Shakespeare’s sister was really old
My long-standing hair dresser has a new apprentice. Young, blonde and shameless, a recent five-minutes at the sink in her hair-washing company did not help with my inevitable post-birthday misery:
Her (bopping around, waving the shampoo bottle over my head): ‘Do you like Girls Aloud? This song is so great… (starts singing) Jump, Jump for my love…Jump in…‘
Me (cautiously): ‘Er, they’re ok… they have some good tunes.’
Her (finally getting around to introducing the shampoo to my hair): ‘Yeah, some of these old groups have really good songs, don’t they?’
Me (nostalgically): ‘Yes, I used to like The Pointer Sisters. We had to do aerobics to this song at school…’
Her (baffled, stops massaging my head and waves her soapy fingers distractingly over my face): ‘Who??’
Me (equally baffled): ‘The Pointer Sisters, the 70s/80s girl group. This is a cover of their song ‘Jump’, isn’t it?’
Her (still in soapy suspended animation): ‘This is a cover from the 80s?!’
Me (bemused and wishing she’d just get on with it): ‘Yes, I’m sure it is. From around 1984.’
Her (enthusiastically dousing me in luke-warm water): ‘Wow, I like old music. All my friends think I’m weird though – but I say you can listen to anything you like, even old stuff. You know another really old band I like? Shakespeare’s Sister!’
(Well, I wasn’t expecting that)
Her (continuing along merrily with the conditioner now): ‘They must be from your time… Hey, you look like them! Just like them!!’
(No, I bloody well don’t)
Her (taking the idea and running with it): ‘Yes! Yes, you do! You look like Shakespeare’s Sister! Some of those really old bands are good aren’t they? You’re vintage, y’ know…!’
Me (thinking): ‘You’re definitely not getting a tip.’
Tags: 30-something angst
January 26th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Stunning. Take her a disc of the Beverly or Andrews Sisters next time.
January 26th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
There’s a compliment in there somewhere…isn’t there??
(did you manage to find out if she thought you looked more like the talented one, or the foghorn?)
January 26th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
So you look like a pallid goth. Great.
To her of course, 1984 is vinatge to her as 1964 was to me in 1984, if you get my drift.
God I feel old.
January 26th, 2011 at 2:52 pm
God knows why but Shakespeare’s sister popped into my head last night – and what a great one off album that was. It’s buried in the loft somewhere.
Never a good line is it ‘your time’
January 26th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
I seem to constantly have the opposite problem – post-adolescents and teenagers constantly try to talk to me about how great seventies bands like Led Zeppelin and The Doors are. Both bands are before my time and theirs (as they well know) and sadly I’ve never cared much for either. I keep wanting a teenager to bring up XTC or Wire, but they never do (that said, I did overhear a young girl asking where the XTC section was in Music and Video Exchange the other month, and nearly combusted with excitement that somebody under the age of 21 was collecting their stuff).
I actually find it weird how many teens listen to “old stuff”, to be honest. In my youth, ignorance of rock and pop history reigned and everyone only seemed interested in the newest trends and material. As Five-Centres points out, her listening to Shakespear’s Sister would be the equivalent of me listening to really early beat singles as a young man. At school, it was considered bad enough that I went back as far back as punk.
And anyway, where SS are concerned, Siobhan Fahey was the ace one in my view. The other one was a vain, trilling session muso.
January 26th, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Ha ha! Agree with 5centres, a time before you can remember always seems much older… E.g britpop was 1994/5 17 years ago!! Rediculous! It seems about 5 years ago! Yet when I was 16, & people were talking about the swinging 60’s (17 years earlier), they may as well have been cavemen!
Think this girl should have maybe got the hint though!
So what did you have, a nice perm and blue rinse all ready for bingo?!
P
January 27th, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Oh this really had me in fits, brilliant post. I could see all this inmy minds eye, so funny. Really really old groups ???? ,oh how i laughed, my stuff must be prehistoric then, next time tell her about the Edgar Broughton Band and Hawkwind that’ll take the wind out of her sails :-) . Your vintage you are ha ha haaaa oh lovely stuff.
January 28th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
LOL!!!
I’m sitting here listen to Robert Johnson – recorded in what 36 or 37…. good job she didn’t have that conversation with me. Hell I remember the Beatles on TOTP! I remember Hendrix dying…. I remember who the members of Shakepeare’s Sister were with before they became sisters!!! And there is a weird link there isn’t there too given Mr Clapton did his Johnson covers album…
January 29th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Well, I’m glad you all found this post so amusing!
