The Shape of Things to Come – Love and Money

I doubt whether all that many of the passers by to my pages will know this song. I'm expecting Colin (of course), Claz and I suspect Em to all know it though probably not many others. It’s an album track on the very wonderful Love and Money album ‘Strange Kind of Love’.

Its impact in my life was not immediate, I just loved it straight away, along with every little pearl of a song on that amazing record. Sometimes, when I love a little-known album a huge amount, I become so evangelical about it that I feel like going and buying a few hundred copies then standing on a street corner and giving them to people who look deserving. This is one such album for me. I cannot dredge my soul and find any reason why this should not have been a massive hit when it was released but somehow the great British record-buying public overlooked it. It’s their loss I suppose but I don’t find that much consolation from saying that as I know that James Grant (the singer and songwriter) found it difficult to fund his later works and I’m not aware of him having released anything for many years. I must say that any and all of the songs on here are so good that they could have made the hit list.

In fact, there are so many of my favourite songs that didn’t make the cut I’m sure this won’t be the end of ‘Capturing Songs’ for me.

Anyway, back to why it changed my life (eventually). DM and I had been seeing each other for five months or so when Valentine’s Day 2001 was upon us. I’m a bit of a sucker for these occasions though I don’t get the gift thing – for me a home-made card is what it’s all about.

I duly set about making a stonking card for him – a huge red heart, made from stiff cardboard, cut into a jigsaw which he had to reassemble to see the message as a single word was on each piece. This song was copied onto a CD (not pirated as I owned the record). The whole thing was put into a black leather and lace home-made envelope, tied up with ribbon, sealed with sealing wax and posted through his door by hand while he was at work.

It was a marathon effort, with lots of pitfalls, including the glittery pen I’d used not drying properly on the CD!!!

When I arrived that evening he was clearly thrilled and also a bit sheepish (no card for me…..typical man). This was the turning point moving things into a ‘relationship’ rather than a fling.

I know the record itself wasn’t the only life-changing bit of the equation but nonetheless it is my No 10.

For those who missed the point of this and the rest, it came from a book I read over Christmas – Cool For Cats, written by an ex-NME journalist. The book opened with the heroine listing hers and why for a job application. Mine are:

SYSLJFM – the Q-Tips
These Arms of Mine – Otis Redding
Love and Pride - King
Elevation – U2
Blinded by the Sun – The Seahorses
Back of my Hand – the Jags
Drive – the Cars
Do you want to know a secret – The Beatles
This is Love – PJ Harvey

This last one has been published six months and one day since the first was published. hey, when I'm famous, I won't need to think about my Desert Island Discs now will I?

Next, I intend to reflect on films – not ones that changed my life, just good old corkers that I loved. I have a strong ‘Nick Hornby’ instinct in me for lists in case you’d not noticed.

Last year, Archie was being a perfect model and two years go, I was a bit fed-up and my little sis was giving me moral support.