The Age of Exploration

I agreed to give a talk today to a class of thirteen year olds learning about the world beyond these shores on where I come from - so they get to hear about my life in Essex. It was a rough place by the end of the 70s with skinheads in the town centres and Thatcher at the reins.

To prepare, I've been listening to the Jam. They were colossal in my life from 77 until they split. That music stands my test of time! I used to rush my money to the record shop, that's for sure. "All Mod Cons" is the sort of pun I grab whenever I can.

What's stuck in my head now is a couple of lines from 'Sounds from the Street' off the first album, "In The City": I know I'm from Woking and you'll say I'm a fraud but my heart is in the city where it belongs". There was always someone to make you feel a fraud but you stuck with where your heart was at if you didn't want to lose your way.

 

Anyhow, this is not a music blog, despite the recent Jukebox, so here's how I'm really going to recommend any thirteen yeat old escapes the orbit of our current consume-at-all-costs paradigm: