MEMORY TAPES: 1ST APRIL 2011

Your MPFree today is a journey of discovery, and comes from Steve, who writes...

"It was mid-1990, and I was still rocking the double denim look, having fallen for The Smiths and Morrissey in a big way.

"Having missed out on Spike Island and the second summer of love, I realised I was already past it at 18. Everyone else was wearing baggy kecks, had curtains for hair and waved glo-sticks in fields near Warrington at the weekend. It was time for me to learn about this thing they called 'dance music'. So I asked one of the girls at my local vinyl-pile, Action Records on Church St, to whip me up a tape of salvation/education.

"A friend of a friend, Jackie, thankfully took pity on me and did the honours. Not all of it was her choice. I asked for Hippychick (which famously sampled How Soon Is Now) as a sop to my indie heritage, though swiftly it became my least favourite of the tracks. I never did end up taking the train to the Bank Quay for late night raves. I didn't even really grow my hair. But I did add this to my list of Walkman-friendly cassettes for the rest of that summer.

"So, what did I learn from my "dance education"? Dunno. I spent most of my first year at uni playing George Formby songs at top volume and drinking."

Nice story; here's a picture of the tape (Look at it! It really could only have been made in 1990) with the tracklisting scribbled on.

• Bookmark with:
• del.icio.us |
• Digg |
• Reddit
• - What's this?