Thank you all for always reading WIZZARD LINER NOTES!
For this VOL.5, titled "MADE IN UK," I'd like to share a little about my encounters with UK culture and some related anecdotes.
Thank you for your patience!
Do you know the difference between the UK (United Kingdom) and England?
When asked out of the blue, it can often lead to a moment of hesitation:
Hmm? Oh? Uh, uh, that thing, that thing, right?
Isn't that often the case? (laughs)
I was more of that type myself. (laughs)
Yes, it's surprisingly hard to distinguish between the UK (United Kingdom) and England.
The reason I refer to the UK rather than England this time is because the UK includes London and Manchester in England, and Glasgow in Scotland (the UK refers to the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland), and I was influenced and inspired by the music, fashion, and culture found there.
And the first thing that influenced me in UK culture was the musicians and bands from London.
My family always had FM radio on from morning, so I started to get interested in music relatively early.
It was the heyday of NEW WAVE, and FM often played American artists like Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince, alongside English artists like Culture Club, Depeche Mode, and Thompson Twins. It was also an era when foreign groups frequently appeared live on TV music shows.
And the groups I was particularly interested in and listened to often were from England, mainly centered in London.
I listened to Culture Club https://youtu.be/YewVugPHon4 and Thompson Twins https://youtu.be/AJDzN4RrSt8 a lot.
Boy George of Culture Club often wore Vivienne Westwood clothes, I remember.
Although I was still a child at the time, around 12-13 years old, I always wondered, "What is this? What clothes is he wearing?" Dolman sleeves, jodhpurs, the fashion of London musicians was so cool.
It was around this time that I started to develop my own sense of style in the clothes I wore.
This is what sparked my interest in the word "LONDON," and later led me to discover PUNK.
Speaking of London, as a side note, when I was in elementary school, my father worked in international trade, so he traveled abroad frequently and always bought me toys from the countries he visited.
When I was 11, my father returned from a business trip to London and handed me a smaller bag than usual, saying it was a souvenir.
Opening the bag, which said "TOWER RECORD," I found two CDs, a pin badge, and a postcard. For 11-year-old me, these were uncharted treasures from an unknown London record store.
My father mainly listened to classical music, enka, kayokyoku, foreign pop, and movie soundtracks, so I was nothing but suspicious... (laughs)
The first CD was The Doors' 1st Album. At that time, The Doors were in the same category as The Beatles for me – easy to listen to.
The second CD was Iron Maiden's 2nd Album, Killers. They are heavy metal legends from England. At the time, I couldn't understand it at all (lol). It's a classic album, though. It took me about 8 years to appreciate it.
It was a "fluke," so to speak, something unimaginable from my father, whom I just mentioned. (laughs) Even now, I think it's quite something to pick such a classic album from Tower Records' recommended shelf.
I still remember the exhilaration of feeling like I had actually been to London, even for a moment, thanks to my father who brought back the atmosphere of my longed-for London, a place I had never visited.
Thank you, Dad, I am very grateful.
Because of that, I became more sensitive to the word "LONDON" and started listening to a lot of UK music.
Then I encountered PUNK, and in parallel, I became deeply involved in fashion.
My fashion sense started to change around the age of 15.
At 14, influenced by NEW WAVE as I mentioned earlier, I preferred wearing only black clothes, and my parents called me a crow. A crow, really. (laughs)
The PUNK I encountered at 15 (I'll talk more about it another time), especially SEX PISTOLS https://youtu.be/qj4nYKVK044, was truly an immense shock.
Not just the music, but their fashion stood out overwhelmingly.
The vocalist, Johnny Rotten, was truly my idol.
Around that time, I also learned about SEDITIONARIES https://youtu.be/sFPI6biUOxk, the pioneer of punk fashion, which was too expensive for me to buy back then.
Initially, I bought and wore similar items (boots and fakes)... (which taught me a lot, though lol)
I also listened to punk music from outside of London.
I listened to Buzzcocks https://youtu.be/hIQYOHopSbs from Manchester quite a lot.
I think Buzzcocks was also the first time I learned the name Manchester.
Manchester is famous for the Madchester movement that occurred mainly around Manchester from the late 1980s to around 1990, with bands like The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, and New Order.
Especially The Stone Roses—I was completely immersed in their music and fashion.
There's much more to talk about regarding Manchester, but it would be too long, so I'll save that for another time.
Haa... (laughs)
Finally, Scotland. Personally, when it comes to Scottish groups, I think of The Jesus and Mary Chain, but when you talk about Scotland, you absolutely can't forget Glasgow.
Glasgow has so many great bands.
Primal Scream, Teenage Fanclub, Mogwai, The Pastels, Belle and Sebastian, Travis, and many more.
My first encounter with Glasgow was through Primal Scream.
I just love Bobby Gillespie.
He was one of the musicians whose fashion and hairstyles I admired, and I was quite conscious of that during my vocational school days.
Well, this LINER NOTES ended up being mostly about music this time. How was it?
I would be happy if this could be an opportunity for you to explore UK (United Kingdom) music and fashion, things "MADE IN UK."
Thank you again for reading LINER NOTES VOL.5!
See you next time in LINER NOTES VOL.6.
VOL.4 https://wizzard.stores.jp/news/61b492273475ed58db0e3176
VOL.3 https://wizzard.stores.jp/news/61aa2ef8b91b75549afa7abd
VOL.2 https://wizzard.stores.jp/news/61a07134b91b75123e2cd5d2
VOL.1 https://wizzard.stores.jp/news/61b9cd652ee5c27732582351