20 August 1988: Living in a Suitcase

1. Yazz & The Plastic Population: The Only Way Is Up
2. Kylie Minogue: The Loco-Motion
3. BVSMP: I Need You
4. Kim Wilde: You Came
5. Iron Maiden: The Evil That Men Do
6. Breathe: Hands to Heaven
7. Fairground Attraction: Find My Love
8. Brother Beyond: The Harder I Try
9. S'Express: Superfly Guy
10. All About Eve: Martha's Harbour
11. The Four Tops: Reach Out I'll Be There ['88 remix]
12. Glenn Medeiros: Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You
13. The Funky Worm: Hustle! (To the Music...)
14. Transvision Vamp: I Want Your Love
15. Tanita Tikaram: Good Tradition
16. Salt 'n' Pepa: Push It / Tramp
17. Julio Iglesias featuring Stevie Wonder: My Love
18. The Mac Band: Roses Are Red
19. Chris Rea: On the Beach ['88 remix]
20. Everything but the Girl: I Don't Want to Talk About It
21. Debbie Gibson: Foolish Beat
22. Robbie Robertson: Somewhere Down the Crazy River
23. Voice of the Beehive: I Say Nothing
24. Big Country: King of Emotion
25. Siouxsie & The Banshees: Peek-a-Boo
26. Pat Benatar: All Fired Up
27. Michael Jackson: Dirty Diana
28. Van Halen: When It's Love
29. Mica Paris featuring Courtney Pine: Like Dreamers Do
30. Status Quo: Running All Over the World
31. Aztec Camera: Working in a Goldmine
32. Julia Fordham: Happily Ever After
33. Def Leppard: Love Bites
34. Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine: Anything for You
35. Guns N' Roses: Sweet Child O' Mine
36. Matt Bianco: Don't Blame It on That Girl / Wap-Bam Boogie
37. Womack & Womack: Teardrops
38. Jane Wiedlin: Rush Hour
39. Mory Kante: Yeke Yeke
40. Five Star: Rock My World

~~~~~

Always on My Mind; Electric Blue; Shattered Dreams; Hold on to the Nights; Together Forever; Heaven Is a Place on Earth; Wishing Well; Father Figure; Get Out of My Dreams Get into My Car; Far from Over; Always on My Mind; Electric Blue; Shattered Dreams...

Such was the state of the in-flight entertainment on our Wardair flight from Calgary to Gatwick: there was no movie, we didn't get window seats and all my new comic books bought especially for the eight-hour trip had already been read and re-read prior to takeoff. The modest selection of magazines was a complete non-starter; my sole option was a loop of ten or so songs. If I wasn't already overly familiar with Boulevard's Far from Over then this would seal the deal. It was an appropriate farewell to the smooth rock that had been dominating the Canadian charts.

(Not that I should be all idealistic about the British music scene that was awaiting me. If the UK Top 40 was able to boast far greater variety than the Canadian surveys of the time then they were similarly blighted by a greater variety of crap, as we will no doubt see)

Still swimming around my jet lagged brain, those tunes managed to be my only source of pleasure from the immigration line at Gatwick. I probably assumed that one plane load of passengers would be dealt with at once, making the wait as brief as possible. So it came as a shock to discover that a multitude of travellers from other planes were still patiently awaiting their turn. We joined them and quickly became as depressingly resigned to the wait as they were. Soon, others were too join us, hopes similarly dashed.

(Immigration wait times are often a hassle but never as bad as that first experience. Nowadays I'll take my spot in the queue, force a fake smile that betrays any sense of impatience and think back to my first such experience - or I think back to that one time flying from Bali to Korea in which I actually walked right through foreign immigration)

At some point I sat down floor and, propped up by our pile of suitcases, drifted off to sleep. The rest of this first day in England was spent wavering between sleep and being just awake enough to want nothing more than to go right back to sleep. I awoke as the car we were in halted on the M25 as we approached the Dartford Tunnel - and managed to remain awake for the remainder of our journey to Laindon, Basildon. Homes of varying sizes and states of disrepair flashed by and I began to wonder which place would be our's. Entering our new place, I took one look around, was shown the room I'd be sharing with my sister, flopped down on the first bed I saw and fell asleep. I woke up once more that evening, nibbled on a ham sandwich, glanced at the Carry On film on the TV and promptly went back to bed.

~~~~~

young Paul's favourite: Rush Hour
older Paul's retro pick: Rush Hour