Over 46 years ago, I went to this gig >>>>>
Can you guess which band I went to see? I will retirn to that in a minute. Not bad value for £3 was it? I asked AI how much £3 in 1980 is worth at todays prices? The answer - £3 in 1980 is worth about £16.70 today due to cumulative inflation - That is only slightly more than you'd pay to see The False Dots at the Dublin Castle today and you got five bands!
To give some context, Echo and the Bunnymen hadn't had any hits, but had been on the John Peel show and were being touted as the next big thing, as were Psychedelic Furs and The Teardrop Explodes. All had had singles, which hadn't really bothered the charts, but all were being heavily touted by the NME. As the billing indicates, A Certain Ratio were slightly less well known. The band I went to see were Manicured Noise, an obscure Manchester Band that I'd started following. I was delighted with this line up as I was curious about all of the bands (rightly so it would seem).
I was 17 at the time. I'd probably already seen 200 bands at this point, as I'd try and go to a couple of gigs a week if I could. We were really spoiled for choice. Many of the line ups had three or four amazing bands. The first punk gig I went to was The Ramones, Talking Heads and The Saints in 1977, That was £2. It was never an easy choice. Every weekend, it seemed there'd be 2-3 gigs featuring bands I'd like to see.
There is a brilliant resource thatt has all of the copies of NME digitised, which is where I got the listing on the left - Check it out archive.org/search?query=creator%3A%22NME+-+New+Musical+Express%22&page=2&sort=-addeddate&and%5B%5D=year%3A%221980%22
For me, this is fascinating. There are so many gigs that totally fascinate me. The listings and the ads are a treasure trove. You may wonder what sparked this off? Last night I went to see Echo and The Bunnymeny at Regents park Theatre. It reminded me of the first time I saw them and prompted the deep dive. At the time, my band, The False Dots hadn't even done a gig. It was bands like this that gave us inspiration, watching the rise and grow.
Just over a year later, The False Dots name appeared in the Gig listings of the NME for the very first time. We thought we'd hit the big time. See if you can spot us (A clue - look for London Hendon). To me, at the time, The NME seemed like the Bible. It is bizarre for me to find that The False Dots outlived the printed copy of the NME although there is still a website.
I spent my last years at school with my head buried in the music papers. Within about five years, there was nothing in it I was interested in. That is how the music industry moves. It is aimed at 13-21 year olds, there is a constant churn of fashions, trends and fads. The NME was the bible for teenagers with pretentions of bing hip and cool. The key element though was that one day you were the king of the castle and a year later no one wanted to know, or at least that was the view of the industry.
However, the bands that stuck with it, or came back and reformed found that the audience was still there. That is why I was at the gig last night. Today, a mate said to me "Why aren't young people interested in live music and bands in the way we were?". There are many reasons, but I think the main one is that when I got into music I was 14 and I could go to gigs, drink beer and watch bands without being asked for ID. I went with all my mates. I was out with Boz Boorer, of the Polecats and Morrissey fame last week. He told me how he won £1.37 playing poker in the 6th form common room at Orange Hill and spent it going to see a band. It covered his bus fare and entrance. He couldn't afford a drink. He was 16, went on his own and got home at midnight. His parents didn't bat an eyelid. The youth of today simply wouldn't be let in. The first gig I went to on my own with my school mates, was when I was 15. A bunch of us went to The Roundhouse from FCHS to see Eddie and The Hot Rods at Xmas 1977 at The Roundhouse. I'd been to a few with my sister who at 19 was an adult, but we were all 15-16. It was £2, paid for from my paper round and cleaning cars for my Dad. The idea of going to a gig and not being let in because I was too young never occurred to me. The sad truth is that it wouldn't happen today. By the time I was 17 and I went to see the Lyceum gig, I was an old hand. It was a lifetime habit. But then again, financially it was also affordable for me. I had a job that was my own money and you could see five classic bands for £3, what was not to like.
We have become a society that is so obsessed with protecting everyone from everything, that no one has a chance to actually live. I said this to a friend recently who said "You can't honestly say that you'd have let your 14 year old go to see a punk band on the bus". They sort of missed the point. When we went, a gang of us would go and there was safety in numbers. There were scrapes, but I soon learned to spot danger and we all looked out for each other. I think it was the best thing in my life and I wouldn't deprive anyone of that, but I would want my kids going out with a gang, as we did.
Anyway, as I said, to this day the habit continues. This was last nights fun. I suppose one day I'll be too old for all of this.
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