Month: October 1979

The Week That Was – 28th October 1979

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Record of the week: BA Robertson – Knocked It Off

17th Aug 2022 – BA Robertson, not often remembered in the annals of rock ‘n’ roll but the chorus in this is still in my brain, at the back somewhere. A quick internet search shows he was releasing music as early as 1973 and after fading out of the limelight by 1982 was writing more for other people, including Cliff Richard. Recently reading Beatles, Stones and other rock biographies I hadn’t really considered how a lot of popular artists had hits written by others and often ended up making more money out of them too. Teen idols across the years have been and remain a facade. Truths are always hidden.

28th October 1979
For birthday I got the Great Rock N Roll Swindle
2p 146p*

17th Aug 2022 – I was so into this album because I could finally hear Friggin’ In The Riggin’ at my leisure, the tune, or lyrics really, that Graeme had told me about that originally got me interested in this punk thing that was happening. It is such a strange album and cannot really be called Sex Pistols canon but that is kind of interesting in a way. The movie is an arty oddity too. I might give it a watch again soon.

29th October 1979
(tick)
We’re in the fuckin’ holiday
2p 150p*

23rd Aug 2022 – Well, I certainly seem excited about this fact. Like most schoolkids.

30th October 1979
Bought 30 packs of football cards
2p 2p 146p*

23rd Aug 2022 – I was big on collecting cards. Football cards, Top Trumps, playing cards. We had devised all sorts of games to play with them when I was younger. By this point, I think I was just trying to track down all the Ipswich players and perhaps some other top players of the period. I don’t recall many other kids being as fanatic about football card collecting but I guess there must have been. I think there’s a reasonable market for baseball cards in the US (maybe American Football too?) and I’m wondering now if there are still people out there collecting old football cards.

31st October 1979
(tick)
Nothing much
2p 144p*

1st November 1979
1. Lena Martell
2. Dr Hook
3. Sad Cafe
4. Abba
5. Buggles
2p 142p*

2nd November 1979
(tick)
Hey it’s you again
Nothing
2p 185p*

23rd Aug 2022 – Who was ‘you’, I wonder?

3rd November 1979
Nottingham 2-0 Ipswich
1p 2p 182p*

The Week That Was – 21st October 1979

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Record of the week: Stranglers – Nuclear Device
Highest entry: Suzi Quatro – She’s In Love With You

10th Aug 2022 – The Stranglers had passed me by until now and I reckon I only heard Nuclear Device once and never again until I bought a copy a few years later. It felt strange that a song I loved and I believe charted was so rarely heard on the radio. I was starting to feel that someone out there had it in for the punks and good music. I don’t recognise this Suzi Quatro song but she was always a pleasure to watch on Top of the Pops, though as a weird soon-to-be 12-year-old I didn’t quite understand why!

21st October 1979
Nuclear Device (Wizard of Aus) is great
2p 188p*

10th Aug 2022 – Perhaps this was the start of my education into the terrible power of nuclear weapons which would only cast a longer shadow over our lives in the early 80s. I did love the pun in the record’s title. Perhaps a first inkling of an interest in language.

22nd October 1979
(tick)
Specials Message To You, Rudy is as above
2p 186p*

10th Aug 2022 – The Two Tone ska revolution was just starting to swing and my friends and I were getting into it. The music wasn’t punk but the messages were. I could identify. Any youth culture was interesting to me at this formative stage.

23rd October 1979
(4) Not long
Took radio to school
2p 8p 1756p*

10th Aug 2022 – Countdown to my birthday. Birthdays were still exciting. Soon to be 12. I took a radio to school so we could listen to music and particularly the chart run down.

24th October 1979
(3) Not as long as yesterday
2p 1754p*

25th October 1979
(2) Even shorter
1. Lena Martell
2. Buggles
3. Michael Jackson
4. Dr Hook
5. Sad Cafe
2p 152p*

10th Aug 2022 – Apart from the Buggles this top 5 is pretty atrocious, though I do have a Sad Cafe song in the memory banks.

