55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of
my life...so far.
Belting out 'Powderfinger' and 'Mr Soul' during a Neil Young tribute night.
By 1995 I'd been through Madchester, Rave and
Grunge, now Brit-Pop was at its peak. I
didn't know it at the time, but my shop was
riding the crest of its final wave. Business
would never be this good again.
A few surviving ticket stubs from the year in question.
1995 was the year I first stumbled upon Chicago post-rockers Tortoise, via a
marvelous 12" single 'Gamera'. The following
year the band would release their groundbreaking
2nd LP, 'Millions Now Living Will Never Die'
and they are currently working on their 7th studio album.
55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of my life...so far.
The album launch. Venues would vary from record company to record company and from artist to artist; Genesis at the London Planetarium, Black Crowes on a roof in Kensington, Garbage in a Soho wine bar, a long forgotten indie band on a Thames-side barge, but essentially the aim was the same. Ply us with drink and nibbles, wheel the band (or at least a band-member) out to meet and greet us, play the album super-loud on very good equipment, then take our pre-release orders while we're vulnerable! These occasions were also a great opportunity to meet and socialise with fellow indie retailers. It was sometimes a lonely business running your own, erm, business.
Can't find any 1992 photos of me, so here are a few surviving ticket stubs from that year.
One album launch remains head and shoulders above the others though, and not just for the quality of the music. In 1992, after the success of their wonderful debut LP, The Sundays were signed to Parlophone and their second album 'Blind' was launched at the Abbey Road recording studio. I get shivers just thinking about it. The playback actually took place in Studio 2 (Studio 2!), though we were free to wander into the other studios and have a nose about throughout the course of evening. As a music nerd, it was an overwhelming and emotional location find myself in. Foolishly, I didn't take a camera with me to record this once in a lifetime event. I wish I had.
(The volume is very low on this one - crank it up!)
