Discovering... Level 42

I discovered the band Level 42 on YouTube recently. One of their videos was in my recommended feed and I decided to check them out. The song was Lessons in Love, and after I watched it, I was really impressed with them. I found one of their records in the loft, and gave it a blast the same night. By the end of the week I had played Running in the Family from side to side and was more than eager to delve into their anthology to see what other music they had produced! My best friend had been a fan of their work for many years and was more than happy to suggest tracks for me to listen to. He said that the frontman/bass player, Mark King, was truly iconic and his bass skills were out of this world, I agree!.

So, for those of you who don't know who they are, Level 42 are an English band, who had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s, So far I've only listened to the early eighties stuff and have yet to enter the realms of their '90s content. Here's a pic if you're new to them.

Top: Boon Gould, Phil Gould
Bottom: Mike Lindup, Mark King

In the space of a few short months I've really gotten to like their music and would recommend them to any newcomer to the 1980s, if you're looking for a blast for the past, or if you simply just fancy a change from what you normally listen to. Here are my favourite tracks so far. I'll provide their YT links so you can give them a whirl, if you desire.

1. Lessons in Love (1987) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt7mtdLha-c

2. Leaving Me Now (1985) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqvM0hneovs

3. Something About You (1985) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpdQQoc-gkk

4. It's Over (1987) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD1Yuev8xYw

Four tracks seems like a sparse amount to recommend, but like I said earlier, I'm still a newbie to the band and my list, in time, will surely expand, so watch this space! There's just something about them I really like. See what I did there? Pun intended, sorry not sorry!

- S

Review of Adam Ant at Leeds First Direct Arena 27/5/17

From being very young I have always wanted to see musicians that I idolised live in concert, despite not being around at the time when they were at their peak. I would listen in awe to my folks' anecdotes about their experience seeing Queen, Wham!, Electric Light Orchestra, Status Quo, Big Country etc live back in the 1980s and part of me really wanted to find the blueprints for the Tardis so I could go back in time and live the dream, but I wasn't that lucky. I saw Spandau Ballet at Sheffield Arena two years ago on the Soul Boys tour, and they were totally phenomenal. Manic Street Preachers last year at Leeds was exceptionally brilliant. I'm waffling, better get right into this...

I first knew that I wanted to go and see Adam Ant live because of the positive reviews he was getting for his Kings of the Wild Frontier anniversary UK tour prior to the Anthems one. Sadly, he had not come anywhere near West Yorkshire so I lived in hope that one day he would do another tour local to me. My prayers were about to be answered. Last September he announced the tour dates and I knew right away when I saw that he was going to Leeds I was going to be batting my eyelashes to go. I could use the excuse that it was a birthday present, after all, it was the day before my birthday. Dad let me book the tickets and the rest was history. 

We got in fairly early, provided that there was added security on the night due to the recent events in Manchester, but that was expected. It was really easy to find our seats and we got sat down fairly quickly. There wasn't much of a wait for Adam to come on the stage, and the opening to the concert I found rather amusing, the theme tune for the Grand National. The only downfall was that I'd forgot to pick up a powerbank so I couldn't take many photos and videos. Here's one of them:

Performing Prince Charming 

For 62 years old, Adam has still got the moves, and the groove that he had back in the 80s. We were treated to all the classics, Antmusic, Stand and Deliver, Prince Charming, Goody Two Shoes, Apollo 9 and Strip, but at the same time it was good to hear some of the B sides and little gems that had almost faded to grey in my mind, such as Young Parisiennes, Room at the Top, Greta X, Desperate But Not Serious, Puss in Boots. I also loved the addition of some Dirk Wears White Sox tracks too such as Car Trouble. This gave my dear old mum a long awaited blast from the past! His energy was outstanding and really engaged with the crowd, getting everyone to join in with Stand and Deliver and Prince Charming. It was nice to see people doing the old dance from the original video too. But I bet you, I wasn't the only young gun there that night that had the time of her life. Best 18th birthday ever! 

I loved that he kept the tradition of two drummers, it really gave the music that authentic feel, especially on Kings of the Wild Frontier and Antmusic. No Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee, Gary Tibbs, and Yours Truly, but still, it was like walking into a time machine and being there in the 1980s.

Definitely a 10 from me! 

VIVE LE ROCK!

- S

Where Have I Been?

