th June 1974.
At that time, just before i left school and started work, i could only afford to buy records periodically. I often used to buy singles that had left the charts and had then been put into the "bargain bin", therefore being sold at a reduced price. I remember a girlfriend of mine at the time commenting on how i always seemed to buy one single a week and always one from the bargain bin.
The fact that i bought this single and at that time, suggests that it was a favourite of mine.

"I Know What I Like" came from the Genesis album "Selling England By The Pound", which was released in October 1973. It reached number 3 in the UK album charts.

I was still a schoolboy at the time of the songs release and do remember hearing it on the radio.
I can still recall having a conversation about the song with my, then, next door neighbour. We were both of the same age, had similar tastes in music and would often discuss songs, or bands that we'd heard on the radio, or seen on the tv.
"I Know What I Like" was one of those songs, partly because of my friends older brother. He was an intelligent guy and had commented on the songs rather odd lyrics. Any song with the lyrics "Me, i'm just a lawnmower, you can tell me by the way i walk", is bound to grab the attention of a teenager i think?
But, it was the line, "There's a future for you in the fire escape trade. Come up to town", that grabbed my friends brother's attention. He seemed to think it referred to burglary and who am i to argue.
Does anyone know what that song is really about? I wouldn't be surprised if even Peter Gabriel himself couldn't fully explain it.

Genesis were at that time, signed to the Charisma label. One of many great, long lost record labels from that time and one that even included Monty Python on its books.
As with so many record labels back then, the artwork of the label itself was interesting to look at and instantly recognisable. Charisma featured, as you can see above, a drawing of the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit, all from Alice In Wonderland.

We often moan about the loss of record cover art since the emergence of the CD and now the mp3 and quite rightly so. The album sleeves of Genesis albums from this period being a good case in point. But, what is often overlooked is the artwork that used to be on the labels of the actual records themselves, such as Charisma's.

Something else that is now missing are the little messages and comments scratched into the vinyl itself. In the run out groove, between the playing surface and the label, were often to be found bits of writing. On "I Know What I Like" the A Side has "Porky knows why he likes Trishy" and the B Side has "Peko Melo" written into the vinyl.
These were done by George Peckham, also known as "Porky". His messages can be found scratched into the vinyl of countless singles and albums from the 1970's.
If you still own any vinyl from that time, go and have a look through your collection. You never know what secret messages might be lurking there.

As for Genesis.... well, we probably all know about the success that they went on to have. Much of which was possibly kick-started by this very first hit single and the subsequent media exposure that it gave the band.
After Peter Gabriel left Genesis in 1975, the band started to reinvent themselves and went on to have even greater success, especially during the 1980's. This is quite possibly because they moved away from Prog Rock and started writing more commercially sounding music?

Genesis are one of those bands that i've never had a big love affair with. Yes, i liked that early music of the Peter Gabriel era, but i'm not sure how much of it i would listen to now? And the later, more commercial, period i can either take, or leave.
As with many bands from that time, i bought some of their earlier albums, including "Selling England By The Pound". But i sold them during the great album clearout of the 1980's. Many of us did the same thing back then, often to our eternal regret. Only to start buying many of them, all over again, on a new fangled CD.

I did buy other Genesis singles during my youth and still have "The Carpet Crawlers" and "Counting Out Time" amongst my much reduced collection.
Another of their records that i used to own is an early single called "Happy The Man", complete with a picture sleeve, which was released in 1972 and didn't bother the UK charts at all.
How i came to own it is a story for another day, but that single is now quite a rarity.
Unfortunately, i sold it some years ago, albeit at a reasonable profit.

During the, previously mentioned, big vinyl clearout i spotted an advert in a record collecting magazine asking about "Happy The Man" and offering to buy any copies for the princely sum of £15. I thought this was a good offer and duly sold my copy. As i've already suggested, this was a pretty good return on my "investment" at the time.
I know you're ahead of me here, but i've since seen the same "Happy The Man" single, complete with picture sleeve, offered for sale for at least £80! Who knows, it might even have been my copy?
Makes you sick doesn't it?

I have often regretted selling many of my old vinyl albums and singles. But, i've regretted selling that one more than most and for obvious reasons too.

Stuck In The Middle With You by Stealers Wheel

"Stuck In The Middle With You" by the Scottish group Stealers Wheel reached number 8 in the UK charts in May 1973. It also got as high as number 6 in the U.S Billboard Hot 100 in the same year and sold over 1 million copies worldwide.
"Stuck In The Middle With You" was originally released on the bands self titled album in October 1972 and was produced by legendary songwriters and producers Leiber and Stoller.