26th October 1979
(1) One day
Christopher’s coming down tomorrow
Greatt!
2p 150p*

27th October 1979
Great
HEYY!
Ipswich v.
For what I got, look at next week
2p 148p*

10th Aug 2022 – A Saturday birthday with a friend visiting. Unfortunately, no memories retained, sadly.

An Ipswich Town related info box in my diary for my birthday week.

The Week That Was – 14th October 1979

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Record of the week: Fleetwood Mac – Sara and Tusk
Highest entry: Chic – Forbidden Lover

3rd Aug 2022 – Is Sara and Tusk one song or two? I know the song Tusk and still love that. I think it was Camper Van Beethoven that released a complete cover of the album Tusk but as much as I’m sure I enjoyed it, it wasn’t enough to tip me over the edge with Fleetwood Mac.

14th October 1979
Nothing exciting, at least I don’t think so
2p

15th October 1979
(tick)
Nowt
2p

16th October 1979
That’s today
What’s homework
2p 200p*

3rd Aug 2022 – I would like to go back in time and kick myself to add more detail to my writing. There’s nothing here to grab on to. My current diary writing is quite mundane in content but there’s enough detail to trigger returning memories in the future. Something that these entries are entirely lacking.

17th October 1979
(tick)
European Championship
N. Ireland 1-5 England
2p

18th October 1979
1. Buggles
2. Police
3. Michael Jackson
4. Blondie
5. Lena Martell
6. Sad Cafe
7. Rainbow
8. Status Quo
9. Dr Hook
10. Chosen Few
2p

19th October 1979
Awful fucking day
7 things went wrong
2p 1p

3rd Aug 2022 – Well, this one is more like it though still with nothing to excavate anything from the depths of my old noggin. Seven things though. Funny that I counted them. In the future, I would just accumulate everything on top of the other. Plenty more awful days to come.

20th October 1979
Man Utd 1-0 Ipswich
Ipswich still bo’m
2p 191p*

The Week That Was – 7th October 1979

~ tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Record of the week: Sex Pistols – The Great Rock N Roll Swindle, Rock Around The Clock
Highest entry: Fleetwood Mac – 30

2nd Aug 2022 – The exploitation of the Sex Pistols legacy had almost run its course by now but for me, anything related to it was still exciting. I don’t mind some Fleetwood Mac these days though I think I would only know their hits. I recognise their songs sometimes when they appear in the guitar app, Yousician.

7th October 1979
No
2p 2p

8th October 1979
(tick)
No
2p

9th October 1979
St Michaels lose 6-4 and No
No
2p 2p

2nd Aug 2022 – I don’t remember this football game specifically but a lesson I learned this year from Mr Ewing involved my team being awarded a free kick just inside our forward half. I gave it an almighty hoof and almost scored. Everyone was amazed I could kick it so far. But Mr Ewing brought me down to earth saying that if it went in the goal wouldn’t have counted because it was an indirect free kick, meaning it had to touch another player before going in the goal. Way to kill a boy’s happy moment!

I think I mentioned before that at this time I was now in year 3 and the school football team was made up of year 3 and year 4 players, so I didn’t get much of a run.

10th October 1979
(tick)
Couldn’t
2p

11th October 1979
1. Police
2. Buggles
3. Blondie
4. Michael Jackson
5. Status Quo
6. Rainbow
7. Gary Numan
8. Bellamy Bros
9. Lena Martell
10. Kate Bush
2p 2p

12th October 1979
(tick)
Nothing
2p 2p

13th October 1979
Ipswich 1-2 Liverpool
Ipswich bottom
2p

2nd Aug 2022 – I think Ipswich must have turned this around quite quickly. It was only a year since winning the FA Cup and I remember doing well in Europe. Perhaps that was at the cost of not doing so well in the league.