When I was 16 I went out and saw bands like Free, Spooky Tooth, Blodwyn Pig, Genesis etc...a lot of my friends in Colchester were into US music. They never came to any of the blues and prog rock scene, though I went along to check out the kind of stuff they were into in the clubs and disco's.
Now, all these years on, I collect vinyl and this means one has the opportunity to catch up on so many different genres. On Wednesday I picked some reggae singles from a couple who had come up from Brixton for a car boot sale to the East of Colchester.
It was 6.45am and they were barely awake...I saw the labels of Shang Muzik, Digital-B and S and R...which originate in Kingston, Jamaica, and asked how much they were....the guy was yawning and he said, 'Man, I dunno, I bin asleep in the car....50p each? I bought the lot.
I've been playing them and they are ******* great!
My daughter's are surprised that their old dad picks up music they've never heard of, especially when one of my girls used to work for Andy's Records and Virgin.
Just off to the turntable....