Stealers Wheel were effectively songwriters Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan, who then worked with other musicians. Apart from working with Stealers Wheel, Joe Egan hasn't really had any other success. But, of course, Gerry Rafferty went on to have huge success in the late 1970's and early 80's with songs such as "Baker Street". Baker Street reached number 2 in the U.S Charts and number 3 in the UK.
Gerry Rafferty was also well known for being in a Scottish folk band called The Humblebums, which included amongst its members the future comedian Billy Connolly.

Stealers Wheel were by no means a one hit wonder, although none of their other singles, or albums, ever matched the success of "Stuck In The Middle With You'. Although i never bought any of their albums, i did used to own future hit singles "Everything Will Turn Out Fine" (1973) and "Star" (1974). I did have another single called "Late Again", which i still think is a great song, if you ever get the chance to hear it.

One of the things that i like about "Stuck In The Middle With You" and indeed other single releases on the old AandM record label from around this time, is the design on the sleeve.
I have no idea where the idea for the knife and fork design came from and what the thinking was behind it. But, i still think it looks great today.
My theory, for what it's worth, is that vinyl records were sometimes referred to as "platters" and a platter can also be a plate. Hence the knife, fork and plate design? The background even looks a little bit like a tablecloth, something that i've only just noticed!

Looking at the cover, i can see that i wasn't the first person to own this record.
There are two dates written onto the sleeve. One of them, 1st July 1974, was the date that i bought the record. But, there is another date, 9th June 1973, written in the top left hand corner of the sleeve. That date has been crossed out, probably by myself. I suspect that this was the date when the previous owner bought "Stuck In The Middle With You"? The date corresponds to when the single was in the UK charts after all.

Although, i honestly can't remember who i bought this single from, if indeed i did buy it. It may well have been a gift? I am pretty sure though that i got it from the older brother of a school friend of mine.
I know that i still have a few singles that i acquired from this friends brother. So, i suspect that "Stuck In The Middle With You', is another one.
My friends brother had the biggest collection of vinyl records that i'd ever seen at that time. Myself and a few other friends used to regularly go around to their house after school, when the brother was at work and rifle through his record collection. Playing singles, but mainly albums that caught our eye, or that we'd heard about, but had never actually heard.
It was like a mini voyage of discovery and a musical education too.

You have to remember that back in the 1970's and even beyond, it wasn't that easy to hear new music. There were few places where new music could be heard. In the UK there were far fewer tv and radio stations than there are now. It was pretty much the BBC or nothing.
For rock music fans, there were some shows on Radio 1 that catered for that genre of music, or for songs that weren't already a hit, but not many. TV was even more limited, with only The Old Grey Whistle Test really catering for non Pop music fans.
In these days of MTV, Commercial Radio and the Internet, it is very easy to forget that things were once very different for vinyl hungry music fans. Now, some people moan that there is just too much choice. You can please some of the people some of the time, but.....

"Stuck In The Middle With You" has always been a favourite song of mine, from right back when i first heard it in 1972.
Like most people who knew the song, including i suspect Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan themselves, i was very surprised when the song re-emerged in 1992 in Quentin Tarantino's movie Reservoir Dogs.
I've never actually seen the whole of the movie and have never watched THAT scene in which "Stuck In The Middle With You' is included. So, i'm not sure of the impact that it had at that time.

What i do know though, is that being featured in Reservoir Dogs showcased the song to a whole new audience, 30 years after its original release. It's amazing how often that happens, but i think it happened for a very good reason.
As i've mentioned before, many of those songs from the 1970's still sound great today. 'Stuck In The Middle With You' is certainly one that does and i expect people will be listening to it for many more years to come.

Sadly, Gerry Rafferty died on 4th January 2011 from liver failure, mainly as a result of his alcoholism.
At least his songs live on.

Life On Mars? by David Bowie

Seeing as the last post in this blog was about Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 moon landing, i thought it might be appropriate to continue with the space theme.
For me, it was very easy to decide which space themed song to choose. Especially in the light of NASA's current Curiosity mission.

"Life On Mars" by David Bowie was released on 22nd June, 1973 and reached number 3 in the UK charts. The song first appeared on Bowie's album Hunky Dory, which came out in December 1971.
"Life On Mars?" features piano by Rick Wakeman, of the band Yes. Rick Wakeman was a well known session musician and also played on the David Bowie songs "Changes" and "Oh! You Pretty Things", both from the same Hunky Dory album.

