As far as I was concerned, the late 1970’s were all about long music and loud hair and I wasn’t having a bar of it! My way of thinking went something like this; “you musicians want to be so modern then why do you still have long hair and insist on using a guitar?!” Judgmental …. me …. never! Many of my friends were into bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and even Status Quo. (I was nearly responsible for killing the entire band in 1992 but that’s another story) It’s not that I didn’t like rock music, it was just a bit too predictable for me and I couldn’t be bothered to spend time or my money on that kind of music.
My outlook was towards the future. I wanted to leave my home town, Switzerland, Europe, in fact I wanted to travel to another planet! Did I mention that I was also fascinated with astronomy and space travel? My interest in the possibilities of intergalactic travel led me to discovered a new kind of music that would allow me to do this, at least in my head. By the end of the 1970’s I was spending time in my own alternative universe thanks to bands like Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd, Jane, The Far East Band and basically anything that I could find on the Brain record label. And no, I never inhaled! I just loved the sound of synthesisers and I am absolutely thrilled that these days, I can have my own space music lab in my room. In fact, I carry my synthesiser on my phone. How cool is that!
As the decade came to an end, I was gearing up to leave Europe an start a new life in Australia; I was moving to Melbourne! My music choice today reflects that transition from a provincial town to the big city on the other side of the world. I have this recording in my collection as a glow in the dark 12 inch single, its a old party trick favourite. If you happen to come around to my place to listen to music, you will be treated to this ‘light’ spectacle!
Kraftwerk ‘Neon lights’
In Transit 