Hello everyone,

I apologise for being quiet during the past couple of weeks, a lot of things have happened during that time and I don't really want to go into details about what went down. For one, I deactivated my Twitter. The drama involving George Michael's passing is still reigning supreme after his death on Christmas last year and for it to still be happening six months on is really ridiculous. And here's me thinking that I'd written enough posts about the topic. I haven't been closely involved in it, but people have been involving me in this, and when trolls attack, they attack anybody. It's got to the point where I didn't even enjoy logging on to the site anymore. I stopped accepting direct messages and outsourced conversations onto Google Hangouts. Most people said that they felt solitary behind a protected account but I didn't really have that much of a complaint, it kept most of the trolls out. What drove me to delete my page was simply that I had enough. I could return with a fresh account one day, but I have other things to concentrate on right now. Still, watch this space.

I've also had a lot of personal problems too, again, I don't want to get into them on here as I like to keep things like that private. It's put me off from going on social media as a whole and I feel really bad for not updating things here because I had a whole lot of things planned and they didn't get done, but now that college is officially over, I have quite a lot of time on my hands so I'm hoping posting will be more regular than what it has been lately. I'm hoping to do a review of the recent Adam Ant concert I attended a fortnight ago in Leeds - it was one heck of a show and certainly one of the best nights of my life. It was just like going to one of his concerts in the early eighties. At 62 years old, he has still got the groove!

But with all that being said, it's certainly good to be back!

- S

Gigs 2017

Two weeks from now I'll be celebrating my 18th birthday. It really is exciting, old enough to drink, vote, heading into higher education this September and have the right to call myself an adult - a whole boat load of things to be looking forward to. However, I wasn't just eager for this year to roll around because of this special birthday and university on the cards, I'm going to be going to a couple of gigs this year. I feel like my passion for the 1980s will be ignited further.

The first one I'll be going to see is Adam Ant, on his Anthems: The Singles Tour, in just 13 days at the First Direct Arena in Leeds. I've been a big fan of his for quite a while now and I always dreamed of having the opportunity to see him live, because I've heard a lot of good things about his recent Kings of the Wild Frontier anniversary tour and his 2012/3 Blueblack Hussar tour; he's still got the moves at the tender age of 62 years young. Crazy to think that he's that old, I always thought he was a similar age to that of my folks (who are in their mid 50s), but there you go! In September last year he announced that he would be doing another UK tour in 2017, and when he released the dates, I knew I would be working on my dad to let me go and see him in Leeds. The tickets were reasonably priced, so he said he was going to book for me and my mum (who admired him in the 1980s) to go see him on 27/5. Boy, I wasn't half a happy camper that day! I'll definitely be sharing my experiences and a few photos (if I can) after the show! So far I've heard some glowing reviews so I know for sure that I'm in for a treat.

In June, I'll be seeing Jeff Lynne's ELO at Sheffield Arena. They have been really good live so far on their Alone in the Universe tour. Originally, we were going to travel to London to see them at Wembley Stadium, but they must have gotten a couple complaints, they added extra dates in Sheffield, Glasgow, and I think there's some more. They can't forger Birmingham, that's where they hail from! Again, should be another good show!

Lastly, in November, I'll be seeing popular 1980s group Big Country at Sheffield O2 Academy on The Seer 30th Anniversary Tour. The original frontman passed away in 2001, and there's only two of the original members left, but I saw them on the same tour last September at the Holmfirth Picturedrome, and it was a good show! I've definitely got the same expectations again this time.

So with all that being said, these will certainly be good highlights of the year, and I'll definitely share my experiences and photos with you (if I take any).

See you in the next post


- S

University is nigh...

Hello everyone,

This is just a quick post to reassure you that no, I haven't disappeared off of the face of the earth, I'm still here and I most certainly haven't forgotten about this blog. I just haven't had the time to update it. Recently, I have come under a lot of pressure lately to get everything that I need to get done for college, such as tending to any assignment re-submissions that need doing, getting all my work together to be independently and externally verified, applying for student finance (which I seriously need to hurry up and sort out), a whole manner of things really. All of it has become very time consuming and I've only just found time to update things here, so sorry I've been silent for a couple of weeks whilst I've sorted out my soap opera of a life.

University is almost around the corner and I want to make sure that I achieve the best now to ensure that I keep my place and get in in September. I'm honestly glad you no longer have to do A Levels to get in, you can still get in with a set number of UCAS points from a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (which I'm doing right now). There probably won't be anymore posts for a bit until I get signed off from college the second week in June, and I know I promised a whole boat load of things a couple of months ago that I still haven't done but one day or another, I'll get round to them. Right now I want to focus on securing my future in the long run, otherwise I'm going to regret it for the rest of all eternity. All I know is this; I've got quite a long summer holiday so there will be definitely be more posting going on then.

