I didn't own a VCR in 1981, my first piece of kit lay 4 years in the future. Fortunately though, I knew a man who did. My mate had a rented Betamax machine. It was the size of a fridge, weighed a ton and took 40 minutes to rewind a tape, but after the pub it was all back to his place to watch his clunkily edited TOTP compilations, full to bursting with performances by the likes of Altered Images, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Jam and Teardrop Explodes. There was the occasional gem from the Old Grey Whistle Test too. We already knew Scars from the angular post-punk of the previous year's single 'They Came and Took Her', but nothing prepared us for the magnificent dark pop of 'All About You'. It became an instant Saturday night post-pub Betamax favourite. Watching the performance again in 2015 the band scream 1981 from the very core of their being, but listen to that song. Crank it up.
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3 comments:
It's a magnificent song I almost forgot and still worth to play it again, Swede. I know the monster of a recorder long time ago. My first was a Video 2000 with an excellent quality. Unfortunately VCR made the race.
Ah, the Scars! There was something very special about them at the time. I'll never forget the haunting 'Your Attention Please', the subject and approach of which seemed like it could become a reality at any moment.
Betamax! Now there's a word you don't hear much - it's like we're speaking in a different language...
Fantastic band and their debut single Horrorshow is still one of my favourites. Fans should try and see the documentary Big Gold Dream if they can as they feature fairly prominently in it.
Love the Betamax story.
Jamie
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