People who have only known me in recent years know me as that boring old bird with no life, who slopes around in rags and works too hard. The sad thing for me is that my mis-spent youth is forgotten (or indeed unknown) to everyone other than me and a small handful of friends who occasionally still remind me that I once had a life. Occasionally one of my friends will remind the world of some of my misdemeanours but it’s getting rarer and rarer. (Especially now that TOTP2 isn’t on the telly very often so we can’t be spotted bouncing around on the show any more.) Jan, Colin and Paul have been discussing the strange and nefarious goings on at 13 A Tachbrook Road on FB recently reminding me of those heady, carefree days of cosmic bogs, spangly earrings and gigs every night for weeks on end.
Picture the scene. I’m on my way home from work yesterday afternoon, listening (as always) to Radio 4 in the Sunshine Bus. I’m just pulling up outside my house when a song comes on. That’s odd in itself, Radio 4 is (for those outside the UK) an almost entirely speech-based station and it is, let’s face it, often a bit stuffy. I nearly drove the Sunshine Bus over the side of the hill when I realised that what I was hearing was an old favourite from my mis-spent youth…not only that but this particular song was from a band that was obscure even then.
There were a devoted crowd of followers of “Fast Freddie’s Fingertips” who’d go to see Freddie and his band around London in bars and pubs. We’d all get sweaty and have a great time. I still have his one and only album “New Town Soul” and play it surprisingly often given that I don’t play music very much anymore. Some of the best fun gigs I ever went to were Freddie’s shows – I’d like to think Shazbop would agree. They released their album on Phoenix Records – (rising out of the ashes of the greatest record label the UK has ever produced – Stiff) so there is a lovely circularity there for me too.
It was with great joy, therefore, that I recognised “The Flip Flop Song” on Radio 4 yesterday on my way home. I’ll bet the only other person who was listening who knew the song was the person who decided to play it as part of the show. It tickled me pink so I’m doing my flip-flop shot in celebration of a life gone by and a love of FFF. I feel sure Freddie would love this – let’s face it he was a man who celebrated life in all its flawed and imperfect forms. You only have to listen to Costa Brava Love to see that. (Clearly the sight of a woman of over 50's feet clad in sparkly flip flops can be considered imperfect on many levels.)I have to confess to feeling really thrilled and excited with this little gem and can’t wait until Monday when New Town Soul will make it into the Sunshine Bus and onto my new CD player!
Maybe, just maybe there is life in the old bird yet…
