I’m in a little bubble of heaven tonight. Why? Because there’s a pile of old shit on the TV and so I’m watching my own pile of old gold on the TV!

I’m a very sad creature in some senses because my records and music are some of the most potent, exciting, happy, sad things in my world. Some might say my obsession with music has been OTT over the years and some might say ‘hurrah’ to me for keeping my dreams alive. I know one thing for sure, I cannot listen to music without it invoking something in my heart – even if it is only revulsion at the latest thing from Blue or whoever.

Another thing about me is I’m a bit of a gadget girl and love to have the best of the kit that interests me – it’s funny that this didn’t extend to DVD really – my only foray into DVD was because my Dad gave me two DVD players he’d grown out of recently. I suppose I’d lost interest by then. Anyway, back in about 1982, I wanted a video player. It was new and expensive so I thought carefully about what I wanted, then bought a second-hand player of the finest quality. It was a Sony and anyone of a certain age will know that this meant a Betamax player. I loved it and it worked perfectly with my love of music.

I’d buy my tapes and record music ‘by the yard’ off the telly – in those days it was mostly ‘studio’ stuff with artists either playing live or miming to their chart hits or other material – seeing and getting the opportunity to tape a ‘promo’ video was a huge thrill because they appeared on the TV so rarely. These days the reverse is true because most of what we see is ‘promo’ on MTV etc.

Over a period of about six or seven years, I made a huge record of the pop/rock music of the day and watched them loving every moment. Many of the tapes contain footage of me with either Shazbop or Claz dancing like whirling dervishes to our favourite bands in the audiences of Top of the Pops, the Tube, the Switch, Rock Goes to College or any one of about a dozen or so shows that had live bands and a live audience.

When Sony finally ‘hung up their boots’ and started producing VHS machines, I too went and bought one of the beasts even though I stick to this day by my feeling that the Beta recordings were way superior. My Beta kit got boxed up eventually and put in the back of a cupboard.

I came across it many years later when my ex-husband stripped my home like a plague of locusts and pretty much all that was left of my precious record collection was the stuff he hated (reggae, David Cassidy, Elvis Costello and Squeeze)…..I’d foolishly agreed to sell all our ‘duplicates’ when we married and guess who got the copies that were left? I found a dusty box in the back of the cupboard and realised it was my Beta stuff. I got it out, blew off all the crap off the recorder, tapes and list of contents that Shazbop had typed up for me from the hand-written scribbles I’d made over the years.

My joy was unbounded when I discovered most of them still played, albeit a bit snowy. I spent months watching stuff, sat cross-legged on my sitting room floor while I was on my own before DM moved in. It was such a rush of vitality for me and I really believe stuff like this helped to bring me back to life.

The contents of the tapes were so varied and each treasure coming on was like finding gold.

When we moved, I asked my Dad if he could help me to keep my precious stuff by putting them onto DVD for me. He agreed and this parcel is the second of many (hopefully) containing them. I doubt he’s had much joy from watching Athletico Spizz or the Creatures but he’s not complained or moaned at all. In fact, I think he regards it as something of a challenge!!!

So, once again, I sit here in heaven. I’ve watched Ian Dury (now dead) reading poetry, (and no, I don’t mean Billerickey Dickie, I mean something quite cerebral….though I’m such a heathen I don’t know if it was an original thing or something written by someone hugely famous.....ahh - I remember seeing him in Picketts Lock Leisure Centre with Squeeze supporting), EC .....aaahhhh - he's on now in a live recording from the Russell Harty show - he of the Grace Jones slap, Squeeze.....ahhhh remember when Gilson bit my hand.....don't ask!, Echo and the Bunnymen (pfwoargh)and a huge variety of other stuff – the current gem is Go Wild In the Country by Bow Wow Wow. Cool.

Jypsee – if you’re looking, ‘no, it’s not legal’ so perhaps you’d like to notify the police about the breaches of copyright….. BUT I do stand by the fact that I have paid artist’s royalties because I own the vinyl records and really, what harm can I be doing by privately enjoying my own collection of twenty-year-old music in my own home. I’ll bet much of it isn’t in the archives of the Beeb or ITV any more and I’ll bet too that half of the artists (or at least their children and grandchildren would love it all). If it’d been available in glossy covers to buy, I’d have done so but it wasn’t so I recorded it.

I might add that even DM doesn’t totally share my joy because he hates pop so the fact that I’m now watching Haircut 100 singing Boy Meets Girl on TOTP (I was there on one occasion when they took about 14-15 goes to get their miming right) is doing nothing at all for him. He’d probably think it was a complete joy if I got chucked in the clink and they all got destroyed. In fact, he may even beat jypsee to it if Wham come on. It’s a great disappointment to me that he feels that way but ‘you can’t win ‘em all’ as they say.

Last year, oooooooooohhhhhhhh - it was a wonderful time of my life....and the year before, I was declaring my madness and my undying love for Lush!