FRIENDS

The past few weeks have been a celebration of some of the best blogs and bloggers out there but I wanted to extend the concept by one more day in an effort to persuade someone to return to his keyboard.

This is the bloke who almost single-handedly got me started on this adventure all those years ago.  I had just been removed from what was regarded by quite a few folk as a high-pressure and high-profile job – at the time I was incredibly bitter but looking back it was one of the best things to ever happen to me as it led to so many unexpected and new opportunities coming my way.  One of the first was having a bit more free time and I found myself scouring the internet searching out what was at the time a huge explosion of music blogs.

One of these was the work of someone who lived and worked in Glasgow. It was called Let’s Kiss and Make Up and it was a combination of quality writing, photography and tunes.  After a few weeks of stalking the author, I plucked up the courage to send him an e-mail asking for advice on how best to set up a blog. A few weeks later, as a bit of a thank you, I left a 12″ single for him at his place of work, but without warning him I was going to do so. The e-mail exchanges increased but then out of the blue his blog disappeared.

A few weeks later I got an e-mail saying that he had ‘killed’ the blog for personal reasons but was starting again, this time calling it And Before The First Kiss.  We made tentative plans to hook up but before either of us knew it, I was off to Canada to work for a few months.  This delayed us meeting in the flesh until January 2008, a full 15 months after we had first been in contact by e-mail.  We hit it off immediately….to a level way beyond what either of us dare hoped for….and we are now the closest of friends having shared many a great night out at many a great venue in Glasgow.

He’s someone who claims he is only capable of writing at his best when he is unhappy or troubled….and as he sets very high standards and is currently very happy with his lot, then you’ll understand why his own blog has been on an extended vacation since June 2013.  But he has very kindly penned something for this blog, and I’m delighted to again offer the opportunity to enjoy the words and thoughts of Comrade Colin:-

“When our mutual friend asked me to come out of retirement, for a brief moment, and scribble a few words over at his place he said I had a ‘blank page’. Oh how he cruelly mocks me. You see, I used to keep a music blog (of sorts) but have been rather distant for some time now (I note that, indeed, June 2013 was the last update. Oh dear.). It’s the usual excuses of life, work and family; too many distractions and other things to attend to. It’s a familiar story. Also, I suppose, the 140 character ‘thing’ happened and I just got a bit lazy. For me, a post would always usually begin with a photograph I’d taken. At other times, it might be something I’d read in the newspaper, a conversation I’d had with a friend or an ‘encounter’ on public transport. Not usually the music, oddly enough. The words would come out of the ether and sometimes reflect upon what the photograph was presenting (to my mind, at least) or what the song was about, but not always. I wasn’t entirely sure to be honest. But, I enjoyed the challenge and made time for it. I built ‘blogging’ into my routine and would always be thinking ‘what comes next?’ Anyway, that was then. I don’t really have much else to say right now. I mean, the bottom line is I used to write a music blog but now I don’t. Motivation and enthusiasm are vital in keeping you going and I was found severely lacking. I lost the habit too easily, too quickly, with a few false endings and bumpy starts along the way. This is why the heroic day-to-day efforts of JC are to be applauded. It’s a tough gig, for sure. That’s what The Rolling Stones say at least.

This photograph was taken on February 11th, 2007 at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. It was a writing day for me. Back then, the Mitchell was one of my regular haunts (working, but away from the office). I noticed this adorable couple (or are they brother and sister?) and I was struck by how comfortable they seemed with each other, within themselves; cups of sweet tea and good books surrounding them. As soon as I took the photograph I immediately thought of this song. To this day I’m still not sure why but there you go. But one thing I do know: I miss The Delgados an awful lot.”

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The Delgados – ‘Reasons for Silence (Ed’s Song)’

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Thanks Comrade.   I hope you’re inspired enough to either get things going again over at your own place or else become a regular contributor here.

This post is dedicated to another dear mate of mine…..one who just never ever ‘got’ the type of music I enjoy so much….he was so mainstream it was scary.  RC would have been 50 years old today if leukaemia hadn’t cruelly claimed him a few years back….there’s rarely a day goes by that I don’t think of him.