14. Kooks

14.    (of 8)        Kooks

The David Bowie song you wish described your parents:

Will you stay in our Lovers' Story
If you stay you won't be sorry
'Cause we believe in you
Soon you'll grow so take a chance
With a couple of Kooks
Hung up on romancing


We bought a lot of things
to keep you warm and dry
And a funny old crib on which the paint won't dry
I bought you a pair of shoes
A trumpet you can blow
And a book of rules
On what to say to people
when they pick on you
'Cause if you stay with us you're gonna be pretty Kookie too


And if you ever have to go to school
Remember how they messed up
this old fool
Don't pick fights with the bullies
or the cads
'Cause I'm not much cop at punching other people's Dads
And if the homework brings you down
Then we'll throw it on the fire
And take the car downtown


Your mum and dad should be scathing about homework. Teachers an schools need to be homework loving. To counter that, it is entirely reasonable for parents to be homework sceptics. Throwing it on the fire is a great idea. Imagination, passion and talent can change the world. Homework? No so much. The song is of, and reflects very different times, but there's a naive feel-good bounce to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwStmG2B0-w

The link is to a Bob Harris BBC show acoustic version.

They were different times, the vinyl years. Thursdays were Sounds and NME and Melody Maker days. Melody Maker was all fuddy-duddy, the NME sat in the middle, and Sounds was the brash new kid on the block (or was that the other way around?) - but all three were essential every week. The new Bowie album was an eagerly-anticipated event. There would be no end of articles: planning, in the studio, an insider says...then pre-release murmurings, then pre-release reviews, then the goods hit the shelves. At some stage in my secondary school years, everyone started stocking records. From the one specialist shop on the high street, suddenly they were all at it, WH Smiths, Woollies, department stores, supermarkets, they were all having racks installed, filled with long playing, 331/3rd rpm stock. Even (I think) larger branches of Boots (the Chemist) were selling albums (like record shops used to). Of course, they were too busy to do the record shop thing where you took the empty sleeve to the counter and didn't get the record until you handed over the cash. They stacked them high and sold them cheap. Very cheap when shoplifting became so ridiculously easy...

...anyway, great song, great album, throw the homework on the fire, let's bond instead.