I think the thing that most floored me is that she referred to Girls Aloud as being an old band (let alone Shakespeare’s Sister)! It is though, as several of you have pointed out, entirely down to perception. Indeed just this morning Mr C came home from the shops with the latest Mojo magazine celebrating 20 years since Nirvana released ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ (which means a lot more than Shakespeare’s Sister who I never liked). 20 years!!! That makes me feel vintage I tell you.
And Dave, if I was being unkind I would suggest that lots of young people are interested in older music because quite frankly the state of the current music scene is rather parlous. And it all sounds old anyway! I blame the likes of The Stone Roses, Primal Scream, REM and Teenage Fanclub personally. When I heard them drivelling on about how great Big Star, the Rolling Stones, the Byrds, Love, Patti Smith etc. etc. were, I followed their advice, discovered the musical past and it was the beginning of the end for me and contemporary music.
January 29th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
I’m so glad some one else feels the same as me about contemporary music , i thought i was all alone. There more i dig back the more quality i find. The more i hear of now the more i fall asleep. Whilst my mates get into “americana” or the latest ludicrous genre “neo folk ” ha ha haaaa WHAT ???? , i mean what is this ? folk for fascists ??? the more i just smirk . All i hear are people saying ” you should really check out this new band they sound just like The Jam / Black Sabbath / Sex Pistols (delete as applicable) ……..i would rather listen to the original every time.
January 30th, 2011 at 7:15 pm
I don’t dislike all new music Carl. But like you, I can’t get excited about much of it – although there are a number of new groups (who sound old) that I really like e.g. Midlake. Hoops Hooley has done some great playlists of new stuff on Spotify that I enjoy listening to, but unlike the 18-year old me I don’t feel particularly compelled to rush out and buy them. Especially, if yes, behind the tune, they sound suspiciously like something I already own from 30 years ago.
January 30th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Luckily she didn’t mention your even more dubious past in Bananarama… :-)
(Glad you approve of my playlists Cocktails. If anyone’s interested my Best of 2010 is <a href="http://open.spotify.com/user/pw167/playlist/1×3gNVHljJLwfz1J1Z9oxu"here.)
January 30th, 2011 at 11:18 pm
Oops, trying again: …here
January 30th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
I still hear odd songs i like. For example when i first heard a few Franz Ferdinand singles i thought, these are ok , good tunes. Then i hear the album and all i like are the two singles lol.
February 15th, 2011 at 4:00 am
Next time, go in with a Shakespeare’s Sister T-shirt and singing something by Justing Beiber. That’ll really mess with her head!
February 19th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Weren’t Shakespeares Sister partially comprised of the gorgeous Siobhan from Bananarama? In which case I’d say you can take the comparison as a compliment, dodgy Goth makeover or not.
Mind you I wouldn’t be revealing to your hairdresser that the ancient band she’s into is formed by the remnants of an even older band, from the sound of things that would seem to her about as conceivable as the gorgeous Siobhan from Bananarama being an actual real-live sibling of the bard of Stratford himself.
February 22nd, 2011 at 12:32 am
Ah, Midlake…… Very good band. In fact, buy John Grant’s Queen of Denmark album, if you haven’t already done so. It features MIdlake as his backing band. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered an album that manages to be so truly sad, funny, bitter and euphoric, and sometimes just within the space of a single song……
February 24th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Hello Ed, Jonathan and Ill Man, I’m sorry time seems to have slipped by since I last looked at this… mmm… thank you for your comments.
In response though, if you do return:
1. Although I enjoy your point Ed, I’m pleased to say that I don’t know any songs by Mr Justin Beiber
2. Jonathan, once again I learn something new from you. You know, it has never struck me that gorgeous Siobhan from Banarama was well, gorgeous. I think the dodgy goth make-over erased any previous memory of her for me.
3. Right, Ill Man, another one for the list. Sounds just up my street. And when are you going to post some more photos?!
February 28th, 2011 at 10:33 pm
Gasoline Rainbows is on hold just now. I’m currently posting up another daily photo blog (like the one I did a few years ago). I find it to be a theraputic exercise that stops me losing the plot entirely. It’s been going since the start of the year. Apologies for not informing you of it’s existance, it’s posted on a different blogger account (under my sunday name)
http://iforgotalreadybabe.blogspot.com/
I also have a replacement for my old blog ready to roll. Believe me, no shortage of screamingly insane subject matter to populate it with, but often the hardest thing with these things is actually making the 1st post. The moment I have anything up on it, promise you’ll be the 1st to know.
iLL Man
March 2nd, 2011 at 7:10 pm
New Blog. http://ncdeptblues.blogspot.com/
Do I get spammer of the month award?