1978

I was recently taken aback by fellow blogger and friend Bruce's (from The Online Darkroom) reaction to a photograph that has been knocking about since about 1978. 
How can I date it so definitively? 

Well The Jam's Down In The Tube Station At Midnight came out in October 1978 and I seem to remember getting so fired up after seeing them on top Of The Pops (it is a great song remember) that I went into the bathroom and attacked my hair with a pair of semi-blunt scissors from Mum's Sewing Box. 

I emerged from the bathroom only to be asked by my Mum:

"Have you been cutting your hair?" 

to which I of course replied: 

"NO!"

Of course she didn't believe me, but she wasn't going to call me out either - such is the power of great parenthood - let the kids make their own mistakes and learn from it.

Anyway, back to my bedroom (come on in - it's lime green with a sick-making purple carpet!) and remember that Polaroid camera I'd been given in about 1975? 

Yeah that one. 

There was still film in it, so I thought, I know . . being Mister Proto-Artschooly and all that (and remember this was a time that was vastly influential for cut and paste graphics) and I stood in the middle of my tiny room and took a couple of selfies with nothing but the light of a 60 watt bulb.

Being Polaroids of the time, they needed a bit of warmth so I shoved the first under my armpit, waited the appropriate time, removed the film layer and decided I looked a bit like a haddock on a sad day, so I did it again.

And voila, 46 years later, there I was, on a nice sunny day, chatting with Bruce over a cuppa; Polaroids were mentioned, I dug these out and he was kind of really surprised by the lighting, so in the interests of my history and graphic design and all that, here they are:

I can clearly see from the above, this was the grey eye shadow era.

This would persist for about 5 years . . . well Pete Way did it with booze n'drugs and I was a clean living country boy with no money; strangely in the current era of anything goes (looks-wise) I remember getting some really funny looks in Boots in Dumfries.

I don't even dare to think what they'd have said about me!

Probably started with P ended with a F and alluded to a comfy piece of seating.

Also, please note the tee. It was a white with blue trim Switch To Michelin. Probably worth a small fortune these days.

This has helped me date the photos as well, because about 3 months later, when I become a fully paid-up member of the NWOBHM (oh go on, look it up!) I dyed said tee and a couple of others BLACK.

Pourquoi?

Well, simply because (believe it or not) in rural Scotland in the late 70's, YOU COULD NOT BUY A BLACK TEE! Dylon was incredibly useful for achieving that look that you saw in Sounds that was happening in Bradford and London and Sheffield - basically anywhere except rural Dumfriesshire.

You doubt me? 

It is absolute fact - even the wee upstairs boutique in Dumfries on The Vennel didn't have them.

Yeah, you stick it to them Sheepy, but stuff the catwalk stuff, worra about the pics man . . . 

Polaroid film? 

Gosh, if you could find it (Boots in Dumfries again) it was hellishly expensive - if I remember rightly around £6 or £7 a pack, so when I ran out, I stopped taking Polaroids. 

Simple as that - it was a case of guitar strings or Polaroid film . . . and the winner was . . . twang.

There were a few sheets left in the camera though and my final outings with the camera were Spring of 1980 before I left home. 

Marrying them both together actually makes for a solo album cover of the time - how about this flyer for the 46th Anniversary remastered reissue:

It's not serious I know, but I have fun making these wee sort of things every now and then - to have produced that even in the early 80's would have taken a couple of days and a trip to the printers. Designers have never had it so easy, and, to my mind, they're getting quite lazy - it's unusual to see graphic design that has impact, or is it maybe the case that we've become desensitised to slickness.

And what does this prove exactly? Well, the sheer quality of those Polaroids from the golden days of consumer cameras. These were in packing crates in lofts with mice, insects, dust and general grime and yet, apart from a bit of discolouring and a general fade (though they were a bit washed out originally too) they're probably good for another (near) 50 years.

I wonder how openable a digital file will be then?

And on that thoughtful note, I am off to see in the bells.

Have a great one and a Happy New Year too.

H xx