GEOGRAPHY LESSONS (1)

Things still a bit hectic, and inspiration is not forthcoming for posts. So I've decided to embark on a short series of one-word songs named after cities or countries.
As you'll see from the photo above, I'm starting off in Germany.

mp3 : Editors - Munich

The photo is of the Olympic Stadium, venue of the 1972 games and home of Bayern Munich FC from around that time until 2005 when they moved to a new ground purpose-built for the 2006 World Cup.

On 31 October 1995, I made my first, and so far only visit to Munich. Jacques the Kipper was with me. We were part of 800 or so Raith Rovers fans who travelled in hope to see our team play the famous Bayern Munich in the 3rd round (last 32) of the UEFA Cup. Our team was full of players who were hardly known in their own households. Theirs was full of international stars and millionaires. It was the 200th European cup tie in their history. It was our 6th.

We led 1-0 at half-time. I have never been so excited at a football match in my life. The fairytale didn't last as we eventually lost 2-1. Bayern went on to win the cup and all sorts of titles in Germany. Raith Rovers were relegated from the top flight of Scottish football 18 months later and we've never been back.

But my memories of Munich are happy ones.

Incidentally, Raith Rovers were in the UEFA Cup that season a lot longer than some really big teams. Manchester United had been knocked out in an earlier round, while Leeds and Liverpool were eliminated on the same evening (but a few hours earlier than us due to the timing of our kick-off!!) Read here for the full results of that season's competition.

As for the band that made the song, well I'll profess to liking Editors. Admittedly, there's nothing truly original about them, but they're very good at what they do. I was lucky enough (again with JtK in tow) to catch them at the tiny King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow in early 2005 just before they hit the big time, and they were an excellent live act. The second album is due out soon - here's hoping it's not as disappointing as the sophomore releases by the likes of Kasabian and The Killers with whom they were bracketed a couple of years ago.

I did a bit of googling to see if there were any significant musical happenings that coincided with the trip to Munich. And discovered that this timeless masterpiece, and favourite of buskers the world over, was released as a single the day before the match:-

mp3 : Oasis - Wonderwall

Munich is on the LP The Back Room, while Wonderwall is on What's The Story, Morning Glory. Available to buy at this on-line record store.

More geography lessons tomorrow.