55 songs in 55 days - one for every year of
my life...so far.
In 1977, finally, a year later than
practically all my friends, I got my first
job. I also purchased my first ever suit, a
mandatory requirement at the office. I
arrived home from work at the end of the long
first day, head throbbing from all the new
information I'd absorbed and feet throbbing
from my new leather shoes that weren't yet
worn-in, and immediately ran upstairs to
change into the comfortable familiarity of
jeans and t-shirt. Mum was horrified. She'd
been thrilled that morning, to see me dressed
smartly for the first time in living memory
and had been poised with a camera, awaiting
my return, in order to document the moment.
Before she would hand over any dinner, she
made me go upstairs, change back into my new
threads and pose for a photo-shoot outside
the front door. This was the result.At the end of the month, I received my first pay slip - £92! At lunch time, a friend took me to the bank and showed me how to cash a cheque, I hadn't got a clue. I took out £10 and headed straight to the record shop to purchase 'Live! In the Air Age' by Be Bop Deluxe - after which I still had £7.50 to spare. So began the lunchtime ritual of propping up the counter at the record shop, which would ultimately result in me getting a job there. Hidden under the counter was a 'Punk' singles box, available to peruse upon request. After hearing The Only Ones' debut single, 'Lovers of Today', on John Peel's programme one evening in the Summer of '77, I rushed into the shop the following lunchtime with the title scribbled on a scrap of paper, asked for the box, rifled through and found it. How great is this?
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