Once again down the rabbit hole of nostalgia…
Inspired by a UK television channel named P-Rock TV, which had shut down that year, Stacey made me this mix CD that I’ve kept all these years.
Stacey was a platonic friend, one I’ve lost touch with in the near 20 years that have passed since this CD popped out of the writable disk drive of her PC.
Yet this remains one of my very favourite mixes of all time, not necessarily because of the tracks, the placement, pace etc. that usually defines a great mix, but because it instantly takes me back like a time machine.
P-Rock was an independent music channel that showcased pop punk, punk rock and ska, the stuff that would never have got shown on the mainstream stations. From that channel, I discovered Tsunami Bomb, Rancid, The Distillers and NOFX to name but a few, it became my punk rock education and one I’m still grateful for to this day. This mix with its cover and notes hand scrawled onto a Imation 700mb 80 minute disc captures the DIY ethic of the channel itself.
I had all these songs on my home PC, but the fact Stacey took the time to collate them all and create this CD meant a lot to me. We weren’t particularly close, just mutual friends who chatted at school, went to the same pub (underage) and had a mutual love for a TV station that changed our lives.
Between the ages of 16-18 (6th form college for any UK readers) the friends and times I had with them were some of the best of my life. I found others who shared my love for punk rock and will never forget the rather large group of misfits I hung around with. As we all moved on to University, the majority of us lost touch but I’ll never forget them and I hope they all look back on that time fondly too.
Time moves so quickly, you blink and it’s gone.
