When I was seventeen my parents moved from a cramped house near to Richmond Station to a large house in Teddingtom. A house with a big garden. Opposite the National Physical Laboratory where Mr Jones the nice man who lived next door worked. Three floors and lots of room and space. Near to Bushy Park. A half hour walk across to Hampton Court..
My older three siblings had pretty much moved out of home when we got there so it was really just mum, dad, my young sister Alison and me. Oh and Pandora, the family cat. The most neurotic, middle class and absolutely wonderful black cat that ever walked the earth. She didn't like many people and found it tough to stand her ground in the back garden with the neighbourhood roughs and tabbies. But she loved Alison and I and we both still miss her.
Alison and I had similar taste in music, She introduced me to stuff down the years. Big Star, Nancy Sinatra, The Triffids and other things. I think I was onto Television first. Go Betweens ? And R.E.M. it's difficult to trace the lines sometimes. It's a long time ago.
I was at Richmond College. It was a good time for me and I was growing in confidence. Constructung my self wuthout realising that's what I was doing. Buying books, decorating my room with postcards and photos Jean Cocteau and Caillebotte. William Blake. A youthful shot at Joe Orton's pad. I didn't know where I was going but I was pretty happy with the journey. Making friends. Being young.
My record collection was my big statement and it began in earnest in these years, I got myself a job in Teddington High Street. At Tescos in the Home and Wear department on the first floor. I didn't like the job but it paid enough for my purposes which were mainly to buy the kind of records that the NME told me to. So Patti Smith. Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen and the like.It felt like a trail.
I piled my records up up on the narrow shelf above my bed in three rows. My room was green and white. A Habitat duvet. Matching curtauns.It felt like a golden time in retrospect. The calm before a particular family storm which can wait for another post. This is a pure and happy one.
I had wire rimmed John Lennon specs which were a defunite upgrade from the geeky NHS ones I'd worn at secondary school.I started writing a diary which I still have. Mostly listing which girl I liked today and shallow momemtary considerations.. People I was moving away from. Places I was moving toward.
And I listened to The Doors. I listened to the Doors a lot. They were important to The Bunnymen, Joy Division The Banshees and The Cure bands I was listening to as well. That's the kind of stuff that appeals to you at that age. But I'd stand by them all.
We went to Paris the four of us and Alison and I made a pilgrimage out to Pere Lachaise to visit Jim's grave. There was a hippie with a cassette recorder there. Playing Doors songs. I probably imagine the black cat.
I bought all six Doors albums within a three month period. I didn't know really what they were about but the tunes were seductuve and approachable. Krieger, Manzarek and Densmore were slick and could shift from Folk to Blues to Psychelia to Jazz. Pop or Rock. They were crisp and versatile and honed.You got the sense that they talked.The lyrics hinted at darkness certainly but I also found them seductuve and polished. The band were crisp and versatile and honed. Jim was a frontman.Not to everyone's taste but he stood centre stage.Put on a show .
I still like The Doors and still play all six of the albums I bought when I was 17. Once a week I'd say. The Doors encourage you to explore. They map out reading lists and invite you to branch out and learn. William Blake, Huxley, Artaud, Rimbaud, Celine. I could go on. You should go on.
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