Now That's What I Call USA: 80's

We did mention on here a few months back Now 80's Alternative, a themed compilation those extremely busy Now people put out whose more condensed version on two lps was more usable and they've done something similar here with a set themed around 80's American hits.

Issued on August 11th this takes a broad stab at the American charts in the 80's and in the early to mid 80's I did follow them, something that did show up in the individual albums I bought then and actually last Monday Dad did find an old school exercise book with chart information and clippings from publications.

The set is not perfect, for instance we really don't need Duran Duran's The Reflex (remix) even though this was a US no.1 as it was too in the UK and has a place in Now 3 where something like Talk Talk's It's My Life or Def Leppard's Photograph big US hits that did little in the UK do fit better.

Syncronicity II also would of been a better choice than Every Breath You take being a big hit over there for a Police track but over all it does work adding often missed off tracks by Corey Hart. Bruce Springsteen, Belinda Carlisle and The Fixx that I loved.

For reasons best know to themselves each disc has a seperate colour -blue, white and red- and isn't a gatefold but I'd forgive that given the low budget folded card cover of the four cd version as this looks more something you'd be proud to own.

LP 1

Side A

Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart

John Mellencamp – Jack & Diane

The Police – Every Breath You Take

Pat Benatar – Love Is A Battlefield

Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes

Daryl Hall & John Oates – You Make My Dreams (Come True)

Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl

REO Speedwagon – Keep On Loving You

Side B

Diana Ross – Upside Down

Lipps Inc. – Funkytown

Company B - Fascinated

Michael Sembello – Maniac

Aretha Franklin – Freeway Of Love

The S.O.S Band – Take Your Time (Do It Right)

Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters

LP 2

Side A

Steve Miller Band – Abracadabra

Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart

Duran Duran - The Reflex

A Flock Of Seagulls – I Ran (So Far Away)

Corey Hart – Sunglasses At Night

Peter Schilling – Major Tom (Coming Home)

Nena – 99 Luftballons

Side B

Kenny Loggins – Danger Zone (From “Top Gun” Original Soundtrack)

Christopher Cross - Ride Like The Wind

The J. Geils Band – Centerfold

Night Ranger – Sister Christian

Journey – Open Arms

Richard Marx – Endless Summer Nights

Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You

LP 3

Side A

Blondie – Call Me (Theme From “American Gigolo”)

R.E.M. – Stand

The Fixx – One Thing Leads To Another

Pretenders - Show Me

Belinda Carlisle – Mad About You

The Bangles – Walk Like An Egyptian

Culture Club – I’ll Tumble 4 Ya

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat

Side B

Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson – Say Say Say

Olivia Newton-John – Physical

Tina Turner - What’s Love Got to Do With It

Juice Newton – Angel Of The Morning

Whitney Houston – You Give Good Love

Jennifer Holliday – And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going

Neil Diamond – America (From “The Jazz Singer” Soundtrack)

This set can be filed next to that other 80's set filling by theme some missing material given I didn't get and had in any event limited use for the 1983-86 volumes of the Now Yearbook series.

Thoughts on Littles Meet Summer 2023

 Last week I was away after a period of time where upon being seriously ill with convulsions I had found it impossible to get back in to organized meets because in effect those present booked themselves in for next time so all the places were taken up.

The basic aim is to have several days of more child-like playful activity which on this occasion  involved doing jigsaws, cake baking and decorating, a painting session, music quiz and sports apart from weather permitting going out enjoying nature .

The group were a mixed group of trans, cis and sissies who are all "adult little girls" even if some may have "adult" sides and whose littles side varied from pre-school with diapers to teenaged.

Some are very overtly "girlie" others less so.

Personally I can move from Tom Boyish to more Little Sissy Schoolgurl so boys shorts but girls tops and cute socks may feature almost as much as frilly socks and shortish skirts and like I mentioned a couple of times before I'm trying to refine a style that works for me.

