31 Days of Blogging - Day 12

Day 12 – Godley and Creme - Under Your Thumb



Students are a strange breed, and back in 1982 it was no different. The arts students seemed to want to express themselves physically and generally had a strange appearance.

I looked like a geek, as did many science students, but I was quite astounded to see a lot of overweight female students with bright pink hair, talking utter gibberish.

At first I thought I was missing something but then I realised that I simply didn’t speak “arty farty” as I so crudely and stupidly put it at the time.

There were no shortage of extra-curricular activities to pursue at university and I have to say that I dabbled in some pretty mad and sad pursuits.

For instance, I joined the Dungeons and Dragons society, having flirted with a game in the Sixth Form at school. I turned up and encountered the weirdest bunch of misfits it has ever been my misfortune to meet.

As I stood there in a room in the Students Union watching these six guys and one girl, I began to seriously doubt my own sanity. The clear head of the group was a long-haired bearded six foot five pseudo-intellectual – I initially thought he was gay but he proved me wrong in spectacular fashion later in the evening.

He took charge of the group and we all played this weird role-playing game involving dice and battles with imaginary people and weird troll-like beasts. About half way through the game, we had a coffee break (I went up to the bar to get some beer – I needed it - I was interrogating myself all the way to the bar asking one question over and over again - "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE WITH THESE PEOPLE??").

Eventually I returned to see the leader of the pack lying down on a table on top of the girl (who was quite chubby) and they were quite literally trying to eat each other’s tongues.

I was sick in my mouth briefly.

The remaining nerds were sitting there oblivious to this depraved snogging and chatting about mythical monsters as if they were real.

I gulped my pint and was on my way back to the bar to get another one (and I definitely definitely needed it after seeing the snogging), when I heard a huge thumping noise from somewhere else. Another student appeared and went through a door labelled “STAFF ONLY” and as soon as he opened the door, I heard music – loud music – very loud music - extremely loud music.

I opted to investigate and, fuelled by a little Dutch courage and an overwhelming desire to rid myself of the snogging memory, peered through the door and found myself in the main concert hall of the Student Union, watching a band perform. This was far more interesting than Dungeons, Dragons, Nerds and Nerd Snogging so I opted to gate-crash the gig instead. I saw a whole crowd of people standing outside with tickets waiting to get in so I joined the crowd already waiting at the stage.

The anarchist inside me rejoiced.

I didn’t want to ask who was playing so I stood still nursing my pint. The band currently on stage finished (they were the support) and then on came the main act – Bow Wow Wow – do you remember this song?



Weird.

So why did I select Godley and Creme's Under Your Thumb? Well I was never a fan of Bow Wow Wow but the song that was playing when I was trying unsuccessfully to vanquish dragons with the weird nerds was Under Your Thumb – and I love that song.

Sadly the main memory it sparks is that Dungeons and Dragons episode; but at least for this post you get two songs for the price of one.

I did see one or more of the nerds after that and, being a friendly chap, I talked to them fairly often. They even tried to persuade me to fight more mythical battles against even more bizarre imaginary beasts – but I refused, citing cowardice (though I didn't mention that I was really afraid to witness another large dose of inappropriate snogging).

But what was the real excuse?

I had a life.