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26 May 2012

Memories Of The Summer Of 1983 - The First Picture Of You...

 
Ah, the summer of 1983... hair gel and break dancing, young love - and lust, the last fleeting days of being seventeen (I turned eighteen in the October)... and The First Picture Of You by The Lotus Eaters.

The song is so tangled up in my memories of that summer. It fitted the mood exactly and now causes me so many nostalgic pangs whilst still fitting perfectly (in a peculiarly 1980s way) with modern bouts of summer weather.

The Lotus Eaters were Peter Coyle and Jeremy "Jem" Kelly, who met in 1981 and formed the band in 1982. They recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1 and from that came The First Picture...

It's a beautiful song.  And far from being purveyors of a one-hit wonder,  The Lotus Eaters are now revered as creators of an '80s classic.

Included here from YouTube is the twelve inch version. If you're lucky enough to be enjoying a lovely sunny day, open a window, whack up the volume and step outside.

Seeing the flowers scream their joy... 

One of the YouTube comment thread people says: 

My soul will drift back to the '80s when I'm gone.

Hope mine does too...




3 comments:

Saveeverystep said...

A classic. I was 16 that summer, and the music transports me right back there

Drew said...

Woke up this morning with a backache... played the song again and felt wistful... oh to be young again! Oh to be back in 1983!

Anonymous said...

Oh what great times! The long hot summer of 83 will always live long in my memories. I was 17 in the July and i hung around in a group of about 6 or 7. Living on the South Coast as i did (and still do) we seemed to be at a different beach every weekend. Brighton, Bournemouth, Swanage & Weymouth amongst others. Life was carefree no bills to worry about only my keep to my parents, no stress just sunshine, girls, discos and of course booze! Oh what i'd do to turn back the clock!