There's Cleo and Me-o and a bit of memory..

Just before my 30th Birthday I fell and cracked a bathtub with my skull. The resulting scrambling of my neurons gave me a memory issue…well I might remember things but I have a bad ‘meta-memory’- knowing what I know, or accessing memories is still very difficult.

Until I came to London (and had to start laying down a whole lot of new memories) my life prior to my 30th Birthday was known only from the cliff notes- I knew bits and worked out others. I kept emotional reactions to people (could always point out the kids who bullied me at school). 

The UK forced my brain to work on recall, but it also gave me flashbacks (still does but that is another story) which took some time to get under control. Getting back into my memories is now possible, but I need a clue to step back.

Dickie Valentine – Cleo And Me-O  is one of those clues. I was 7 or 8 and from Gran we got a RadioGram (for those not old enough it is an AM radio and record player in a cabinet about the size of a small bar) and a huge pile of records. A mixed bunch of music from 50’s and 60’s suddenly given in the late 70’s to two small children. This was one of my favourites, it was a 78 and I last heard it when I was 10 or so. 

As soon as I heard this song (recalled from Cleo and Me-o on the allegatey river) I could smell the 78 coming out of the paper sleeve, feel the warmth of the room (which allowed me to date the memory as we didn’t build the extension until I was 7 or 8) and remember sitting with my brother playing “radio DJ” with this crazy mixture of music. I have started hunting down more of the music- all camp and crazy mixes really.

So- hunting for:

Ruby Red- Kingston Trio (B side of Tom Dooley)

George the Wild(er) NZ Boy - Howard Morrison Quartet (Hoki Hoki is the other side)

Love letters in the Sand - Pat Boone (But I also want the B Side…which I don’t recall) of this single Pat Boone – Love Letters In The Sand - Single Version

Itzy Bitzy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

And the Muppet Show Cast Album- with the Mississippi Mud and “In love with a Big Blue Frog”

Although knowing me and my memory and attention span in a week or so I’ll have wandered off to another shiny thing.

But there is nothing quite like suddenly being able to step back to sunny golden days with music and playing with my brother with these old records. 

Yes I was the weird kid at school- everyone else was into Disco!