Given I was being picked up I thought about something that would be me without causing major issues with people in the community who don't know my sissy side.

This kind of look, a mini kilt-skirt with plain white tights with frilly silk knickers underneath and girls tops that shows my knees and legs off is white I came up with while on the painting day, I went for a school jumper and skirt with knee socks that had pussy bows.

Apart from walking up to the car, I walked about a museum site, eating lunch by a river, bought an ice cream in a shop surrounded by others enjoying just being out - out being a little sissy gurl.

It just felt right. I am a Gurl.

This might just be the Me I can pull off.

Revisiting the Queen of Resorts

 

Last week runs a bit into this week really for having a number of things all one but on Wednesday I was out for the day in Llandudno, North Wales.

We were a bit late in arriving thanks to really silly idea of the drive to go due south via the motorway around the outskirts of Nantwich on the day of the Nantwich show for good measure that delayed us over a half an hour.  

A short discussion between a group of us came to the conclusion we'd better off getting food and then visiting any places of interest.

Thus the first change was in getting a meal where the usual haunt of Tribells was given a miss as reports on Trip Advisor suggested the quality had dropped off in the last year so we went to a cafe /restaurant on Mostyn Street near the former M&S shop for cod, chips and Mushy peas.

Given I had breakfast at half seven in the morning it really was a must and it did not disappoint being in thin non greasy batter with plenty of superior pure fish rather than the reconstituted sort served quite warm with a huge pot of tea.

Several shops were visited such the Gift Centre, Boots and the cat rescue shop although like a number towns in the UK there had been changes such as M&S moving to Mostyn Champneys retail park which I used to like to visit for the school wear section and HMV closing its store due to issues between it and the landlord over rent.

I did get to see the promenade walking a good length of it  and pier with the gift shop no longer with us but with the boat trip excursions around the coastline still running, busy as ever.

We took the better route through Tarvin, Winsford and Sandbach back thank goodness in the light rain of the late afternoon only to find one of our friends thought they'd lost their house keys.

Thankfully they were found after  quarter of an hour.

Musical discourse

 One of "those" adult spoof Ladybird books we've had for a good few years like people can't treasure  a series but try to take it into areas it doesn't belong but there's a bit of truth in this covers mash up.

Like anything, take a passion to the extreme and house can get filled up while are savings consumed by with everything to do with it whither it's fashion, sowing or music so it makes sense to say "do I really need that?"and "what does it exactly give me?"

It's like while the Now People have reissued the LP (and cd bookform) 1983 and 1984 Yearbooks, I'm not buying which may feel like collector "oh my goodness you're not getting a complete set that might be worth more money" but simply there's nothing I don't already have and no, owning them doesn't mean anything to me.

When it comes to the umpteenth issue of some individual albums I'm very selective so there's only three issues of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on lp, the 2014 mono, a mid 70's analogue stereo and the 2017 Digital stereo remaster and when one Doobie Brothers album recently came my way that was a one on one replacement after doing a comparison

One private forum that sometimes acted as a enabling place for such things recently closed which was kind of sad given I'd been there since 2007 when having been given the boot by the management of a bigger site we set up our own place.

Thing is many of them drifted towards Facebook making groups where I point blank refused especially when being partially pushed to go to the no longer with us Google Plus social network by them only to see them move back to Facebook for free coffee at Costa and the like and it that point slowly over time it just drifted apart.

It's like be on Facebook or be cast out.

Sorry I'm not prepared to jump through the hoops and privacy issues that site has just to keep in touch with people who just left me.

Everything links back

It hasn't been the best of weeks with both the weather and being quite ill so I haven't been about as much as I would of loved to had been but have had time to reflect a little on things.

Off and on, this life has always been me, purge or not having been there in the past usually wrapped rather more in a littles form.

Being pushed into wearing a pretty dress by a dominant mommy type, hair and make up all done up.

