Without being too mawkish or too personal I wanted to mark to passing of my father on 15th July. At times like these you tend to recall many things and one of them was how my dad used to bring music back for me on his way home from work in London (probably stopping at London Bridge). The first example I remembered was a cassette of The Beat LP "I Just can't Stop It". The thing was my dad wasn't into my music and probably didn't understand why I was a Mod back in '79 / '80 (especially when you consider the aggro you got being a young mod those days...). He wanted to be sure I liked it and / or didn't already have it (the answer to that one was yes and no - cheers dad!).
Anyway, it then struck me that actually I think it was him who stopped off on the way home to buy me "So Far Away" by The Chords on its day of release in May 1980, complete with limited edition 7" single "Now It's Gone" / "Things We Said" and I recall playing it three or four times that night. Do you recall the thrill of getting that sought after record all those years ago when buying vinyl was still a real buzz and relative rarity? The Chords were my fave band of the time and they still have the ability to fire me up as I replay the album now as I write this. He would have stopped off at Sydenham station and gone down to Treble Clef on Sydenham High Rd (long since closed I think) before walking back home with a precious package. I'm sure he couldn't understand what the fuss was about, particularly as I practised drumming to the whole LP very loud on a makeshift kit of boxes before I got my kit a few years later. I wonder what the landlord upstairs thought...?
If you don't know The Chords from the '79 revival then I urge you to check them out. Try this site (not updated for a while mind) or buy the retrospective anthology from Amazon :
I could go on about the album, but it has some great critiques of suburbia, railings against the rise of fascism plus a decent cover of "She Said, She Said". All time fave Chords track? Got to be "Maybe Tomorrow" as the first single of theirs I bought and then off the LP maybe "Happy Families" and "So far Away"
