Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. And Ultravox.

The clocks have gone back, the nights are drawing in and deep within the primeval heart of every man a desire to lie in the dark listening to old albums awakens. Alright, perhaps not every man, but certainly me. Every year it happens. One day I'll be going about my normal business, the next, it's a cold, wet, dark Sunday night and I'm lying on the floor, headphones on, re-living my teenage years. And I reckon that this has been going on for over twenty years now. And this year, it started today. Quite without warning I found myself drifting in and out of conciusness listening to Ultravox's Lament album. Which I probably haven't listened to in full since I was about 20. In the old days, I would have supplemented my inappropraite album listenign with the Early Sunday Evening musings of Annie Nightengale. Straight after another God forsaken Top 40 Countdown with Bruno Brookes, or Simon Bates, which came itself, straight after the aural shite-fest that was "Sing Something Simple". Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Autumn. Now don't get me wrong. I like Autumn. I love watching the colours change from green to red, gold and brown. There is a freshness in the air and there is sense of change. I enjoy Spring for much the same reason. But this year, Summer wasn't exactly brilliant, even by the standards I'm used to, and it never really got into gear. So for some months now, there has been an overall feeling of "meh" about the place. In truth, I've been waiting for Summer to start. But now I have to accept that this year, it's been and gone. I believe it was a Thursday.I suppose you'll want to know why I came to be listening to Ultravox.

Truth is I've been sticking stuff onto a "popular fruit based mp3 player" and in between transferring the entire Radio series's of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and loads of lovely stuff from the 4AD back catalogue onto it, I've been going through my not so fashionable music too. And there is a large part of the music of the 80s I still hold dear, as it was the music of the school discos, the soundtrack to my growing up, the stuff I pretended to hate but secretly went out and bought. So yes, there is a lot of stuff by The Smiths and This Mortal Coil on my portable tunefest, but there is a good chance that OMD, Johnny Hates Jazz and Curiosity Killed the Cat may find themselves in there too. Poor Ben Vol-a-vaunt, where is he now. Bless him, I wonder if he ever realised how much of an arse he looked in that beret of his. He's probably giving style tips to JayKay on HatTwattery as I type.

Actually, I think I may return to this theme in the coming days. Your Guilty 80's Musical Secrets. Book your place in Father Joseph's Pop Confessional now.