1983:
The trivia:
- Commercial peat-cutters were working in the Lindow Moss bog in Cheshire, England when they discovered a partial skull fragment with remnants of hair, soft tissue, brain matter and an eye attached.When the police launched a murder investigation, one man came forward. Long suspected of the death of his wife in 1960, Peter Reyn-Bardt thought it was her body that had been found, so confessed to the crime. When later carbon-dating testing revealed that it was actually from a body over a thousand years old, he tried to revoke his confession, but ultimately was still convicted and imprisoned.
- Musician Frank Zappa came up with a business plan for the storage and distribution of music via file-sharing, decades before the likes's of iTunes and Spotify became a reality.
- Sixty volumes of journals supposedly written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler were purchased by Germany's "Stern" magazine for a huge sum, plus the rights were sold to many other publications including the UK's then prestigious "Sunday Times". After a large publicity campaign, the paper published the first extracts, only for them to immediately be confirmed as utter fakes.
The memory:
Rick Wakeman - Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Occasionally you just hear a piece of music and something just "clicks" in your brain. After just one listen, that song or instrumental gets stuck there. It's more than an "earworm" - immediately it's lodged deep and you know that you will never ever forget it. Such was the case with the final track on Rick Wakeman's 1983 album "Cost of Living".
Wakeman had been a mainstay of legendary progressive rock band "Yes" during the 1970s and is still widely recognised as one of the best keyboard players in the world. He had branched out into his own highly successful solo projects as well, including a number of concept albums - the most well known being "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", which featured his trademark synth wizardry together with a full orchestra, choir and voiced narration. This style of combing modern electronic keyboards with the spoken word continued throughout his career, but to my mind it's never more perfectly encapsulated than when Wakeman decided to record his version of the poem "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray.
Published in 1751, the poem is a meditation on mortality, death and remembrance, evoking the spirit of the countryside as the narrator finds comfort in thinking about the lives of the locals buried in the village churchyard. It's considered one of the greatest English poems of the period because of simultaneously being accessible and memorable and yet open to different interpretations. It's also incredibly alliterative and lyrical. No wonder Wakeman chose it.
To be honest I'd never heard of it back in 1983, despite studying poetry at school (blame the Comprehensive system. I do) - so my exposure to this wonderful work and it's musical accompaniment was purely because by chance I happened to be sat watching television one Saturday evening with my parents. Genial Irish broadcaster and TV icon Terry Wogan was hosting his very popular chat show and after Tezza finished gently grilling his latest guest he turned to the camera and announced that it was time for some music. "Here's Rick Wakeman and Robert Powell". My ears immediately pricked up - not because of the bearded maestro's name, but because of his fellow performer...
I'd been a fan of Powell's ever since the landmark TV series "Jesus of Nazareth" back in 1977 where he played the title role with a startling quiet intensity. I then enjoyed his performances in "The Four Feathers" and most importantly in the starring role as Richard Hannay in the 1978 remake of the classic John Buchan adventure "The Thirty-Nine Steps" - a film I have seen many, many times. I loved Powell's distinctive voice, so here was a chance to see him perform something "live".
As Powell began speaking with the first stanza of the poem, Wakeman's music also softly followed:
"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lee
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way
And leaves the world to darkness and to me"
Just from those four lines I felt there was already a visual sense of twilight falling and the field workers returning home after a long days toil. As the performance continued I was mesmerised - transported to another time and place and totally absorbed in the combination of words and music. But don't take my word for it - listen for yourself:
By the way - the shaky camera footage taken by YouTuber 'Markus Emsermann' is of the churchyard in the village of Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire where Thomas Gray is meant to have composed his famous poem.
Both Wakeman and Powell went on to further successes in their respective careers, and actually came together again in 1987 for the double album "The Gospels". I accept that the keyboard wizard's particular brand of music is not to everyone's taste and that some may find his messing with a classic piece of poetry tantamount to sacrilege. That's fine - each to their own. But although I have heard other versions of Gray's most famous work, both with and without music, this is the one I keep coming back to, and I don't think it will ever lose its influence over me.
Honourable mentions:
- American Flagg! - Often regarded as writer / artist Howard Chaykin's most important and famous work, this was one of the first titles from new independent publisher "First Comics". When the US government relocates to Mars after a series of worldwide crises, the United States is left at the mercy of mega-corporation "The Plex". Enter former TV star Reuben Flagg, who is drafted into the Chicago branch of the Plexus Rangers militia. Discovering a web of political corruption, subliminal TV messages and plans to sterlise the population, Flagg embarks on a crusade to clean things up aided by a cast of untrustworthy characters and his best friend Raul, a talking orange tabby cat.
- For it's first twelve issues at least, this was my absolute favourite title, way above anything else. The combination of incredible Duotone textured art, adult themes (including my first experience of sex shown in a comic), science fictional setting - and loads of political satire meant that it was unlike anything I had ever read before. After Chaykin dropped off art duties it was never quite the same, but it's rightly hailed as a highpoint of 80s comics and I own multiple versions in various formats
- Howard Jones - I've previously mentioned that I'd begun to be interested in synthesiser based artists such as "Yazoo", but around this time I got my own keyboard. The was mainly prompted by the appearance of Howard Zones and his particular brand of upbeat electronic pop with the debut of the aptly titled "New Song" in September 1983 followed by the album "Human's Lib". Songs such as "Pearl in the Shell", "What Is Love" and especially the slow ballad "Hide and Seek" were a constant feature of my musical life. I followed Howard's career and bought all the 12" singles and subsequent LPs for the next five years or so. Many are still sitting in a box somewhere and the covers bring back lots of happy memories. The keyboard playing never came to anything though.
