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.
