Childhood memories

I asked you to think about your earliest memory this week. Mine involves sitting, with my older brother, on a large green sofa in a big green room listening to 'Hit me with your rhythm stick' by Ian Dury and the Blockheads on the radio. 


My entire life is punctuated with musical memories as there was always music of some description on in the house and, this being the seventies (the days before 'organised activities'. The best you could hope for was the odd morning making chocolate cornflake cakes with acne ridden YTS workers at the local Playscheme during the summer holidays) any time not spent down the 'rec' was spent at home or in the garden with the radio constantly on in the background. 

One such summer I found an album called The Point by Nilsson in my parents record collection. It came with comic book style sleeve notes. I loved the story, the characters and the songs. I returned to it as an adult and remember thinking, 'Ooh, this is actually quite profound.' You see, everything in the land of Point has a point. And if you don't have a point you are banished to the Pointless Forest where Oblio (who does not have a point) is sent only to discover that everything in the pointless forest DOES actually have a point. Deep eh? 

Anyway, this particular song helps to put all manner of things in perspective. As it says, 'Now, think about your troubles.'