That's all folks,

- S

My Top 10 Disney Films

Hello everyone

Recently it seems that for the last couple of weeks all I've spoke about is just negative stuff that's been kicking off in my life and online. To be honest, I'm not going to move forward if all I keep doing is cling on to the past. So from now on, I promise you guys I'm gonna keep ll of that to the bare minimum if I can. And so far, I've mentioned old television shows (briefly), and mainly music. Today I'm going to be doing something a little differently.

I'm going to be counting down my top 10 favourite Walt Disney films, even now as I enter adulthood they still have a special place in my heart. No matter what people say, you are never too old for Disney, whether you binge watch the films or collect cute little charm bracelets with timeless and classic characters on. When I was six or seven, I collected a complete set of porcelain figurines consisting of all the favourites from the movies, including Belle, Aurora, all of the Seven Dwarfs, etc. These would come out every fortnight with a magazine describing the striking features of all the dolls, little cartoon strips from the movies, puzzles and recipes so you could hold your own little Princess tea parties with cakes and tartlets.

Ah, memories! I still have all of the dolls, still in their original presentation boxes, and all 90 supplementary magazines (this was a while ago, I don't know if the figure is correct), all tucked safely in their binders. One day, if I do decide to have children, and have a little girl, I intend to pass them down to her to love just as much as I did. No matter how much people ask for them - they are not for sale! Period.

Anyway, back to the main topic, I'm harping on a bit. There were lots of different films by Disney I loved growing up, and still play them to this day. We've began converting our ageing VHS collection to DVD, and now own over 20. Stores recently have had offers on such as 2 for £12, 3 for £12 and more, so I've been definitely taking advantage of that!.

So without further delay, here are my top 10 favourite Disney movies!

10. The Fox and the Hound (1981)

9. Dumbo (1941)

8. Alice in Wonderland (1951)

7. 101 Dalmatians (1961)

6. Basil the Great Mouse Detective (1986)

5. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1970)


























4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

3. Cinderella (1951)


























2. The Little Mermaid (1989)

1. Bambi (1942)

And that's my list! Honestly, I could put all of them on here if I hadn't regimented myself to choosing just 10. I love them all. Admittedly, there's only a small number of them I haven't watched yet, such as Pete's Dragon and The Sword in the Stone, but watch this space, I may need to update this list one day in the near future. I don't know what I would have done with my life if I hadn't been brought up with it.

Do you have a similar list?

With all that being said, that's all for the blog today, hope you have an excellent Easter weekend, and I will see you in the near future!

- S

Story Time: My Stalker

Hi guys, hope you’re all well,

Sorry I haven’t posted anything in a long time, college may be out now for the Easter holidays, but there’s a big push to get work done now as university is looming. At least now I’ve got some time on my hands to actually post here. When I first opened this blog I talked about this being solely about my love for music, movies and everything 80s, but also, to chat about experiences I’ve had in the past online, and in real life. This is one of them. Your discretion is advised as this is a very sensitive topic and some readers may relate to this.

In April 2012 I rejoined Twitter for the second time after being hacked and locked out of my first account. As you know by now my sole purpose for joining social media around that time was to find friends and connect with fellow fans of the eighties. This edition of Story Time is a real account of when one of these 'friendships' went sour.

I received a follower request in October of the same year by a woman who claimed to be a big fan of the band Spandau Ballet, the proof was in her username really so I thought 'why not?' I followed her just to see where things would go. About five minutes later she contacts me and is very grateful for me following her back, and goes on to say that she is 27 years old, 28 years old in the morning, Italian and she has loved Spandau Ballet and other eighties groups from being very small, like me! I thought 'geez, we have a lot in common, she has an excellent taste in music! I'll carry on talking to her". At this time I could not fault her one bit, there was a bit of a language barrier and it was hard to make out what she was trying to say, but credit to her she tried her best. We would talk almost everyday about music, and eventually she went and created a private Facebook account, added me there and we would talk regularly on Messenger too, but more about general things like family, weather and pets. In a few short weeks I felt I had really got to know her quite well. She spoke very candidly about personal things, such as being brought up in a dysfunctional family environment, her father dying of lung cancer when she was a teenager etc. I felt sympathy for her and protected her when trolls struck her page. Little did I know, she was one of the biggest trolls I would ever associate with.

Eventually we would talk everyday. She got me to create an account on the popular messaging app Kik as she claimed the conversations were completely private and nobody else would see them. She was always concerned about privacy and even blackmailed me to change my profile picture on Kik to myself, using the excuse that her mother wanted to know that all of her ‘cyber friends’ were not scam artists. Things got rather desperate. She said if I didn’t do it within the next hour her mother would take a sledgehammer to her computer, broadband router and electronics. I complied, but I wasn’t going to use a personal photo of myself as I knew all the dangers that would arise. I went on Google and uploaded a photo of a model that looked like me. She bought it, thank goodness. I felt after so long that I was being suffocated by this person. She always wanted to talk, no matter what time in the day it was and if I was busy or not. I deliberately left my phone at home whilst I was at school to avoid her because there was no way I was going to let her get in the way of my education. There would be several messages demanding to know where I was and she didn’t buy for a second that I was at school. She even went public on her Twitter account talking about me, even if she wasn’t mentioning my name, I knew she was talking about me. “If she is not on by 11 o’clock Italian time I’m going to sleep”. This woman was very controlling, and expected me to believe the unrealistic lies she began to spurt. A funny one I remember is that she said that she wasn’t going to be online that night because she was going to a restaurant with her family. Four hours later she messaged me saying she was still at the restaurant, and she hadn’t been served yet! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. There was no way somebody would wait 4 hours to be served and not get any food. If I was faced with a delay that was even three quarters of an hour long I would refuse to pay and walk out.

It went on for a while and eventually I confronted her about her lies, saying I didn’t believe her for a second. She didn’t take well to this, argued with me for about an hour, and cursed me out, becoming very abusive, calling me names such as narcissistic, ugly, fat, (bearing in mind she only had the photo of the model and not me), rude and other things I do not want to repeat, in very poor grammar so it honestly became quite laughable. My mother saw the emotional distress this was causing me, seized my phone and very politely told this woman to cease and desist. I ignored her after that and at least twenty messages came through where she was trying to still provoke me. She was so desperate! Eventually I had enough of her and straight out blocked her on everything. This is where things got worse.

She stalked me and several of my best friends on Twitter, retweeting everything she assumed was about her, even if it wasn’t. But the sneaky thing was, she did not use her own Twitter account as I had her blocked. She created many fake accounts, used photos of the reality star Amanda Bynes and said it was herself, despite many sceptic followers. Soon accounts posing as her ‘friends’ would attack me, saying I was a bitch for bullying someone I didn’t really know, I didn’t know what she was going through, and that she was self-harming because of me. Now, I didn’t aim any abuse at this woman, I did call her clingy and asked her to back off on several occasions, and any insults that I threw at her, were in my own defence. Every time I blocked and reported an account, a new one would crop up. A pattern was soon forming, they all had similar grammar, so it all boiled down to one person. The excuse was someone else was attacking her, which was not true.

It was getting to the point where I didn’t feel safe on social media anymore, it was like she was constantly trawling my profiles to find what juicy gossip about me to use for her own personal gain and then when I least expected it, launch an attack on me. I had blocked her so many times it was getting ridiculous. I stopped using my real surname on Facebook and opted for something different, but something simple so my loyal friends and family could still find and interact with me. I neglected to go on Twitter for quite a while, but when I did eventually return, I locked it so people who I approved could view my tweets and talk to me. Twitter was a godsend. Eventually in November 2016, after four years of hell and dragging me through pointless drama, getting blocked by celebrities for no reason, and endless trolling, all her accounts, including two supposed Toto fan pages vanished overnight without a trace. To this day, some of her ex followers believe that she got tired of Twitter and just deactivated her pages, but I have a different opinion. I believe that she was reported a lot to Twitter for abusive language, cyber bullying and targeted harassment towards me and others, they disabled all her accounts and possibly blocked her IP address from making anymore accounts. One old page still exists today, but has not been active since October 2015. I felt a sense of relief knowing that her reign of terror was finally over. I returned to Twitter and picked up from where I’d left off from 2 years prior. I wasn’t afraid to go on Facebook again as I made sure beforehand to block all of her known accounts.

If this experience has taught me something, it’s to be more sceptical of what you read on the internet. Giving people the benefit of the doubt is completely harmless, but there’s times when things can sound too good to be true. Looking back, I was completely clueless and naïve and did not spot the warning signs until it was too late. One thing’s for sure now, I’ll know to be warier around who I add as friends on social media, and get rid of them at the first sign of trouble to be able to let go of the past more easier and for my own sanity. Thankfully, the woman, has not attempted to return to Twitter since, but still posts on Facebook from time to time. I couldn’t care less though. Only people I truly care about, whether in the cyber world or in reality, can hurt my feelings

Thank you for listening,

- S