History of Sorts

By writing this piece , I am taking a few risks. Firstly, I will be giving away my age, secondly, I am taking a risk destroying all my Rock ’n’ Roll credibility.

And yes, I did like Musical Youth’s debut album, The Youth of Today.

They were discussing Reggae on RTE 1 this morning, and even though there was no mention of Musical Youth, the talk brought back memories of my buying that album. It is so hard to believe it is 40 years old this year.

In 1982 I took a pledge of allegiance to Rock, thanks to Joan Jett. She told me she was very fond of Rock ’n’ Roll. Indeed, she loved it.

However, I did figure that, every once in a while, I could stray from that path called Rock and that highway called Heavy Metal.

When I went into my local record store in the summer of 1982 after hearing Dutch people should be passed on the left-hand side. I was curious to find out the reasons behind the line. Why did these young Jamaican English chaps want people to pass the Dutchie on the left-hand side? When the lady behind the counter played the album for me, she handed me the cover. I was delighted when I found the storyboard included in the inner sleeve. It was in the form of a comic strip. A snippet of that is at the top of this blog.

It also reminded me that there is something you will never get by downloading or streaming music. You see, creating an album is not just about the music—but also the design. Many album covers are pieces of art.

Well, I now leave you with the boys of Musical Youth telling you all to pass the Dutchie on the left-hand side.