Jon Sidel is on vacation and will return with all new episodes of the Idelic Hour on 8/31. This episode was originally broadcast on 1/27/12. —Ed.
Greetings from London, England!
In 1973, when I was twelve years old, my best friend and I came to England for summer holiday camp. Yesterday, walking down an east London street I had a flashback to one of the many “teen dances” we attended that summer. At the time I remember thinking “Brit kids” were a queer bunch of fairies, dancing to such music. I had never heard of Bowie, Slade, Gary Glitter, or T-Rex.
Then one night, over many shanties and cigarettes, an older kid name Collin “sorted me out” on proper British rock ‘n roll. I came to know that Bowie and Bolan were cool – and Pink Floyd were not (who I would childishly refer to as “homos.”)
From that summer on I have been fully engaged and obsessed with British rock ‘n roll. Later in my teens when broke, I would stay up all night playing 45s, dreaming about making the UK scene. Now, almost 35 years later, I’m at a club in London with friends—yes, many cool friends, watching the latest wave of British guitar kids having their go.
This week’s show coming from London is dedicated to a rock ‘n roll dream. Anyone’s really. Yes, the set features some of the coolest new UK acts mixed with a jet-lagged infused selection of “oldies.”
Here’s my Idelic UK Innovation.
