History - 1

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS : 1979-1980

The now sprawling People's Republic Of CONCEPT CITY has humble beginnings...

It all started way back in 1979 in the front room of a small flat in the center of Leicester...

Leicester... 'heart of the Midlands', where the tribe of 'Studley the Utter-Bastard' once walked, now the home of countless John Travolta look-a-likes, is at first a seemingly strange place for a nebular Concept City, but it was here that conditions were perfect for the young Mr CONCEPT to begin his life's work, for Leicester has that vital ingredient necessary for the seed of creation to feed on... plenty of boozers. It was in these many public houses, laughing with friends, quoffing quarts of foaming ale and telling the odd spoof-wheeze-jape-a-joke, that the first sparks of creative desire were fired and the first prototype Concepts giggled at.

Back in that small flat this latent mirth was channeled into the first primordial concept... a brief appearance on the 1980 Leicester Compilation Cassette 'Crying Out Loud' (produced by the mysterious Jade Lex) (1/2 of which, 'Flatulas Wine Bar & Bistro' appears on 'The Amazing World Of Mr Concept'). This was it... the missing link... the wonderful catalyst... THE COMPACT CASSETTE!

Oh wonderous packet in thy crinkly cellophane wrapping... clutched in the palm of my hand, mouth moistens as slowly your outer veil peels away revealing hidden charms and newness. ...sleek spool of tape still untouched, stacked perfectly within - what lies ahead for us? What will the slow turning of your spools and spilling of thy thinnest silken ribbon beoome?! We, together for a time as at one, and then you alone, with my seed inside thee to cherish forever. And finally, the slow almost sacrificial removal of a tab... symbolic ritual preserveth thy chastity intact to eternity, or some clumsy endive with a magnet walketh by. Bloody heck Nora TONIGHT! I haveth a stiffy.

Meanwhile back in 1980. ..Mr CONCEPT, first cassette appearance under the belt and fired with a new enthusiasm and optimism worked towards his first solo cassette tape...

At first it was hard... armed only with a cheap 'Strat' copy and an Akai '4000DS' reel-to-reel tape deck plus fuzz box and a soldering iron, crude tunes were created in that cold front-room in the little flat. Even writing now is enough to bring memories flooding back like 'twere only yesterday... I read you this extract from an old diary in the CONCEPT CITY museum Of Creative Genius:-

25th September 1980 :

'tonight I had a sandwich for tea and did a multi-tracked vocal version of a well known fairground tune. Went and fed Phil and Karen's cats'

From humble beginnings such as these spawned megastars... in this case 'Boris Stonka And The Foetus Fukkaz'

Towards the end of the making of this cassette, two new and important items came onto the scene... Engineers here at Concept City finally completed work on the building of A SYNTHESISER! A masterpiece of engineering... lots of plugs, sockets and knobs to twiddle plus a gleaming keyboard. Unfortunately it sounded CRAP and never was used much. It looks good 'though. Also, the vast sum of £25 was invested in an Acetone Rhythm Ace drum machine. ..which has earned its original investment many times over. ..the bossa-nova is pure ecstasy. This machine was in use even for several years and later re-wired into the system to add an extra soupcon of thwackiness to the Concept City Kozmik Drum Kit snare sound... I eventually gave it to the famous girl band 'The Shapiros' because their need was more than mine. Rhythmically speaking...

And thus, Dear Reader we come to the end of the first chapter in the historic dawn of Concepthood... because in Octvember of the year 1980 the world was re-named 'The Amazing World Of Mr Concept!', a cassette tape of the same name was released for the People's pleasure and discourse and Concept City became a viable entity for all. Tolderolloll.

The Halcyon Years