At that time, single releases from David Bowie didn't seem to follow any sensible, or logical pattern. The previous few single releases had all been from Bowie's album Aladdin Sane, which came out in April 1973, prior to the release of "Life On Mars?'.
In fact another album, the classic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1973), had come out between Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane.
To further add to the confusion, the B Side of "Life On Mars?" is the title track from David Bowie's 3rd album "The Man Who Sold The World". Which was also released, in the UK, in 1971.
As to why tracks were released in this seemingly haphazard way, i have no idea. But, this is David Bowie we're talking about here, so maybe all this confusion shouldn't surprise us too much?

I can still remember seeing David Bowie for the very first time. He was appearing on the UK tv show Top Of The Pops, playing his single "Starman". This would have been in July of 1972.
I used to watch Top Of The Pops avidly at that time. I remember it being on a Thursday evening and it was a real highlight of the week for me and for many of my school friends too.

For some reason, i often associate Top Of The Pops and Thursday evenings from that time, with fish and chips and haircuts.
Why?
Well, Thursday was the evening that a mobile fish and chip van used to come around my area and it used to stop just outside my house. We often used to go out to the van and get our dinner from it. I seem to remember that it was very popular with other local residents too and there was often a queue.

As for the haircuts. Well, a very reasonably priced barber used to set up shop at a local social club, near to my home, also on a Thursday evening. So, i was sent up there every few weeks, by my father, to have my hair cut. Every time trying desperately to get as little cut off, as i felt i could safely get away with.
But, my walk to get my hair cut never happened until after Top Of The Pops had finished. Yes, it was that important to a teenager of 14 years old.

Seeing David Bowie perform "Starman" that evening, made a real impression on me. Maybe it was the fact that the song is a little different to most of the songs around at that time? It is a largely acoustic song, which did set it apart. It is, of course, yet another song about space travel and astronauts. I'm sure that must have had something to do with it as well?

I think i can safely say that "Life On Mars?" and "Starman" are still my favourite two David Bowie tracks. That period is certainly his best, in my humble opinion.
Having said that, as you can see from the date written on the front cover of "Life On Mars?" above, i didn't actually get around to buying the single until 24th August, 1974. And i never did buy the single of "Starman".
Don't worry, i have an explanation.

As i mentioned in the very first post in this Vinyl Junkie blog, i was a big fan of the band T. Rex at this time. I was also still at school and therefore had very little money at my disposal. So, any money available to buy records would have gone on those favoured T. Rex singles. Of which there were a steady stream back in 1972/3.

I left school and started work in July of 1974.
As mentioned above, i bought "Life On Mars?" in August of 1974, just at the time when my first pay packets were starting to roll in. I may not have been earning a huge amount of money at that time. But, a fair proportion of that money would have been spent on records. Especially, some of those singles that i'd not been able to buy in the past, through lack of money.
How i came to get my hands on some of these older singles is a story in itself and will be covered in a future post.

Other David Bowie vinyl singles that i still own from that period are, "The Jean Genie" (1972), "Rebel Rebel" (Which i have as an American import from 1973) and "Rock And Roll Suicide" (1974).
All of these were also bought after i had started work, regardless of when they had been released.

David Bowie is one of those artists that i regularly listen to, especially his music from this period. I can't pretend to have liked everything that he's done. But, "Ziggy Stardust" is still one of my favourite albums of all time and "Life On Mars?" itself, is right up there amongst my favourite ever singles.

Like so much of the music of this era, it's not just the music itself that i care about, as good as it is. But, also the memories that it stirs and brings back again. After all, our teenage years are often some of our most eventful aren't they?

Music has a way of doing that to most people. It can instantly transport us back to bygone days and conjure up long forgotten images and maybe not always good ones either?
But "Life On Mars?" brings back only memories of good times, for me at least. That's probably why it gets played so often?

Gangsters by The Special A.K.A

As mentioned in a previous post in this blog, the Punk and New Wave years unleashed a whole new group of Do It Yourself record companies. '2 Tone' were just one of those labels.

'2 Tone' was the creation of Jerry Dammers, the founder member of the Coventry based ska revival band best known as The Specials.

"Gangsters" was the first single on the '2 Tone' record label and was released in March of 1979, getting to number 6 in the UK charts.
As you can see from the photo above, the band were credited as 'The Special A.K.A' at this time. But, they had changed their name to the more widely known 'The Specials' by the time of their second single release, "A Message To You, Rudy", which was also released in 1979.

