40!

Still the King - in 74

1974

Until 4th March Ted Heath will be Prime Minister and after that Harold Wilson will lead a coalition government and us through the final few hours of the three day weeks  that have been with us since January.

Manchester United will be relegated from what was then the first division to the second and Alf Ramsey will be dismissed as England Manager after 11 years in charge. Don Revie will take over. And Tom Baker will take over from Jon Pertwee as The Doctor. You can decide which was the most important event of those last two. 

In December Monty  Python will screen its last episode. For a 16 year old boy, the demise of the Python was devastating news, whereas the news that Wilson would win a majority in the second election of the year was less so.

Yes, I was sixteen in 1974 and pretty much all I was interested in was music - and girls - of course.

But, for me, the love of music had just begun in earnest. Last year's release of Dark Side of The Moon, Led Zeppelin IV, Close To The Edge and albums by Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield - these were pretty much all I played - prog rock and rock, but I was still weening myself off  Sweet and other glam rock stars like Bolan and (I'm embarrassed to mention him, seriously embarrassed..) Alvin Stardust.

'Fragile' by Yes had opened my eyes to 'real' music and 'Dark Side of The Moon' - one of the greatest selling albums of all time - became the most played record in my house....until 1975 saw the release of 'Wish You Were Here' which remains my favourite album of all time.

My Mam loved Elvis - who was still King in 1974 - and the Who were a secondary, less favoured favourite band who could not be ignored. Queen were working on their second album, Kiss on their first and Bruce Springsteen was a virtual unknown in the UK. Rush had just released the eponymous first album as had The Ramones and Bad Company, but on the down side 1974 saw the Arrival of Abba.

I find it so hard to believe that this important aspect of my life - all these musical events - happened 40 years ago. I still listen to all these albums virtually everyday, including Daltry's intonation of "Hope I die before I get old" - he didn't - others did! I hear Pink Floyd constantly, in my car my bedroom on my laptop but I daren't turn on the radio for fear of auricular invasion of a more insidious sort - bands who can't play an instrument; stars made for television, but even then every so often a Gary Barlow comes along, from a Boy Band to a songwriter and talent - much to my surprise - who knew he had talent? So not all is lost. 

Will we ever find another Bob Dylan? Probably not - the Times They Have a Changed - for better or worse, but that's ok. I was there at the birth of Rock, Prog Rock and the Talent Explosion of the 70's, and I can still listen to it whenever I like and where ever I like. Too old to die young as the tee shirt says but never too old to listen to, discover or be shown great music. May it always be that way.

So many of my heroes have died, many whom I thought would live for ever - Elvis especially, but with fame comes added pressure in a precious life already full of pitfalls and obstacles. Then, as I grew older and grow older, natural death also takes away my precious stars, superstars and childhood memories. I shall enjoy it all while I can, I will still cry when another hero leaves us and I hope still to be shocked when new talent rises, phoenix like from the ashes of dead TV-made stars and boy/girl bands or completely from the Blue (no pun intended) - another Jake Bugg perhaps or a Laura Marling, maybe an Adele.

But no more Justin Bieber eh?