Not sure how this comes across on first listen but it certainly reminds me of long evenings with fingers poised over thick buttons (one red, one black) labelled play and record. Of course I could have spent £1.99 on the seven inch straight away but where was the fun in that when you had a 1 in 20 chance of snagging it on Fanning’s show of an evening. Might seem strange to the younger amongst you but even back then the record industry was in a flap and making comical claims about ‘home taping is killing music’. Didn’t work in my case as I wore the aforementioned fingers to a pulp. Endless mixtapes containing lo-fi tunes and DJ’s quite unremorsefully cut off mid-sentence. When I finally got some pocket money every penny when on accumulating shiny vinyl, cassette tapes and then the dreaded CD. So perhaps I was the exception, that despite my crack-like addiction to home taping I ended up spending more on music than any other pursuit (including chasing girls). That’s why when I hear that oft repeated mantra that downloading is having a fatal effect on music I smile a wry one. History repeating, but then gullibility is lost on the current generation of music fans. KD
The Pastels – Nothing To Be Done
More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: The Pastels
Year: 1989
Classic!! I slightly prefer the “Mobile Safari” and “Illumination” era Pastels, but I love the innocence of their earlier work too.
So true. The music industry has always been a stubborn one. Rather than trying to adapt to the existing demand, the major companies would rather try to force things to not evolve since the way it was got them a profit. The music won’t go away, but outdated business models will eventually, whether they like it or not.