Jul 10: 1982

1982 saw some other classic albums.

Rush 'Signals' was a real highlight and has been described before.

This was the summer that I got my 'A' level results, and got a place at Huddersfield Polytechnic to do a geography degree. We had a summer holiday in Cornwall with friends. It was a time when I knew my next few years were sorted and I could relax a little.

Simple Minds 'New Gold Dream' was a classic of this year too.

Pat Metheny Group's 'Offramp' had some excellent tracks, including 'James'. This was the time when the guitar synthesiser which he still uses to superb effect was being introduced to his albums.

Jethro Tull released 'The Broadsword and the Beast'.

This was accompanied by a tour with a very theatrical staging, like a ship, and costumes and other elements. I saw this tour and had the t-shirt which I wore quite a lot over the years.

Peter John Vettese was on keyboards, which started his involvement with Ian Anderson on his solo album 'Walk into Light' which came out the following year.

Here's a live recording from Freiburg... now there's a city worth visiting...

What are your favourite albums and memories from 1982?

Mar 17: Solo albums #1: Fly by Night

What do you think have been the best solo albums which have been produced by someone who spent a long time in a band first?

Feel free to tell me in the comments below.

In November 1983,  I was watching Pebble Mill at One in a student house in Huddersfield - I was probably supposed to be writing an essay on the Atterberg limits - and was probably eating toast made on the gas fire - and this came on. Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull being interviewed, and a film about his life on the Isle of Skye, which I'd visited several times already to climb in the Cuillins.

Thanks to YouTube you can watch it here.

In the film, we see Ian Anderson talking about his life on the Isle of Skye at the time, living on the Strathaird Estate.

He released his first solo album 'Walk into Light' at the end of 1983. I liked the design of this album very much and bought it on vinyl on release (as was the case for most of the albums I owned of course until CDs began to usurp them - temporarily it turns out).

The album cover looked like a TV test card.

There are some really good tracks on this album, and I saw some of them performed during the mid 1980s at Jethro Tull gigs where they were added to the set. 

Here's 'Fly by Night' being performed during the 1984 'Under Wraps' tour, which I saw several times in different venues, including the Hammersmith Apollo (as was) - a show that was recorded for a later LP release.