Fancy An Awayday ?

Awaydays Elvis 

 

Being an avid Face magazine reader , I can recall Kevin Sampson's article on the birth of the label loving , floppy fringe swishing and of course trainer loving northern boys .I remember particularly the fantastic wedge hair cuts that went along with the movement . I didn't really rate the clothes , although I did think the boys looked cute in their  tight Lois  jeans , which are not a million miles away from tight teen jean lover rock cherub George Graig wears now . 

Kevin went on to write the novel 'Awaydays' , which is based on a piece he originally wrote for the Face but got rejected, as the idea of wedge tossing crews of boys who went to the footie match fell outside the Faces style scope at the time . I remember seeing Awaydays on the shelf at Compendium books down Camden High Street, as I was picking up the latest Herman Hesse . I was going through another David Sylvan period and Paul Morley who wrote for the Face and The New Musical Express kept mentioning him . 

Scally Love - Carty and Elvis 

So 'Awaydays' passed me buy , had I known the story was about an outsider Carty  who longs to join the local 'Pack' and on meeting the enigmatic  Elvis he finds a way in , to be part of the Pack . Elvis is gay and of course attracted to Carty . I think I would have given it a go  , but now I don't too  as 'AwayDays' has been made into a film by Kevin Sampson and is out on May 22nd .

'' Midge Ure's gonna join Ultravox ? , mate It'll never happen ''

What Interested me this time around apart from the story and the fact that the actor who plays Elvis looking lovely in his retro mohair Jumper ,was the eclectic soundtrack to the picture . From the Cures 10.15 : Saturday Night to the Ultravox's Slow motion , Joy Divisions Insight and Echo and The Bunnymen's Going Up. Listening to the tracks I hadn't  quite realised how raw and punky Ultravox sound on 'Young Savage' . I tend to lean more towards the electronic  side of the 'vox ' . So if tickets for 'Tormented' are all sold out  why not go and have an Awayday instead  and travel back to a time when jeans were so tight you had to be sewn into them and a floppy fringe were all you need to dance the night away at your local Eric's with of course your local dreamboat .