DIAL 911 OR WHATEVER....

Readers of old will recognise that the heading of this post and the image are the ones I use to highlight a dmca notice of a track/posting takedown. Its been a while since it happened (four and a bit months), but I woke up this morning, wishing I could find myself a gun, as I discovered something was missing.

It was last Sunday's 'The Class of '79 (Part 18) which featured Chelsea Girl b/w Garden of Hate.

I know it was there yesterday as someone made the effort to leave behind a comment. But this morning, it has simply vanished. And the only reason I noticed was because I was working on the next entry in the series and was going back to check on which number I had given to last week's instalment.

In other words, its come down and there's no sign of a dmca notice.

This means one of three things:-
(a) its on its way and is whirling around cyberspace looking for an Inbox
(b) the bastards are upping the ante and just taking stuff down without telling us
(c) some fucker can get into my system and delete stuff without my knowing

I sincerely hope it is (a).

The thing of course was that the posting was one which praised Simple Minds and pointed out the brilliance of their really early material. I'm not going to repost it all as I can't be arsed, but here's what you all said in response:-

Great song - the first Simple Minds track I ever remember hearing. I was introduced to it by my brother who was an ancient old bugger of 25 at the time. In those days it was usually me introducing him to new bands and I'm not sure how he heard Simple Minds before me (and outside of Scotland too). - Mick, 21 June 19:12

A sterling piece of reportage jimmy boy.Must admit, but for your first line tannoy notice, you may have lost me.I stood fast for your broadcast and am glad that I did. The fact that I barely recall this track is due single-handedly to beer - which seeped deeper into my 17 year old consciousness back then. It's a benchmarker of a sound - and certainly stands up 30 yrs on with a vigorous and unclogged pumping blue vein. - dick van dyke, 21 June 20:34

I have reviewed my opinion of Simple Minds' stuff, since coming to Scotland, for a time I was critical, but I think, even up to 1986 they were a great band. BTW - one of the other bands Bruce Findlay managed for a time was The Silencers; where do you stand on them, JC? - Ed, 21 June 21:04

The early SM stuff was awsome. It all went Pete Tong when Derek Forbes left and then the God awful pub rock album 'Street Fighting Years' came out. Shite.Check out the new one though, it's a kinda return to formish - PawnSacrifice, 21 June 23:22

Always a fan of SM and their constantly evolving sound. The early stuff was amazing in that it didn't invite you to like it but made you really think about what they were doing...a confidence of sound that lasted for quite a number of years for me. Sure everything got a bit out of shape after "Don't You..." but their are still very good things in the music and message of SM through to today...and btw, their version of Needle and the Damage Done is striking! - echorich, 22 Jun 04:58

Thanks JC. Similar to some comments here, one of the first tracks of The Minds I recall hearing, due to a mate's older brother who had it in their house. Still love the choppy guitar. Great song. - Stevie, 22 June 14:26

I still think it was the Breakfast Club that killed Simple Minds creatively.Nothing against the song from the film, per se, but I think in achieving the level of the success that they did in the States with that single, it pushed them in a bland direction where they were chasing the next top ten hit.Couple that with Jim Kerr's stalking of Bono's musical musings at the same time, and you have a great band descending into mediocrity quicker than you can say 'Johnny and the Self-Abusers'. - Darren, 25 June 06:38

Funny! I really love this song and that is speaking as someone who has never 'got' Simple Minds, nor did I get Johnny & the Self Abusers, wankers indeed!Regards, - Mona, 26 June 18:43

So far all of you who left behind such positive noise, and for those who maybe didn't get to hear what all the fuss was about:-

mp3 : Simple Minds - Chelsea Girl
mp3 : Simple Minds - Garden Of Hate

Part 19 of the series follows tomorrow......