The Sound of Te Awamutu

...She came all the way from America,
She had a blind date with destiny,
And the sound of Te Awamutu,
Had a truly sacred ring...

My Dear Princess, Loulou and Fellows,

We have tickets to see Crowded House! We're off to see them with Joshua, Loulou and Tiger in two weeks!

(COVID alert levels permitting, of course).

This reminded me. I find it somewhat extraordinary that I liked both Split Enz and Crowded House before I even met Caro. 

Maybe it's just one of those things where you look for signs of things Meant To Be after they have happened. 

Maybe.

I Got You is one of the first singles I ever bought. Not the very first. Because that would be All Over The World by the Electric Light Orchestra from the soundtrack of Xanadu. But Split Enz were one of the first.

(Actually, now that I think about it, maybe this means I was Meant To Be with Olivia Newton-John. Oh cruel fate that Olivia never visited The Hebrides Bar.) 

I loved that single, and then I remember seeing a show on BBC2 in 1982 called "Australia Now!" It highlighted all the biggest bands coming out of Australia on the back of the huge success of Men At Work and Icehouse and ummm... 

Okay, I'm drawing a blank. The Seekers? 

Split Enz were one of the bands featured and sssshhhh no-one mention that they are from New Zealand really. They performed a song called Six Months in a Leaky Boat and I just loved it. I tried to rush out and buy it but...

EFF'S EFFING SAKE! IT'S BEEN BANNED!

Yes, because some effer at the BBC thought it might upset the families of servicemen in the Falklands Task Force, they banned the bloody thing! I never got to hear it again!

I did try to go to the record shop to order it, but I chickened out as I would have had to buy the album. 

£5 was a lot of money in 1982. 

So THEN when Crowded House came out years later and CEEFAX reviewed their debut album and said they were Split Enz but not, I was all over it. I decided to SPEND THAT FIVER and bought the album! And it was one of my favourites.

And so I knew all about the sound of Te Awamutu way before I knew where Te Awamutu was. 

In the end, I sold all of my Crowded House albums, when CD's became a thing. The vinyl was just too heavy to lug around the country. I also sold all my singles. Except one.

For some reason, I just couldn't part with "I Got You". Seriously, that single was the ONLY vinyl I had for years. 

When I started going out with Caro, I gave it to her. It felt like the right home for it, even if we didn't end up together. 

And now, of course, it is home. Tucked away in a box of keepsakes somewhere. Back in Australia Now. 

Eff's sake. You know what I mean. 

S.