I wanted to post about another of my favourite movies but that will have to wait while I get something else off my chest.
I really do believe that some people were born in the wrong era and I'm pretty sure I'm one of them. It would be untrue to say I can't relate to all aspects of 21st Century Britain. I mean I work full time and my job involves face to face communication with people and although sometimes I do get annoyed, most of the time I think I get on quite well. I get on with my co-workers although I don't really have that much in common with them, aside from a sense of humour which I find can connect you to most people in a reasonably meaningful way. I have never been able to put my finger on what it is that I take such a disliking to about this country until last night.
Me and my fella went to the Jam House in Birmingham last night to see Mike Sanchez. If you've never heard of him he is a rock 'n' roll/boogie woogie pianist/singer/all round entertainer. I've known him for years as my Uncle used to play guitar with him. I've seen him play live countless times. Anyway it was free to get in before 9 so off we toddled, dressed to the nines. Looking back I shouldn't have gone. But it's been a busy week and having checked my bank account yesterday and being pleasantly suprised at my balance I decided we should go. Anyway we got there and a few of our friends started to arrive so all was good. Mike Sanchez wasn't due to come on for a couple of hours so there was a lot of hanging round to be done. Eventually the support act came on. Two blokes, one on piano and one on drums. They started playing sub-boogie woogie, something along the lines of what Jools Holland does (and I hate it when he does it) so immediately my back was up. Then they started doing 'popular' modern stuff like Take That and James Blunt. And then loads of middle aged women started gyrating on the dancefloor holding their handbags. Then the men got up and started 'dad' dancing. Oh, it was horrendous. A few of my friends vacated the room to the downstairs bar to get away from the nightmare. We were all stood in the corner dressed in our 1950s gear that we wear 24/7 and we were getting some strange looks. Girls in mini skirts and stilletos were looking me up and down in my 1940s dress with my curled hair and red lipstick. They made me feel as if I was out of place somehow, I felt like saying "er, this is a rock 'n' roll gig?!" I always worry that people think we've come in fancy dress especially for the gig.
Anyway the night got increasingly difficult for me to cope with. Mike Sanchez was great, don't get me wrong, it wasn't the music, it was the people. Maybe I've wrapped myself in a cocoon for the last 3 years. I only really go to Rockabilly/rock 'n' roll/60s garage/punk/blues (!) nights now. When I have to go to a 'normal' place I start to panic.I stuck it out for as long as I could but then a bunch of studenty types turned up, they probably had names like Harry and Rupert and they just plonked themselves right in front of us and started pratting around, dancing ridiculously and generally taking the piss. I turned to my boyfriend and said "can we go now?" So we left before the second set started. Maybe I'm too sensitive and too closed off from regular culture or something but I just can't stand the sight of blokes in tight stonewash jeans and pinstripe shirts with spikey hair, or girls with orange skin wearing sky high stilettos and belts for skirts. I find it distasteful. And I really don't like it when they hijack something that I enjoy and turn it into a joke.
So having reflected on it this morning I've decided that I'm really very glad to be part of a subculture. And furthermore, a subculture that I'm pretty confident will never be hijacked and watered down for the masses. I've always been into alternative cultures in one way or another. I used to be really into punk, but even that got sold out in the end. But I still am a bit of a punk at heart. That whole rebellious, DIY, make your own way, fuck the establishment vibe I totally understand. I still feel that way it's just that I've gone further back. Anyway, rockabilly to me was the punk music of the 1950s. It was seen as uncouth and immoral. And punk when it first exploded was trying to get away from the turgid, overblown rock opera of the 70s and go back to a more primitive, basic, raw sound. The early recordings of Little Richard and Gene Vincent have that primal rhythm, there's dirt in it and I believe that you should be able to hear grit in music. It was only towards the late 60s and 70s that glossy production values started taking over more and more. Of course there were records in the 50s and early 60s that strived towards perfection but my favourite period for music was the late 40s-early 50s. Althought some of my favourite records were released in the late 50s there's something about the hillbilly/country sounds that were coming out of the south of America that completely hypnotise me. Anyway I have somewhat strayed away from what I was originally saying. What I mean is that I completely identify and support any subculture/scene that strives to set itself apart from the mainstream. Be it punks, goths, metallers, Northern Soul enthusiasts, mods. We get called freaks and weirdos and get strange looks on the street. But who cares? We've been brave enough to reject mainstream culture and embrace something different.
Anyway needless to say I won't be making any future visits to The Jam House again or any similar club aimed at people who pick at different sorts of music and scenes without ever really engaging with any of them. I guess that's the post modern culture we live in now, it's just one big melting pot where one night you go to a rock 'n' roll gig and the next you go to a reggae night and the next karaoke or something. And you respond to each in the same way, by getting pissed and acting like an idiot, and treating the people who are genuinely into it like bizarre out of place freaks who can't possibly just do this full time?? Yes I do as a matter of fact. I've found my thing and I don't feel the need to dip my toes into a hundred other ones, thank you very much. Well that's my two cents. Next blog I'll get back to my films!
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