Old Enough to Forget

Released in the fall of 1982, it was probably in the summer of '83 that I first heard the title track. Phil Collins mania hadn't gripped the world ... he was blip on the horizon - you could see him coming. His distinctive drums were the reason the song grabbed me initially, but it was a killer tune, and Daryl Stuermer's guitar solo was the icing on the cake. Yes, this was the same Frida who was in ABBA, although at the time she seemed to be old as dirt she was probably only 36 or 37 years old. Of course considering I was still in my teens (okay, as late into my teens as you can get) that's a big gap. I bought the album mainly for the title track, but I found there was a lot to like and as a bonus (at least to me) was Jim Rafferty's (brother to Gerry) "I See Red" a song I always really liked. Both Russ Ballard, and Rod Argent contributed a song each, with Russ Ballard's "I Know There's Something Going On" being the big song here. There wer...

Sleepwalking is one of my favourite albums ever . Released in 1982 Sleepwalking was a marked departure from his previous album Snakes and Ladders, and the ones before that. So many people think of Gerry as a one hit wonder with "Baker Street" from 1978s City to City , and I suppose depending on where you were, this was sort of true but I remember a number of songs from his first few records on the radio when I was a much younger man. I was on a train in 1982 travelling back from a youth conference or something when my friend Gerry, who had (he may still have) great taste in music, had a cassette copy of Sleepwalking and insisted I listen to it because it was awesome. Being a fan already I listened to the first few songs, and gone were the folk elements, instead the songs were laden with synthesisers (English spelling) but it wasn't like he was trying to be Trio or Gary Numan this was still unmistakably Gerry Rafferty. It was indeed awesome. I think I said it quite loudly ...