55 From 55 - 1989

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far.

A few words about the title of my business. I was the third (and final) incumbent to run a record shop on the site, the previous two people, both of whom I knew, had plumped for hanging their given names above the door, i.e. Fred's Records. I was keen to break away from the tradition and wanted to call my shop 'something', rather than another '(insert name here) Records'. The business title I'd chosen was 'Rhythm Collision', inspired by the 1982 Ruts DC album of the same name.

Looking sleepy in 1989.

A couple of weeks before I was due to take over the business in 1986, I had a series of meetings with a very helpful small business support company, who provided free advice and contacts for new starters. The first piece of advice they gave me, however, was to ditch my chosen business name, arguing that by putting my own moniker above the door, I would establish an immediate personal identity within the small community. I reluctantly allowed myself to be overruled and '(Insert my name here) Records' it became. They were right I suppose, I did become well known in the town fairly quickly and for a while it seemed that everyone knew my name. Rhythm Collision would've been far cooler though.

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'Torch' is my favourite track from my favourite Psychedelic Furs LP, 'Book of Days', issued in late 1989. If you like the song, try to track down 'House', the only UK CD Single from the album, where you'll find an otherwise unavailable stripped-down version of 'Torch' as one of the b-sides.

55 From 55 - 1988

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far. 

My shop was located in a town that's a little off the beaten track and so I missed out on most of the personal appearances occasionally granted to fellow indie stores in the area. In October 1988, however, Donny Osmond, then in the middle of a clutch of comeback singles on Virgin Records, dropped by to say hello. It was intended to be a quick low-key visit, where he'd sign a bit of stock before being whisked off to the next port of call, but sensing the chance of a little free publicity, I alerted the local newspaper who duly dispatched a photographer to record the event.

If you're thinking that this isn't a particularly flattering shot of The Swede, you'd be dead right. But you should have seen the one they published - on the front page of the newspaper! It was truly awful! Donny was, as you might expect, an absolutely charming guy, who spent most of his short time behind my counter quizzing me about reggae, a genre he was newly discovering. I carried precious little reggae in stock, but had a couple of my own compilation tapes to hand, from which I played him a few brief selections that he listened to intently. He was particularly taken with 'Warrior Charge' by Aswad as I recall.

No Donny on today's playlist, but flick back to the 1972 post (here) to hear him and his Brothers rocking up a storm. Instead, this is 'Carolyn's Fingers', my all-time favourite Cocteau Twins tune, taken from their 1988 LP, 'Blue Bell Knoll'.

55 From 55 - 1987

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far. 

My predecessor had certainly made a good job of running down his business. On the day of the handover, in the Summer of '86, we did a joint stock take. The count didn't take long and the value of the remaining stock was so low that we eventually agreed on a nominal sum of £1 for the lot. I had no stock of consequence and no record company accounts. Oh, and the shop was painted bright yellow, inside and out!

By 1987, thanks to help from Dad and a visiting Cousin, the outside of the shop was painted blue. It wasn't ideal, it was too dark, but, on the plus side, it wasn't yellow anymore. I'd also accumulated most of the main record company accounts and had gradually been increasing my stock levels. It was tricky. I was a very small business in quite a small town, so I tried to offer a smattering of everything without becoming too esoteric or blowing my buying budget. Mainly, I relied on my knowledge and the ability to source customer orders quickly and efficiently. This was how my reputation grew.

Behind the counter. 1987.

I ploughed practically every penny back into the business in those early years, but every now and then I allowed myself a treat. In 1987, one such treat was the debut import 45 by an Australian band called God. 'My Pal' played at max volume, was the perfect aural onslaught for cashing up and sorting out at the end of the day. The quality of the song is such that it all but overshadowed the rest of the band's brief career and it still sounds electrifying today. A heads up - the repeated guitar motif will worm its way into your ear and staple itself to your brain. You've been warned.

55 From 55 - 1986

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far.

I'd vaguely stayed in touch with the guy who'd been my first manager at the record shop in Ipswich, when I started working there at the back end of 1979. Not long after I'd moved on to manage my own store in 1981, he left the company to open his own business - a little one man record shop in a small seaside town. By 1986 he'd had enough and was running the business down and trying to sell up. Meanwhile, in addition to managing my own store, I was now also clocking up the miles every week in an Area Manager capacity - and there was talk of even more branches to come. After a period of anxious consideration, I made the decision to go it alone. I purchased my former manager's tiny business for next to nothing and left behind  the relative security of the indie chain after seven years. It was a nerve wracking time. I was confident in my musical knowledge and customer service abilities, but could I run a business? And do all of these things by myself?

This is 'Strangers When We Meet', track one from The Smithereens' cracking debut LP, 'Especially For You'.                                                                           

                                                                                                                                

55 From 55 - 1985

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far.