There always was an uber feminine side of me, willing or not that would go with this whole scene, playing with dollies getting off on non sexual "humiliation".

It can be hard to accept the real you but often the bigger problem is being able to tell others as it's not about wanting to be or seeing yourself as a female but rather you like being a sissy not a man, not a woman but this "gurl" with all the other bits in it.

I know I can be amazing, I have many skills and qualities but they all come from the whole me so trying to shut down anything but the "normal" adversely affects me in everyday life so I need to live and be more open as the whole me.

The whole me is a sissy gurl, not necessarily the one you are but the one that takes in what I relate and get off on so I need to focus more on being less "normal" and more sissy gurl me.

Cleaning records

One thing you cannot avoid when it comes to buying and playing records is cleaning them as finger prints can leave oily deposits and dirt and dust can get into the groove causing varying degrees of crackle or "rustling" in the background.

In vinyl's heyday at the record store counter you'd find various impregnated anti static cloths that worked rather like the cloths you use to clean your glasses with and if hifi was your thing you may of read and seen various fluids and record cleaning systems such as those by Keith Monks which some stores for a fee would clean your discs quite deeply.

Around two thousand sixteen as my record playing system started to improve I found myself needing something to clean some of my oldest records and oddly enough clean and take the static from brand new ones as some record plants aren't as clean as they should be.

This is what I used at the time with a pair of microfibre cloths to apply a cleaning fluid and remove it and any debris from them which worked rather well for a small amount of elbow grease doing it by hand.

Trying to get hold of some recently lead to the discovery it appeared to be no longer available, indeed the last lot I had was only in a small capacity and so some seven years on I was back to exploring cleaners which were.

I settled on this "Deep Track Cleansing" fluid with some cleaning cloths and stylus cleaner as actually from time to time you should clean that on your cartridge to remove and build up of dirt and dust by the company Vinyl Clear.

Interestingly this product is endorsed and used by Abbey Road Studios for cleaning reference records they use when working on newly mastered versions for comparisons using a tiny amount of clean ipa alcohol dissolved in distilled pure water (tap water is inpure containing lime amongst other things).

It came with a plastic record holder for allowing the cleaned disc to dry for a few minutes before putting in the inner sleeve ready for playing.

I might add if the sleeve is an old paper only one I'd resleeve it in either a polylined one or those japanese style rice paper ones so you don't reintroduce any dirt or paper acid you've just spent time removing.

This is available in various capacities - mine was 150 ml - and it does work well

Lessons learned along the tracks

 This blog has, and was always different from the point of view that it was whole life, whole interests centred and not focused narrowly around gender and identity issues as much as I may go on about them as they apply in my life.

Part of that is about going away as much as in the last eighteen or so months it has been fraught with issues but I did get away this weekend but in a lot ways the bigger thing wasn't to be found in the ultimate destination but more what was learned along the way.

Travel, especially by train can be subject to change and that change might be really quite rapid.

With me I had arrived in very good time and checked the overhead screens for the latest travel information as it was becoming apparent an earlier Manchester train was running rather late  and so it was with just under two minutes before our train was due as that train arrived that message you dread came over the public address speakers

"Will passenger on platform 6 for the London Northwestern Service to Birmingham New Street please standby for an announcement".

Sure enough we we told our train now was coming in on Platform 11 and in the process of moving at speed I almost fell over and fell my case at which point an Afro-Carribean woman comes along and picks it up and says she'll help me.

So we form a partnership getting to this platform - me feeling progressive more like the child in this relationship of sorts - very much the little gurl lost - and one missed direction we do get about about and I thanked her most profusely.

Getting off at the other end a bit shaken up still, a white guy with strong Black Country accent sees I'm a bit shaken and not only offers to take my case for me down the stairs but sees me into station concourse

We often read of the worst of people and it can be easy to buy into it but certainly I felt I had met some of the best examples of humanity you could for in the most ordinary of situations and really that's the point here.

We care for each other and those people cared for me.