Rockinnreelin...

Five years ago today I did my first ever post on Spools Paradise. As it was Halloween it seemed only appropriate that it would be on The Cramps. As they were the first band I ever saw play live, on the Date With Elvis tour, they have always held a special place in my musical heart. As a 16 year they quite literally blew my mind and although I saw them a few years later it was that 1986 gig that sticks in my mind like it was yesterday. The tour was immortalised forever on the Rockinnreelininaucklandnewzealand live album from the very last night of the tour. Live albums generally don’t work for me, but it is a pretty decent recording on the last date of the tour when they were entertaining the good folks of New Zealand. Nowadays I rarely listen to Cramps albums, but as a live act they had few equals, they were everything that live acts should be. Their unhinged rockabilly sound left a lasting impression on this 16 year old and, although I have been to better gigs over the years there are not many bands who had the stage presence, energy and sense of fun that The Cramps delivered time after time, year after year. I have no idea how many gigs I have been to over the years, but can safely say that it would not have been so many if not for the glorious introduction I had. God Bless Lux, Poison Ivy and all the others who have served their time with one of the greatest bands ever, The Cramps....

It was never my intention to have an extended break from the blog and, if I’m being honest, I don’t really have one specific reason why I have not posted for a while. All I can say is that life kind of got in the way and, before I knew it, one day led to another and before I knew it a couple of months had passed. Thank you to those who left comments and sent emails and hopefully I’ll post a bit more regularly and, more importantly, get back to checking out what all the other wonderful bloggers out there are posting.