When I was a kid, Australian soap opera, Neighbours was one programme everyone watched. Even if you hated it, you couldn't avoid it given that it was given a repeat each day at 5:35pm, straight after Children's BBC had finished for the day. Next day at school, there would be a clamour to discuss and debate the previous night's episode. "Lucy fell in a hole and got blinded!", "Helen's been abducted by a religious maniac!", "Scott and Charlene have fallen out again" "Did you see Bronwyn belly dancing last night?" (I'll leave you to guess which of those incidents is most seared into my memory...). The programme's hold over my generation was inescapable and seemingly, unbreakable. I spent several break times in my second year of secondary school recreating with friends, the barbecue opening titles during which one of the girls said she was prepared to be Gail Robinson in the recreation, which was a big deal because she was quite widely desired by the boys in my class. I got to romance her as St. George after defeating the Turkish Knight (see Bitten by the Acting Bug - 24 November 2014). However, despite the fact that whoever played Paul in said sequence would get to kiss her, a mass fit of shyness descended on us all and the re-creation was abandoned. I'm guessing the sports field was too wet to play on as to the reason why a bunch of 13 year olds were pretending to be an Australian soap opera rather than playing football, but I can't believe 13 year olds today are trying to recreate the opening to Hollyoaks.
Inevitably any discussion about Neighbours would result in some pedant saying, "Of course, you realise they're a year ahead of us. Daphne is dead and she and Des have had a baby too!". This blog is in a similar position, hence the tortuous metaphor. I may be writing about mid November 1991 Peel shows, but I'm listening 5 weeks ahead and coming towards the end of 1991. This has meant a few Christmas related tunes have cropped up. Rather than posting these in February when they'll be as welcome as two tickets to Jack and the Beanstalk on Valentine's Day, I'm bringing these tracks forward to Christmas Eve. I hope you enjoy them, at least one of them is festive anthem to rank alongside yer Slades and Wizzards.
Merry Christmas from The Smell of the Greasepaint and the Sound of the Peel.
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