The release of "Gangsters" had a big impact on UK music at the time of its release and sparked off a whole revival of Ska music, a genre often referred to as 'Two Tone'. It also helped to kickstart the formation of many other UK based Ska bands such as Madness, The Selecter and The Beat, all of whose first singles were released on the '2 Tone' label.

The song "Gangsters" is often thought to be at least partly about 'The Specials' early manager and also manager of The Clash, Bernie Rhodes. The song starts with the lyrics, "Why must you record my phone calls? Are you planning a bootleg LP?"

The Specials, who originally formed in 1977 at the height of the Punk era, were given their first big break by Joe Strummer. Who, in typical Joe Strummer fashion, invited the band to open for The Clash on one of their UK tours. Hence the brief association with The Clash's manager.

As was the case with many of the early Two Tone era releases, "Gangsters" was a reworking of an old Jamaican ska tune, this time Prince Buster's "Al Capone".
The B Side of the single was not credited to The Special A.K.A, or even The Specials. It is instead a track called "The Selecter" by The Selecter. The song is credited to John Bradbury, the drummer with The Specials and Noel Davis.
"The Selecter" is even credited as being the second '2 Tone' release, having the serial number 'TT2' on the record itself. "Gangsters" is 'TT1'.
Confusing isn't it?

The complete single is in fact basically a Double A Side. Effectively splitting the record between The Special A.K.A and The Selecter. It's just that "Gangsters" was always the most popular track and the one that got all of the attention and radio play, at the time.
After the success of the single, Noel Davis then formed the previously mentioned band, The Selecter. They went on to have several hit singles in their own right over the coming years, many of them on the '2 Tone' label.

The "Gangsters" single featured the first outing of a fictional character called 'Walt Jabsco', who can be seen in the artwork gracing the records label itself. The design of 'Walt Jabsco' was loosely based on an old image of Peter Tosh, an early member of Bob Marley's band The Wailers.
'Walt' was to feature on many of the record sleeves and labels of the '2 Tone' record releases, as well as appearing on countless t.shirts, posters etc.

The 'Walt Jabsco' character fitted in perfectly with the whole ethos of '2 Tone' records. The black and white colouring and '2 Tone' name was meant to signify the bands aim of bringing people of different colours together, peacefully and through music.
This was at a time when the whole Rock Against Racism movement was very active in the UK. A cause that The Specials were very supportive of.

As if to emphasise this, in 1984 The Specials released a single called "Free Nelson Mandela". That song became something of an unofficial anthem for all those people across the world, campaigning for the release of Nelson Mandela.

The Specials split up, or were effectively dissolved by founder member Jerry Dammers, in 1984, not long after the "Free Nelson Mandela" single. They have since reformed, minus Jerry Dammers himself, and are still touring to much acclaim in 2012.

The influence of The Specials and of the '2 Tone' record label is still felt today and not just because the band are still touring either. Their music stands the test of time, both lyrically and musically, even after 30 years.
Their 1981 chart topping single "Ghost Town" regularly features in lists of the best UK singles ever. Something that i certainly wouldn't disagree with.

I loved the music of the Two Tone movement and bought many of the singles and albums of the bands from that era. I still have most of those vinyl singles, especially those by The Specials, who along with The Beat were probably my favourite of the bands to emerge at that time.
I'm sure many young people in the late 1970's were introduced and exposed to Ska music for the very first time because of bands like The Specials. That cannot be a bad thing.
Although i can remember reggae and ska music from the old Trojan record label, back in the late 1960's. I was still a bit too young to really appreciate it fully and certainly too young to buy any of the records at the time.

The 'Two Tone' movement that The Specials helped to start and the whole ethos that went with it, all those years ago, is still very relevant today.
The '2 Tone' record label itself has also influenced musicians and music makers, from that day to this, by showing them that they can bypass those major record labels and just do it themselves.
The fact that i've chosen to talk about the band and their music here and also to end up writing far more than i ever anticipated, maybe goes to prove that?

Urban Guerrilla by Hawkwind

"Urban Guerrilla" by Hawkwind was released on 27th July 1973 and reached number 39 in the UK charts. It would quite probably have reached a higher position, as the single was selling very well, but the single was withdrawn after only 3 weeks.

Why?

Well, the opening lyrics of "Urban Guerrilla" are 'I'm an urban guerrilla, i make bombs in my cellar" and Hawkwind had the misfortune to release the single just as the IRA started a bombing campaign in London. The lyrics and subject matter were felt to be in bad taste and the BBC refused to play the song on the radio.

