28 Years Later

There used to be a band called Jameson Raid. Unless you live within about five miles of where I was born or own the Metal For Muthas albums that compiled tracks from what went by the clumsy name of NWBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) you have almost certainly never heard of them. For the people whose musical taste was formed in that geographical area and within a year or so either side of mine they were the must see local band. They released two eps and a track on one of those albums. Eight tracks altogether. And that was it and that was twenty eight years ago. I saw them half a dozen times in the brief period that they were around, bought the few available tracks and then, when they split up, filed them and, over time, forgot them.
Forgot them until a couple of weeks ago when Pete turned up in the pub with a concert ticket for Jameson Raid who have, after all this time, got together for a few gigs. Naturally I've bought a ticket and equally naturally I've dug out those tracks for a listen. What amazed me was that after twenty eight years I can still sing along with most of the words. I knew all of Seven Days of Splendour and Catcher in the Rye and most to The Raid and Getting Hotter. I struggled a bit with Straight From The Butcher and It's a Crime and only knew a handful in The Hypnotist but hey, it's been twenty-eight years. Given that I cant remember where I put my keys ten minutes ago and regularly forget to watch or tape my favourite programs I'd say that's pretty damned good.
Of course whether the band will be pretty damned good after all this time remains to be seen. I shall of course keep you informed but the gig isn't until the middle of July.
Meanwhile I have a set of photographs I took of the band when I saw them for the last time at Himley Park. I shall scan them at the weekend and put them onto my other blog.