Retro Music Lovers (up to and including 31/12/1999)

Happy Sunday. Hope you're all staying well hydrated.

Drinking a few bottles of beer myself, and I might even crack open the Caol Ila. Had a lovely walk today, it's been stunning weather.

 
Wait.. what! it's not even the best Zombies song!.. this maybe a contender tho.


..embarrassingly i have a soft spot for Abba'a S.O.S but i appreciate i might be in the minority so i'll not post it :LOL:
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Colin Bluntstone, Rod Argent AND 'The Zombies' WERE supposed to be performing "on my block" here, an outdoor-concert

Then, that B'strd "Covid.19" appeared and tragically put-paid to THAT idea - I wuz gutted !

They've (of course), since re-scheduled, but my local nearest outdoor venue (that WAS happening), is now "Not" - As for ABBA.....



When I wuz in my very-late teens AND very early twenties, I had "My love of ABBA" thrown in my face, repeatedly.

I shall never forget my 6ft-4in to 6ft-5inch mate, Paul, saying.....

"How CAN you be SUCH a hardcore Led Zeppelin fan AND teaching people to play their (Page's) guitar-riffs, note-for-note"

"Yet YOU ***king like ABBA" - with Paul & his associated-mates, laughing their heads-off at his bewildered comment !

Never did find a way to explain

Hardcore "U.F.O" fan here (Schenker/Mogg/Chapman, etc) & formerly Page fan, yet, LOVED ABBA - (I have NO shame 😙



Interesting you should mention ABBA's brilliant 'comeback' single, "S.O.S"

After the fuss had died-down, regarding 'Waterloo', I thought they might flounder, as did every-other-Eurovision(ite)


But when "S.O.S" got released, I loved it SO much, that I went-out & bought it - Yellow EPIC label - No-one was buying it (then)

At first - (first few weeks I had it) - It seemed to be going nowhere, chart-wise

I thought to myself (as a teenager) - "Why oh WHY is no-one buying this BRILLIANT 45rpm single"

Then - Gradually, it seemed to amble up the charts - Getting to No.6 (IIRC), which was VERY respectable back in those days.

It stayed at No.6, like, forever - around 3-weeks, if my memory serves correctly (don't take any notice of latterday-charts BTW).


To me, THAT 45rpm-single, "S.O.S" put ABBA effectively "back on the map", chart-wise, again.


After that, (again, IIRC, without-checking), they released "Mamma Mia" & after that, the rest was just history.

Me, I much prefer ABBA's "The Day Before You Came" - (no "money-shot" jokes please, I'm being deadly serious !)

Always much preferred "U.F.O" (Schenker/Mogg/Chapman, etc) & Led Zep' tho' - just my harder taste.....

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It was car journeys for me.. when i was a kid we only had 2x cassettes in the old Landy, one was Abba Gold and t'other was The Carpenters Greatest Hits so ABBA brings back happy memories of straddling the transmission and changing the gears in the days before seat belts..

My mum was a child of the 60's so her record collection was.. Donovan, Lovin Spoonful, Mamas & Papas, Beach Boys.. ect.. whereas during the 60's my dad was positioned in Thailand so his very limited vinyl collection was sort of.. Strauss and/or Stravinsky.. so as a kid my only means of music was either taping the Top 40 and making mixtapes on my twin cassette deck or hitting my mum's record collection.

As a teenager I threw myself into the rave scene so pushed back against everything i saw as the mainstream.. this went on for years and i missed out on a lot of good pop because of it.. it's only since i came to terms with the fact that i stopped being cool decades ago that i've started catching up.. i even caught myself enjoying Overload by The Sugarbabes recently... :LOL:
 
So as a kid my only means of music was either taping the Top 40 - or hitting my mum's record collection.

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Hmmm, strange similarities there, between us both.

My Dad taught me 'how' to record the Audio side/section of "Top of the Pops", from tele' onto my (then 'new') PYE tape-recorder

"Caroline" by Status Quo (in 1973), was THE first track that I ever recorded - Funny, as I rather dislike that track now**

** ("Break The Rules" by Quo was ALWAYS far more enjoyable for me, as was the much earlier "Paper Plane")

I was SO obssessed by Queen's 1974/'75 "Now I'm Here" track, that I recorded it FIVE TIMES over (each, on a different cassette !)

That was the track that taught me "palm-muting", when taking-up electric-guitar - so a quite important step for a kid, back then.


Now for me, it was "hitting my Dad's (rather boring) record-collection" - School holidays, house to myself, boredom, etc....


That's where I discovered the mighty Petula Clark - About a million-miles away from Michael Schenker/Paul Chapman & "U.F.O" 🎸


This following track has stuck in my mind all those years, since childhood AND I still think it's magnificent to this day....

Listen out for the mad, mad, madcap 'glassy-sounding-keyboard' (that goes, "Da, Da, DANK"), played by a session-musician !

"Romeo" by Petula Clark - Bloody Marvellous !!!!!!!



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Yes I also had a Radio cassette and recorded by liked bits of the top 40 on a sunday evening. Avoiding the speaking was an art never mastered.

Well if we're owning up to guilty pleasures...............

It was the summer of 1984 and my mother and my aunt, who wasn't really an aunt wanted to go to London to see their idol. Neither wanted to drive from Leicestershire on motorways or into London. Having recently passed my test and being a good son (of sorts), I ended up being persuaded to chauffeur them to the show. I would wait elsewhere and drive them home, spent and elated. Them not me.

The day arrived. The journey went without calamity despite two back-seat drivers. We pulled up at Earl's Court. I was told to park as they'd treated me to a ticket. Imagine? Eighteen years old, with mother and 'aunt', Into OMD, ACDC, New Order, a smattering of Punk, Mod and two-tone etc... Sitting down with an audience most of whom were at least twice my age, to watch....................

Absolutely astonishing. Still makes the hairs on he back of my neck stand up.
And this is exactly how it started!



The set list for that night 26 June 1984 Earl's Court. Value for money or what? A showman.

America
Love on the Rocks
I'm Alive
Play Me
Thank the Lord for the Night Time
Cherry, Cherry
Sweet Caroline
Red Red Wine
Beautiful Noise
Surviving the Life
If You Know What I Mean
Hello Again
On the Robert E. Lee
You Baby
Songs of Life
Primitive
September Morn
Forever in Blue Jeans
You Don't Bring Me Flowers
Heartlight
The Dancing Bumble Bee / Bumble Boogie
Song Sung Blue
Cracklin' Rosie
Holly Holy
I Am ... I Said
Anthem
Skybird
Dear Father
Be
Soolaimon
Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show

It was a quiet drive home....
 
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:LOL: Just bought the ABBA Gold for ½€ and ripped it. Here's another artist worth re-discovering:

 
Camp

Camper

Campest

Damn! this sunshine and beer is gunna play havoc with my forum rep..
 
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