Apparently, it was considered trying to promote the singles B Side, "Brainbox Pollution" instead, as a way of getting around the problem. But, possibly, because "Brainbox Pollution" is a song about drug abuse, "Urban Guerrilla" was withdrawn from sale.

Ironically, the lyrics of  "Urban Guerrilla" were written by band member Bob Calvert a couple of years prior to the songs release.

So, "Urban Guerrilla" joins that long and illustrious list of records that have been banned, or effectively  banned. Either because somebody decides that the content is offensive (think "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood), or for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I can still remember there being a list of songs not suitable to be played on the radio during the first Gulf War in 1990/91. That list included songs such as "Give Peace A Chance" by Plastic Ono Band, with John Lennon and, possibly not suprisingly, "Killing An Arab" by The Cure.
There have of course been many other situations like this, but this is the one that sticks in my mind.

The main reason that i included "Urban Guerrilla" in this series of blog posts, was because of the controversary surrounding the song. That and also because it may well have some value as a rarity, because of its withdrawal from sale.

'Urban Guerrilla" can now be found on the re-issued version of the Hawkwind album "Doremi Fasol Latido" and on various compilations of the bands work.

Looking at the scribbling, that i did at the time, on the record sleeve i can tell you that i bought "Urban Guerrilla" on 19th September 1974. So, i didn't buy it at the time of its original release.
I did own at least one Hawkwind album by this time, so would have known about the song. I can only presume that i couldn't find the record, due to its being deleted so quickly?

It is not the only vinyl single that i still own by Hawkwind. I have three more, including the obligatory "Silver Machine". Which was the bands only real hit single and got to number 3 in the UK charts in 1972. My version, from 1972, even has a nice picture sleeve and i would probably have written about that record instead, if not for the aforementioned controversary.

The other two singles i still have are "Psychedelic Warlords (Disappear In Smoke)" from 1974 and "Kings of Speed" from 1975. "Kings Of Speed" has, as its B Side, the original version of the song "Motorhead". "Motorhead" was written by then bass player Ian "Lemmy" Kilminster, who went on to form the band "Motorhead", after being sacked from Hawkwind in 1975.


Even if you know nothing about Hawkwind, apart from what you've read here, the bands song titles may well give you some idea of what the band, who are still going, are all about. They have been called a "space rock" band, amongst other things and have their origins in the hippie era of the late 1960's.

I vividly remember seeing Hawkwind live a few times in the mid 1970's.
There is a track on their classic 1973 live album, "Space Ritual", called "Sonic Attack" written by the science fiction and fantasy author Michael Moorcock, who was a friend of the band. The title of that song sums up very well what a Hawkwind gig was like, especially back in those days.

For a young man, who was attending one of his first ever gigs, my first Hawwind concert was quite an initiation into the world of live music.
Hawkwind had a pretty revolutionary light show back then. They were also sometimes joined by a rather buxom young female dancer called Stacia. Stacia was renowned for taking all of her clothes off and dancing around the stage in a kind of musically induced trance. For some strange reason, this is something i remember very well!
Couple all of that with the wall of sound coming from the band on stage, in a small venue and it really was a complete audio/visual experience.

Hawkwind are one of those bands that command an almost fanatical following amongst their many fans, i know several myself. Forming in 1969 and still gigging and recording in 2012 means that they have now accumulated many legions of dedicated fans across the years.
Long may that continue.

Anarchy In The UK by Sex Pistols

After my post yesterday which talked about a day that changed my life in some ways. Here is a record that changed many people's lives and could even be argued to have changed the face of music and much else besides.

"Anarchy In The UK" wasn't the first Punk Rock single to be released, in the UK, back in those heady days of 1976 and 1977, but it was certainly the most influential.
The honour of being the first Punk Rock single probably goes to The Damned and their first release "New Rose", which came out about a month earlier. I will more than likely talk about "New Rose" at a later date, as it's still a big favourite of mine.

"Anarchy In The UK' was released on the EMI label on 26th November 1976 and reached number 38 in the UK charts. It was produced by Chris Thomas. But, the B Side of the single "I Wanna Be Me" was produced by Dave Goodman. I don't think that happened very often?
Both songs are credited to, in my mind anyway, the classic line up of Sex Pistols: Rotten, Jones, Matlock and Cook.
To be honest, i was never much of a fan of Sid Vicious, who joined after Matlock left the band in 1977 and i do get a little annoyed when Sid is mentioned above Glen Matlock most of the time. Especially when it was Glen Matlock who wrote most of the early and classic music that Sex Pistols produced.

