Friday 13 January 2017

1983 - What a Year

Copyright ©2017 Upstream of Consciousness
Whilst training today I had Absolute Radio playing via my iPad through a bluetooth speaker. There's no denying it, I'm definitely an 80s music fan without a doubt.

In between sets of squats this track by Paul Young came on, 'Come Back and Stay' from 1983. That lovely sliding bass line instantly transported me back to when I was 19 and living in a cold and damp flat in Roath, Cardiff. It had been my first shared home outside of my family house, and I lived there with my first fiancée, until we agreed to split.

When this record was out I had the album it came from, 'No Parlez' and would play it continuously on my record player, usually when getting ready for work - at this period of my life I was employed working the door of a nightclub called 'Bananas' in the heart of Cardiff's city centre, and my best childhood friend, Chris, was the DJ. The night club scene then was amazing, as everyone knew each other and the atmosphere was one of a party and never one of trepidation or a fear of violence.

I even had this song - along with the complete album - on my cassette deck in my old Ford Capri. Boy, did I love that car, a tatty looking thing with suspension that made it roll worse than a fishing vessel in a storm, but it was mine, and at 19 years of age, I was oblivious. Every day was an adventure. I could go without sleep for 48  hours (and did more often than I should have) without problem, train without aches or getting sore, would wake up of a morning full of energy and ready to take on the world, and all my clothes were off the peg. Plus I was now single, but still very naive, and I suppose, still very innocent. But 1983 was a fantastic time.




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