- Philip Marlowe, Private Eye - There have been countless version of Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled detective and this TV series from the, then fledging, HBO is not the most famous, but I'd argue that it's up there as one of the absolute best. I came to the show free from any preconceptions as I'd never read the stories or seen any of the film versions - I was just intrigued by the 1930s setting (I guess this was feeding from my growing interest in 'pulp' fiction). Powers Boothe perfectly portrays the moral, laid back sleuth who only uses violence when he absolutely has to. The pace is slow and thoughtful and although it was shown quite late at night, it became appointment viewing for me. The lack of a recent, good quality home media box set is frankly criminal.
- Fraggle Rock - Fun, silly and full of memorable songs this was one of those shows that my whole family sat down to watch. It's my second favourite Henson series after "The Storyteller" and for me at the time combined the best bits from "Sesame Street" (the relatable characters and giant creatures) with those from "The Muppet Show" (the songs and humour). However it did confuse the hell out of me when I saw an American version years later. Where was the Lighthouse Captain? Who was this guy called Doc? I figured it out eventually, but I still prefer the Fulton Mackay version.
- Was (Not Was) - Born To Laugh At Tornadoes - Although I didn't discover the Was brothers and their various collaborators until the release of "Walk The Dinosaur" in 1987, this second album has ended up being my favourite. Whether it's the pop of "Betrayal", the funk of "Professor Night" or the sheer bizarre jazz sound of veteran Mel Tormé crooning when "Zaz Turned Blue", the whole album is a delight. My friend Neil became obsessed with collecting every version of "Out Come The Freaks" (of which there are a *lot*).
- White Gold Wielder - by Stephen Donaldson - Not the first book in a fantasy series, but the last, and one of the most anticipated - at least by this reader. It's the finale of the "Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" - the exceptional story of the bitter, cynical leper who is transported to the fantasy setting of "The Land" and finds himself cast into the unwanted role of a major combatant in the ongoing battle against "Lord Foul the Despiser" through the use of the wild magic of his white gold wedding ring. Although it has some conceptual similarities to Tolkien's masterwork, Donaldson's character is far more of an anti-hero, often committing terrible acts as he rails against what he believes to be nothing more than a lucid dream. Over the course of the two trilogies Covenant experiences catastrophic, life changing events and battles with internal and external struggles. Ultimately he is redeemed and wins an unexpected victory, but the sacrifices both personally and to those he has come to care for are earth shattering.
- Donaldson's love of language and esoteric description sometime's mean his prose verges on the purple - and his protagonists are often unlikeable. However the power of the story, the imagination on show and the deep themes being explored win through, and the final novel is a wonderful drawing together of the various threads and a fitting conclusion to this most unusual of heroes. I read and re-read all the books many times and ultimately it influenced me enough that when the time came, I got my own white gold wedding ring. Donaldson penned a four volume "Last Chronicles" between 2004 and 2013, but although I was initially excited (so much so that I went and met the author and got the first book signed), I found that as time went on the series turned out to be a journey too far, contained the worst excesses of his authorial "tics" and sadly was very disappointing and delivered a conclusion that I was far from happy with. I prefer to think that the series ended properly with "White Gold Wielder".
- Blackadder - Rowan Atkinson's best character (even if Mr. Bean has been more successful worldwide). In defiance of popular opinion, I consider "Blackadder II" to be the greatest and the funniest - after all, how can you go wrong with a woman in disguise called "Bob", Rik Mayall as Lord Flashheart (Woof!) and the incomparable Tom Baker as Captain Redbeard Rum ("You have a woman's legs, my lord! I'll wager that those are legs that have never been...",etc, etc")
- Jon Sable, Freelance - Another First Comics title (I bought everything they published at one point). This time it's the ripped-from-the-headlines adventures of a bounty hunter and mercenary for hire, who makes money on the side as a children's author. Creator Mike Grell was familiar to me from a few issues of "Warlord" and "Legion of Superheroes" that I caught glimpses of, but here his work reached a new level of sophistication, mixing realistic characters with engaging action - split between the streets of New York and the plains of Africa. I adored his artwork and writing equally. Nowadays he's probably more famous for his lengthy run on "Green Arrow", but it was here that his gritty style developed. The individual issues, the IDW trades and the two excellent follow up mini-series deserve to be in everyone's collection.
The Colour of Magic - What superlatives can I write about the genius of Sir Terence of Pratchett that haven't been said before? (beyond the brief post here that I wrote when he died in 2015) The Discworld begins here, and although it's by no means his best book (being more of a parody of SF and fantasy tropes), the building blocks of the publishing phenomenon to come are all here. I clearly remember picking up this book from my local WH Smith and marvelling at the cover by the great Josh Kirby, who became synonymous with comic fantasy novels for many years. Sam Vimes is my favourite Discworld lead (harking back to Philip Marlowe perhaps?) but I have always had a soft spot for Rincewind. Without him we would not have had the Luggage, or the Librarian or a host of other memorable characters. My shelves are full of Terry's books and they have brought me over thirty years of pleasure. I wish he was still here able to share his outlook on life with the world.
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