I'm currently writing a book on the 1980's rock scene, and in particular how if affected me as a teenager living in Nottingham, England (home of Robin Hood for those of you on foreign shores, but don't even think of mentioning Kevin Costner!).
This has been a long gestating project, some three or four years in the planning, during which time I've written something like 60,000 words of notes on various topics, and which I'm finding now that I'm actually about two-thirds of the way through the first draft, was an invaluable exercise.
So, how does one go about researching a book on rock music?
Well, for me it mainly involved revisiting some of the publications of my youth, most notably Kerrang! magazine which any rock fan brought up in the eighties will know was the holy grail of all things rock and roll in those days. Today it's still an OK magazine, but many of its writers have grown up, like me, and now write for Classic Rock magazine, and so I too have moved on to these more mature pastures, though I like to think that aside from retiring from the mosh pit several years ago after nearly crippling myself (don't ask!), I still rock every bit as hard as I used to. (Well, nearly....)
Wading through some hundred and fifty issues that the magical wallet-lightener known as eBay forced upon me (yeah, right), memories of the old days came flooding back - the first time I went to a genuine rock gig (Iron Maiden, 1986, Nottingham Royal Centre), the first time I saw Guns'n'Roses (1987, in a small club venue called Rock City, again in Nottingham), my first stage dive (not sure when, but I'm pretty sure it was at an Onslaught gig at Rock City) - I could go on (and frequently do, particularly when I get together with my old friends) but you can read all about it sometime later this year if all goes to plan.
The other grinding, tedious, boring task (Who am I kidding? It's been a blast) I put myself through was watching dozens of old rock videos on YouTube. For all its faults (like the world needs footage of another dumbass stapling a ten dollar bill to his forehead, or another teenager showing me just how much better at Guitar Hero III he is than I'll ever be), this is probably the greatest thing that YouTube has given my generation. The ability to dial up virtually any of the old school rock videos is so addicitive that just the other night I found myself glued to the screen for several hours as I played one after the other after the other.
However, to save you trouble of weeding through the hundreds on offer, I proudly present a list of five of my favourite hair metal clips for you to track down...... enjoy!
David Lee Roth - Just A Gigolo
Zodiac Mindwarp - Prime Mover
KISS - Let's Put The X In Sex
Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
Poison - Nothin' But A Good Time
Showing posts with label observation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label observation. Show all posts
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
Friday, 4 January 2008
Snow, or the lack thereof....
It seems that every year, once Christmas is out of the way, we begin the countdown to the inevitable warning from the Met Office that Britain is about to experience 'severe weather conditions'. Regular as clockwork, we had our first warning yesterday that we were, if you believed the hype, about to be hit with the beginnings of the next ice age.
This always makes me smile, as over here in the UK, every time that we get so much as a millimeter of snow on the ground the country grinds to a halt. While it's true that every so many years we do get a major snowfall, the last being the winter of 2002 when it took me over five hours to travel the 20 miles home from where I worked at the time, these actual severe weather conditions are rarer than an honest politician.
Since then, however, we've had nothing to get worried about, but still every year we get the warnings.
When I was younger we lived in Canada where, as those of you in that part of the world will attest, it wasn't uncommon to pull open your curtains of a winter (or spring or fall for that matter) morn and be confronted with six feet of snow.
Did we panic? Not a chance. Instead we merely (or rather, my Dad merely) grabbed a shovel and dug through the drifts at the front door until we could see daylight again. As far as the roads went, snow chains were a way of life and everybody just got on with it.
Not so here in the UK, though. An inch of snow and trains are cancelled, flights postponed, and roads become vast car parks as we struggle to cope.
Anyway, as I awoke this morning, hoping to see at least a snifter of the white stuff I was already prepared for the inevitable disappointment. Still, at least it wasn't raining.
This always makes me smile, as over here in the UK, every time that we get so much as a millimeter of snow on the ground the country grinds to a halt. While it's true that every so many years we do get a major snowfall, the last being the winter of 2002 when it took me over five hours to travel the 20 miles home from where I worked at the time, these actual severe weather conditions are rarer than an honest politician.
Since then, however, we've had nothing to get worried about, but still every year we get the warnings.
When I was younger we lived in Canada where, as those of you in that part of the world will attest, it wasn't uncommon to pull open your curtains of a winter (or spring or fall for that matter) morn and be confronted with six feet of snow.
Did we panic? Not a chance. Instead we merely (or rather, my Dad merely) grabbed a shovel and dug through the drifts at the front door until we could see daylight again. As far as the roads went, snow chains were a way of life and everybody just got on with it.
Not so here in the UK, though. An inch of snow and trains are cancelled, flights postponed, and roads become vast car parks as we struggle to cope.
Anyway, as I awoke this morning, hoping to see at least a snifter of the white stuff I was already prepared for the inevitable disappointment. Still, at least it wasn't raining.
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