Old Enough to Forget

I was farting around meanderbrowsing (it's a real thing) through one of the record stores I occasionally shop. Krazy Bobs is a treasure trove of stuff, but can be a tad overwhelming, and while not disorganized, it's all over the place. I've found more than a few awesome nuggets, and the proprietor is an odd duck, at times in the best way, and other times it's overwhelming when I just want to quietly browse. However, he's a treasure trove of knowledge, and his ability to retain an astounding amount of absolutely useless trivia makes me look like a moron. Something I can do all on my own without help - but that's beside the point. Generally, when I'm there I have a specific item I've got a hankering to find. Chances are pretty decent he has it, or knows about it. This is also the same guy that put me onto Hair Cut One Hundred (better than I expected), and the Karroll Brothers - which was a wicked score. We've also lamented poor Jim Clench's bad luc...

I was at one of my favourite haunts the other day, and I was looking for Riggs' lone album, but it was not to be. I don't know why I keep looking, as "Radar Rider" and "Heartbeat" are on the Heavy Metal soundtrack and I have that, but it's been on my list ever since I passed up a cassette copy back in '81. Anyway, I got to talking about this and that with the owner about unheralded bands that should have been bigger. He says he has a treat for me, but he had to find it. He wouldn't tell me what it was, as he wasn't sure he had it. Last time he did this, it cost me twenty bucks and I ended up with a Haircut One Hundred album that I have to admit I did enjoy. After a few minutes, he pulls out a Queen City Kids record. I thought it was a hair metal band that had a song featured on Peacemaker. Don't ask. I'm trying to understand my train of thought on that one too. I couldn't have been farther off the mark if I'd been blindfolded,...

The year was 1982, and my nineteen-year-old self was still a couple of years away from getting into the European-tinged pop that would eventually start expanding my musical palate. Haircut One Hundred is a band I appreciate a lot more now than my younger self would have. The catchy "Love Plus One" appears on a lot of '80s compilations for good reason - it's a great song. I'm saying this now, but if you'd asked me the other day, I'd have drawn a blank. I'd gone into Krazy Bob's looking for a specific album (still can't find it) and got to chatting with Bob. We got on the subject of British new wave. He asked me if I had any Haircut One Hundred. I said I knew the name but couldn't recall any of their stuff. "What about Nick Heyward?" he asked. Again, I knew the name but was drawing a blank on anything specific. I know he's on a compilation somewhere in the library in the studio, but knowing and knowing aren't the same. So he...