Mairi Simpson writes from Edinburgh to say: “Uncool as it is, I like Mickey by Toni Basil.”
My outstanding memory of this song is that it was the era of leg warmers. A strange fashion that seems to have made something of a comeback. Why not just get yourself a big thick pair of woollen socks that can virtually talk the Gaelic? Footless tights. Body warmers. What is the point of these things?
I got a body warmer from Ingleston Market in Edinburgh around the same time I bought my first singles there. They could easily feature here: Pretend by Alvin Stardust and the slightly more respectable Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam and the Ants. My sister bought Hands Up by Ottowan.
I don’t recall wearing the body warmer much after I got home and back into my normal environment. I like brown clothes today but it wasn’t a stylish choice for a young loon. It soon went into the cupboard along with the sweatbands and the brown boots my dad got from his work at Ardersier oil yard. He said they were better value than Doc Martens. I wasn’t convinced. Even less so when I first wore them to school one cold January morning in 1982. I was laughed out of the music class by the respectable DM wearers. These cool dudes referred to my workman’s boots as “Clodhoppers”.
The next mistake was the sweatshirt I wore to school with “Lopez” written on it. Later the same year there was a Spanish player in the World Cup called Lopez Ufarte. That led to me being known as Ufarte for a short time.
These things happen to everyone I suppose. Children are cruel and anyone who claims their schooldays were the best of their lives should take a moment to reflect on this type of thing.
It comes as a surprise to me that Toni Basil didn't actually wear legwarmers. Ra-ra skirts are another story from that era but at least I wasn’t among the unfortunate males who turned up for class with their legs wrapped up in this ridiculous fashion. Bear in mind this was a few years before the likes of Motley Crew or Bon Jovi became popular. If these boys were fans of Fame, they would’ve been better keeping that to themselves as well. There was no macho street-cred to be gained from any of this. Did their mothers have a sick sense of humour? Why the loons didn’t peel them off as soon as they got out of the house I’ll never know. Maybe they were masochists.