A momentous change in my life lay just over the horizon, but for now, from 1985, here's another twofer. The Moffs were an Australian band, heavily inspired by all things paisley and psychedelic. The catalogue they left behind was slim, though if you can only track down one piece of plastic by them, make it this one. It's an import 7" single on Citadel, 'Another Day in the Sun', coupled with 'Clarodomineaux'. I can't separate the two songs. Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream.

55 From 55 - 1984

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far. 

The move in December 1983, took me even closer to London. It meant that the time it took from locking up the shop to arriving at a gig could be as little as an hour, depending on the venue, even less on a really good night. In 1984 my car could almost have done the journey down the M11 on auto-pilot. A wave of American bands, dubbed 'The Paisley Underground', began releasing records and traveling to our shores to play well received concert tours, while expensive, guitar drenched imports hit our racks from the far distant lands of Australia and New Zealand. All in all, there are any number of tunes I could choose to represent this busy musical year.

Here's one - the terrific 'Bad News Travels Fast', US import debut 45 by The Fuzztones, which for a time was a hugely popular racket behind our counter. With at least 50% of the staff anyway.

55 From 55 - 1983

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far. 

In April 1983, I took a couple of days off work and went back to Ipswich to celebrate my 23rd Birthday with as many chums as I could rustle up. It was a poor show, everyone I called was unavailable for the actual evening of my Birthday, though one of them did offer to pick me up during the day to head out for a couple of lunchtime pints and a bit of a drive around out in the sticks. We eventually arrived back in Ipswich in darkness and before running me back to my parent's house, my pal said he had to quickly stop off at his own place for a moment. As we entered his house the lights came on and there were all my mates, suited and booted - they'd arranged a surprise party for me. The Mother of the pal who'd been in charge of keeping me out of the way all afternoon had cooked up a massive amount of food and everyone else provided the all important booze. It was a long and glorious evening, one I'll never forget.

At my surprise Birthday bash. April 1983.

Towards the end of the year I was on the move again, this time to open a brand new branch of the indie record shop chain, for whom I'd now worked for 4 years. We were due to open within a busy Essex shopping centre in early December and I was given very little time by my boss to recruit the staff and stock the shelves, though after two days of solid interviewing I was fortunate to find three great people to work with. In the days leading up to the opening, we put in long hours sorting and filing dozens of boxes of records, after which I slept on the shop floor as I hadn't had any time to find myself digs in the town. All our hard work paid off though, we quickly became the busiest shop in the chain.

Today's song is from that most perfect of pop bands, Altered Images. 'Bite' was their final album and, in my opinion, their strongest overall, with great production, just the right amount of smooth sophistication and tunes to die for.

55 From 55 - 1982

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far. 

From now on, I can't guarantee that a photo of my ugly mug will accompany every single post in this series. There will be more to come here and there (including the return of facial hair in the 1990's), but I can find none at the moment, for instance, taken in 1982. I do, however, have a cracking musical selection for the year in question. In the baking heat of July 1983 I would see The Beat's final UK show, supporting David Bowie at Milton Keynes Bowl, meanwhile though, back in 1982, Ranking Roger from the band joins forces with a young Pato Banton on the marvelously inventive 12" mix of 'Pato And Roger (Ago Talk)'.

55 From 55 - 1981

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far.

After 18 months working at the record shop in Ipswich, I was offered the chance to manage my own branch 40 miles away. When I arrived in town, we actually had two branches, which my boss wanted reduced to one. So among my first acts as a manager was to tell one of the staff that their services would soon no longer be required. Mr Popular I wasn't. The move nearer London afforded me even more access to live concerts, culminating in all 7 nights of The Clash's legendary stand at the Lyceum Ballroom in October.

Back at home for Christmas 1981. In this photo, Dad is 4 years younger than I am now.

Exactly one year earlier I saw The Piranhas for the one and only time, supporting The Jam at Newcastle City Hall. At the end of 1981 they issued my favourite of all their singles, 'Vi Gela Gela'. All I could find online is the 7" version, but check out the extended 12" if you get the chance, it's an absolute joy.

In 'Vi Gela Gela' the Piranhas reference a 'tune from Af-ri-ca' they'd heard, couldn't get out of their heads, but were unable to buy over here. This is the song that made their backbones 'quiver and quake', '...listening to Western Jazz'.

55 From 55 - 1980

55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far.

Skinny as a rake and honing my people skills behind the counter of the record shop in early 1980. After leaving home my diet consisted mainly of beans on toast and beer. The moustache was not long for this world.

In mid-December 1979, The Clash released my favourite LP of all time, the mighty 'London Calling'. In 1980 the band hit the road on the '16 Tons' tour to promote it. I caught a number of shows that year, where The Clash were supported Joe Ely, who was introduced by Mick Jones as 'the new Hank Williams', and the 'Dread at the Controls', Mikey Dread. I already knew Mikey from his brilliant 1979 dub album, 'African Anthem' and in the Summer of 1980, to coincide with his raised UK profile, he put out the great, 'Rockers Delight'.