MY FAVOURITE SOUNDS - THE SMILE

A friend of mine asked this morning whether I had a favourite bluetooth speaker recommendation. I told her that I’m strictly a headphones guy these days because, apart from a few favourite bands I share with my son, playing my music at home makes me anxious. If I try to introduce Tom Waits again, for instance, I’m sure my daughter will disown me. And while The Clash thrill me when I’m alone, they just makes me feel old when everyone’s around trying to cook, or to study.

Lucian and I both love The Smile. We’d travel the world, and will do that whenever they next tour. This video for their song Friend of a Friend pleases me to no end. A few dozen unsuspecting kids file into an auditorium, unaware of what happens next (I hope this really is how it went down). When the band plays their beautiful but unusual, even difficult-to-appreciate-at-first-listen song, they react with excitement and bewilderment, boredom and lethargy and glee and even something that looks a bit like pain. Half of them would surely leave if they could. A few of them, though, will never forget this day.