Def Leppard: The Early Years

 After a bit of break here's a return to times past with gaps filled.

Def Leppard were a Sheffield, England hard rock band I followed across the last years of my formal education from listening in the late evening "under the sheets" to shows that played their music buying their recordings originally on vinyl and then on the at the time new compact disc format some of which weren't issued on cd becoming lost over time and some in other versions.

That's really where this box set originally issued in twenty twenty comes in really as it gathers up the earlier end of the group including the things I heard and no longer have.

Take that debut the "Getcha Rocks Off" ep of early 1980, which helped get them a contract on PolyGram Records (Mercury for North America, Vertigo for UK) for instance, in the early cd era things like that just weren't pressed in that format.

It took a while for the debut album On through the night with such songs as Rock Brigade and Hello America to come out on cd.

The next album High N' Dry did but that followed the form of the 1984 US release that featured remixes of Bringing On The Heartbreak which became a "new" hit all over again and Me And My Wine.

This set restores the original UK release while adding those remixes, that early EP and some early versions which can sit next to my original 1980's cds.

This set adds a number of BBC Radio sessions some transmitted around the world and all heard by me at the time such the sessions done for the late great and much missed Tommy Vance Friday Night Rock Show in October of 1979 and some of their performance from the legendary 1980 Reading Festival they recorded.

Also included is the whole New Theatre, Oxford, England concert from 1980.

The original US High 'N' Dry cd with the two 1984 remixes.

1983's massive selling Pyromania, home to Photograph, Rock Of Ages and Foolin' which was their last album to have a retail 8 track edition in North America.

I nearly wore the grooves out of the lp!

The four year delayed comeback album Hysteria from 1987 which I bought on cd for the first time that featured Animal, Pour Some Sugar On Me,Love Bits and Women which originally only had a single lp version issued which did nothing for sound of that issue given it was just under sixty three minutes long.

That was a big factor in me jumping straight for the cd.

Eventually in 2017, they corrected that error of judgement  with a double album lp format re-issue.

Tidying up ends and resets

 Phew, it was something of a week where somethings happened and for that matter somethings that were supposed just didn't with having vertigo like symptoms for three days so you then end up doing a dog chasing tail act trying to catch up.

Most of my time will be devoted to business in just about a fortnights time, looking at things like the long range forecast to decide such matters as if I need a thicker coat with me and what to wear as it's more likely be activities around where I will be staying  than much else.

I did talk a bit last week around changes coming in with some new things being bought and reviewing some of the older items I trying to find more those that I'm most comfortable in although I tend not to back a great deal as it's me with limited mobility that has to lug it about.

I did change some pinafore dresses over, taking advantage of tailoring before dispatch to adjust lengths as I don't really go for the longer length of traditional "senior" ones but wanted one to fit better than many of the off the peg junior ones do.

Taking a few inches off created the kind of traditional but more junior form I really wanted made with high quality materials.

I tend to feel it's less about the absolute number of items you might have as a adult little girl in your closet but more how you find they give you the look you are most comfortable with yourself rather than what others might think.

The way things will be

However you look at this unparalleled period of rapid changes, reversals and general reversal of much we've taken for granted for well decades when it comes to travel, contact overseas or just the ability to see each other.

Sometimes that feeds into other things to such as how broken contact and rituals - as people we seem to just love them to varying degrees - can bring about fresh thoughts and changes.

For some people as awful as coping with the forever changing restrictions have been it's helped the shift out of relationships that just dragged them down.

With others it may be much less about being with those people so much as just what it is they like to do and present more as around them and when like me you're very much around the Tom Boy area it may not be necessarily the most understood thing in a world that likes curves and more decorative dressing.

From not exactly going far for me lead to thinking more about what I do wear especially more when I do go away looking at and trying things on as things started to improve from the mid to late Summer of last year.

At least one thing posted last November showed a newer part of how I might well look that I feel good in that fits around my perception of where along the continuum I slot in, liking to wear skirts some of the time and at other times short trousers and nearly always from a more adult as child angle where much of that adult world just doesn't apply.

And that won't be the only change.

However odd it may of seen from the sidelines,for some kinds of "play" and when paying games I've never really felt that comfortable in a traditional sports type skirt of the sort that typically fastens with sliding fastener and pleats while not unless perhaps attempting to kick a ball wanting to wear exercise or "football" shorts whatever they may offer when it comes ease of putting on and being modest.

The traditionalists may not like it but actually skorts are very much up my alley for having an inner short but being skirted meeting very much what my needs are, to offer the modesty whatever and however I be playing that shorts do but in a more feminine way.

Although none of mine are green, going forward you can expect to see more of me wearing skorts for outdoor play and games or if indoors I'm more want to play on the floor crawling and wanting an alternative to shorts.

Actually many girls end up putting a pair of shorts on under skirts for that very reason if you're doing cartwheels, climbing monkey bars or going up trees.

It's all about me being comfortable and feeling good as myself so you'll need to get used to it
 

Classical Music sacd Round Up 20 - Britten

It's been a while since I touched this sub topic on the blog and Benjamin Britten is a English composer of the twentieth century to which I find some works hard to get into.

His string works however are an exception so recently I bought a series of recordings from a few years back which are highly regarded.

The second in the series from 2013, looks at his first and third string quartets and as all in this series are exceptionally well performed by the Emperor Quartet who are British.
 

The first disc of the three, this recording of the String quartet no,2, Quartet in D and Miniature suite came out in 2010 in the then in vogue Super CD Case, supposedly tougher than regular cases but were dropped shortly afterwards.

In 2014 the last disc in this series was issued which comprises of the String quartet in F, the Quartettino and Simple Symphony.

This series has some world premier recordings of shorter works included between the main works.

Around the same period Camerata Nordica recorded a disc that contains Britten's Vsariation on a theme of Frank Bridge, Two Portraits and the Elegy for strings

These discs are extremely well played and recorded taking full advantage of the quality Super Audio cd can offer in both stereo and surround sound while also via the regular layer playing well on everyday cd players.

 

Review of 2021 and 2022 thoughts

Because how the calendar worked out this year the usual weekly schedule is out so things may appear to coming later than they did last year.

I'd normally write a review but I'm inclined to write something wider because things aren't the same and that much was apparent last year when I started to write it.

Let's start somewhere and just address that thing we've been living with for near enough twenty one and bit months.

It's still around, Sammy's recovering from it, but it is starting to change form to something while not pleasant is less severe for most of us than Covid was way back in February and March of 2020 when I contracted it.

The need last year as we started the mass vaccination program reimpose strict restrictions messed much up such as planned Winter camp, our abilities to have friends indoors and even overnight stays of extended family.

Within England as handling this is devolved as if the virus truly cares for instance which side of the river you are between Farndon and Holt  to different administrations having taken the summer to lift restrictions we remain so far able to do rather more than we did earlier on.

We did make Summer Camp last year able to unwind, play games and generally have fun taking just a few precautions and using the open air.

Similar we did have our spooky Halloween Party which was cancelled the year before with people enjoying time, taking part in activities and socializing.

How this year international friends may fare with travel remains uncertain but it does look possible most of us will be able to spend more time together apart from any personal visits and explorations we may embark upon.

Those were things that were originally highly impacted unless you had a dog that needed walkies or to go shop for "essentials" then it was one brief unit of exercise per day staying local. 

That changed for the better but many activities such as meetings and assorted clubs remained off.

To me the main challenge is making sure  that time you need to let your little self out at home or with some prior thinking outside is both grasped and used to the full until events are back because it is a need whither you're an age regressor or like me in involuntary regression all the time.

I'm fairly sure the year will end up better than the last two.