There is much conjecture and disagreement about the trajectory of Paul Weller and friends, the evolution of The Jam from punkish to mod to pop to pastiche, ending in the Style Council, of which I was never a fan (you can tell a Weller woman by the way she wears her hair etc).
I remember Sundays in the cold redbrick church, the smell of Mum's leather gloves and lipstick. During readings and sermons I would run imaginary horse races between the red, blue and green ribbons in my missal.
It’s the middle of winter. Never mind, we’re wearing shorts and thongs. The sky is an unbroken plain of blue. Well, not entirely unbroken. Here and there, a pillar of white smoke plumes from a cane mill.
Maria Majsa One bedroom apartment, Herne Bay, Auckland 2007 You can fall in love with songs just like you can fall in love with people and because I discovered Elliott Smith after he’d died, it was like falling in love and breaking up at the same time.
Vin Maskell Moggs Creek, Australia; 1983 to 2013 The third and final part of our series about family, a beach house and its record collection.
Nathan Johnson North Adelaide, Australia, January 2004 A mate of mine was saying something, but I heard none of it. My eyes were fixed on the screen; my ears taking in every drum beat, every distortion, every melodic ebb and flow.
Shu-Ling Chua New York City, June 2014 As we slip through the inky night, from ferry to bus to my windowless hotel room, I think, I could stop this at any time. I could have stopped this hours ago.
Maria Majsa University of London Union, Malet Street, WC1, 1986 He smiled, stared at his shoes and said Hello. He looked so pale and young. I said Hi in a voice I didn’t recognise.
Sam Lawry A greasy diner in St Kilda, February 28 1996 The Mississippi, 1992 The night darkened further and the last patrons stumbled out, smiling, into it. I felt I’d missed something, a wisp or hint of faith.
Jeff Dowsing Melbourne, August 2013 – June 2014 At a team meeting I dared to question the new strategic plan, in particular its laughable vision statement. I circled my wagons and management circled theirs.