...Some people took punk very seriously indeed. A few good friends of mine saw the possibility for social change in its ethos and thought it the responsibility of the artist to change the world through their music and almost as importantly their hair. And then there was those of us who liked bands like the Damned. For about four albums they were for me one of the most enjoyable sounds to come thumping through the heavy mono speaker of my ma's stereogram. Signed to Stiff Records they came already with a thumbs up in a funny kind of way. There were some genius people on that label back in the day. From Ian Dury and Lena Lovitch right up to the labels most sustained hit makers Madness. Not that hits seem to matter much back then it seemed to be about something else. Having a great time most of all.
They bloody looked great too. Each member doing his own thing. Dave Vanian always looked amazing and I so envied Captain Sensible and his mohair suit. I wanted one so much but did not even know what mohair was. I thought there was a wild animal called a Mo. One of my neighbours, Peggy Ferguson, sent some old cushion covers up for my ma. We were always being given hand me downs as my family never had a pot to piss in. She was a bit startled at her window one day soon after to see me walking past wearing them as a waist coat. They were fluffy and bright orange. I decided they looked like the hair of a mo. since I was not a bad hand with a needle and thread I turned them into a warm piece of eye catching apparel. "Here,Billy, Malachy Coneys away past wearing the cushion covers I sent up for his ma." I heard she exclaimed to her husband who barely batted an eye lid about anything he heard about me. Well, he was profoundly deaf in one ear. They served me well did those covers. Keeping me warm in a cold climate.
I suppose when you are really really broke everything you get is just gravy.
