Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Eighties Style and Helen and the Horns

I was particularly proud of the fact that we didn't look fashionable: I didn't order the Horns out of a 'we look cool' catalogue and as a band we were liberated by this.
The pop star Marilyn reviewed Freight Train on Round Table, the weekly BBC Radio One round-up of new releases. He was disparaging, sneering after the other reviewer remarked what a lovely happy sound it was,'I'm just wondering how much her mother paid for her singing lessons!'.
Ouch! That hurt!
The Chefs had told me that I sang out of tune all the time and told me I should go and have lessons.
I found a lovely old man to teach me but could often not afford to pay, and I'd sometimes go without eating to make sure I didn't miss a session. He twigged soon enough and started giving me free lessons, with the occasional resting of his hand on my thigh in exchange. Naturally, I could not bear this and went back to paying and starving.
So Marilyn, you were wrong. And when your 'people' phoned to book the Horns for a Top of the Pops appearance, I refused to let you have them. I was not going to let you mock and scorn them because they weren't dressed in the latest fashions like you, and because their sound was more important to them than their looks.
I still feel a pang of guilt that maybe I prevented them from appearing on the iconic TV programme but I do feel in my heart of hearts that I saved them from a scathing rejection by a sarcastic style icon.
Later, we ended up where we belonged- Pebble Mill at One!

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