The Music That Shaped Me
A look into the past to show the songs that made me the man I am today.
Part 1 : The Formative Years
The Wombles - Remember You're A Womble
Give me a break here, I was 2 years old at the time. 2 albums by The Wombles were the first pieces of music I ever owned. My Auntie Christine worked in a branch of Woolworths and these 2 Wombles albums had been bought back by a customer because they were scratched. She kept hold of them & gave them to me because I was already mad about the Wombles TV series. They played fine on our old antiquated record player and from that moment onwards my mother was blasted with this song for about the next 5 or 6 years. Orinoco was always my favourite, I think it was the big floppy hat & scarf that did it. It made him look like Tom Baker's Dr Who and gave him a slightly bohemian look.
I've never been allowed to forget about my love of the wombles as a child illustrated by my sister giving me a stuffed womble for Christmas last year (Orinoco obviously) which now proudly sits on top of my CD rack... when it's not being carted around the place by my 2 & a half year old nephew.
(I watched this video all the way to the end too.)
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Neil Diamond - Beautiful Noise
Around the same time I was digging The Wombles according to my Dad this was another of my favourite songs at the time I was crawling around on carpets in my nappy, he says that whenever he would play this song that I would get up & start to boogie around the living room.
Normally I would think my Dad is talking crap just to embarrass me but I do have a lot of memories of hearing this song in my childhood so I'm forced to accept this as truth...sadly.
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Dr Hook - When You're In Love With a Beautiful Woman
So i'm now out of nappys & into school and one day i'm sitting around playing with my lego and this song comes on, it may have even been this very episode of Top Of The Tops.
Now i'm sort of half listening to it quite liking it and then I see it..........
THERE'S A HALF COWBOY / HALF PIRATE MAN PLAYING THE MARACAS !!!!!!!!
Suddenly Dr Hook were the coolest band in the entire history of music for having not only a pirate, but a cowboy man in the band. F
uck The Village People. This was a real cowboy/pirate hybrid. For months afterwards I would scour every BBC light entertainment show for a hope that I would get to see pirate/cowboy guy, and because this song was everywhere at the time my need was satisfied regularly.
I still had no idea what his name until I just googled him, Ray Sawyer.. I salute you sir.
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Blondie - Union City Blue
Debbie Harry was my first crush. Not in a 'I really fancy Debbie Harry' type of way. I was far too young to know what that was all about. It was much more innocent than that. Every time she would come on TV I would rush to the screen and watch 'The pretty blonde lady' sing her stuff. I think it was the way that the lights would hit her hair and she had this sort of ephemeral glow about her, mixed with great pop songs. It wasn't just her either. I remember thinking that the rest of the band looked really cool in their shades & bright sharp new wave fashions that I have still remained a love of. Debbie Harry & Chris Stein taught the infant later-to-be Urban Hatemonger the importance of coolness.
I chose this song because I can remember the video vividly. I would watch the beginning as the camera scanned along the harbour keeping my eyes wide open looking out for Debbie and then as 5 figures on the jetty would come into view would proudly point to the screen & shout to my mum & dad that I could see them before being transfixed by Debbie again.
I was so innocent back then.
(Yes she gets a much bigger picture)
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