Once again, i can remember buying "Anarchy In The UK" and once again, it was from 'Standens' in Tonbridge high street.
For some reason i didn't buy the single when it was first released. I'm not sure why, as i was well aware of the band and their music at that time. I was a voracious reader of the weekly music papers, especially Sounds and the NME. So, i knew all about this new musical movement called Punk Rock. In fact the NME is even mentioned in the lyrics of "Anarchy In The UK".
What i do know though is that i bought the single for only 40pence. It had been reduced in price, probably because of it's low chart position and was in a bargain bin!
It certainly was a bargain, as the single was deleted not long afterwards (see below for the reasons) and is now worth some money because of its rarity. I don't know how much it's worth, as i have no intention of selling it anyway.
At one time i thought i had lost my copy of "Anarchy In The UK", as i couldn't find it in my big box of vinyl singles. But, thankfully, it turned up recently in another box with some other of my rarer vinyl 45's. Phew!

Sex Pistols were dropped from EMI records in early 1977, after the all the "Filth and the fury" and the aftermath of the now infamous Bill Grundy interview on Thames TV on 1st December 1976.
I remember that interview well, although i didn't actually see it at the time.
I was at work and in another section of the building where i worked, when a young work colleague, who had seen the interview, rushed up and told me all about it. He obviously knew i'd be interested, which i was.

I think it can safely be said, that if you didn't know about this new thing called Punk Rock before 1st December 1976, you most certainly did on 2nd December 1976.

The rest, as they say, is history and what a history it is.

That period certainly changed my life, possibly because of my age? I was 18 in 1976.
Music was a huge part of that change, as it was a time when i probably bought more records than i have ever done since. Most of those records were 45rpm vinyl singles, like "Anarchy In The UK".
I even paid full price for most of them too.

Hot Love by T. Rex

What better place to start than with the very first single that i ever bought.

I was a big fan of T. Rex and they were the first band that i really got into. In fact their previous single "Ride A White Swan" is one of the first songs that had a real effect on me. I can still remember hearing "Ride A White Swan" for the first time in a youth club, probably the local YMCA.
I even made a YouTube video about the song a couple of years ago.
As i said in that video, when "Ride A White Swan" came out i could't afford to buy it.

If you look at the photo of "Hot Love" at the top of this page, the cover has a date on it, 13.3.71. That was the day that i bought that single.
I can still remember the name of the shop that i bought that single in too. It was called "Standens" and was an ordinary electrical retailer, that just happened to have a small record counter at the back of the store. As so many did back in those days.
I was a regular record buying customer there for several years and i suspect that many of the vinyl singles that will appear in this blog were bought there.

That date on the cover, 13th March 1971, was a pretty significant one for me, as it was actually my 13th birthday.
So, one of the first things that i did as a teenager was to go out and buy my very first record. My life changed in more than one way on that momentous day.

"Hot Love" was T.Rex's very first number one single. The first of many over the coming few years.
It was number one in the UK charts for 6 weeks between March and April of 1971. A fact also written onto the record cover by myself, all those years ago.

"Hot Love" was released on the Fly record label, as were many of their singles and albums. The catalogue number is "Bug 6".
The B Side of the single contained the songs: "Woodland Rock" and "The King Of The Mountain Cometh". All tracks were written by Marc Bolan, who sadly died in 1977, just short of his 30th birthday.

As well as "Hot Love', i bought all of T. Rex's subsequent releases until 1973, when their hot streak of classic single releases stopped, or at least slowed down. Unfortunately, "Hot Love" is the only one that i still own. For some long forgotten reason, i got rid of all of the others. Something i very much regret now.
If only....

Rather ironically, "Hot Love" is now my least favourite of all those classic T. Rex singles.
For me at least it hasn't aged as well as all those other subsequent number one singles. That bit at the end just goes on for far too long in my opinion. Even the earlier "Ride A White Swan" sounds better to me in 2012 than "Hot Love". Mind you, 1971 was a long time ago now and tastes change over the years don't they?

As if to emphasise the impact that T. Rex had on my young life, my first ever album purchase was also a T. Rex album. Albeit a cheap compilation album of earlier material, the name of which i have forgotten. Most of it recorded under the name of 'Tyrannosaurus Rex'. That album is yet another record that i no longer own.

And so begins a personal musical journey.
Where to next i wonder?