Memories of the decade when music made a statement…
December 10, 2011 martintideswell	Leave a comment
You know you're getting old when you look around the pub table at the lads you grew up with and they're all either bald, receding or have grey hair.
Back in the late Eighties, we always started our Christmas pub crawls at the Old Brown Jug in Newcastle and this year 10 of us made the annual reunion.
The only thing that hasn't changed since those halcyon days is our pub of choice – complete with its wooden floors and proper ales.
This year yours truly was driving and so remembers everything and didn't embarrass himself.
Now, maybe it's my rose-tinted spectacles again but I remember Newcastle being busier back when I was young, free and single.
I remember the music being so much better. I also remember girls wearing skirts that didn't resemble arm bands.
It seems I'm not the only one, either.
DJ Mark Porter has been entertaining crowds for more than a quarter of a century and, like me, he laments the good old days.
The 42-year-old, from Kidsgrove, learned his craft at the 'Kids' Night' at The Place nightclub in Hanley – putting on records for the resident DJ when he nipped to the loo.
From such inauspicious beginnings Mark went on to DJ at The Place, as well as Maxim's in Newcastle and at The Highlight (formerly Jollees) in Longton.
When asked the straight question: Which decade do you prefer for music, he is unequivocal.
"The Eighties, definitely," said Mark. "So many of the tracks from back then are still popular. So many of the bands and artists from back then are either still going or have reformed.
"Yes, there was some proper cheese like Joe Dolce's Shaddap You Face and Black Lace's Agadoo and some of the fashions were – in retrospect – horrendous.
"For example, I remember seeing people wearing sweatbands round their heads and leg warmers.
"But the Eighties was a decade of great guitar bands and proper pop groups like Duran Duran, the Human League, Spandau Ballet and Heaven 17.
"Remember the likes of Joy Division/New Order. Look at what Queen and U2 achieved. Just think of the line up at the Live Aid concert.
"I like to think as the Eighties as the modern Sixties – a decade where musicians were making a real statement – along with the people who listened to them.
"Nowadays I look around and, to be honest, I despair at the manufactured acts which the music industry moguls inflict on us. These days, the sad truth is anybody can be a pop star."
Mark, who currently DJs at the Bel Air nightclub at The Belfry in Sutton Coldfield, genuinely misses the Eighties and he's not afraid to admit it.
He said: "I think it's a case of you don't appreciate what you've got until it's gone.
"At the time I don't think we realised just how good the music scene was and what a great time it was to be growing up.
"It's certainly different these days. Back then going out on a Friday or Saturday night was a big deal. People got dressed up for it – none of this jeans and trainers business.
"Back then nightclubs were destination venues. People went out on the town and then rocked up at the nightclub at around 11am and stayed their until 2am. That was what everyone did.
"Nowadays I occasionally feel a similar buzz to all those nights back in the day but it's pretty rare and depends very much on the crowd that's in."
After 25 years as a DJ, Mark also has an interesting theory on Potteries pop superstar Robbie Williams.
He said: "I can't help but think that Robbie was heavily influenced by growing up in the Eighties and going to nightclubs like The Place.
"Like the rest of us he would have listened to the new romantics, the synth pop and the kind of sounds which emerged towards the end of the decade and I see lots of those influences coming through in the music that he has written and performed."
80s NostalgiaBlack LaceChristmasHanleyHeaven 17Joe DolceJoy DivisionMaxim's nightclubOld Brown JugPotteriesQueenRobbie WilliamsSpandau BalletThe Place nightclubU2