BLOODY WELL WRITE

Missives, musings and tweets from Planet Prog.

Many thanks for the most illuminating article on 666 by Aphrodite’s Child [Prog 114], quite possibly my favourite prog album of all time. When friends ask, “What’s it like?” I usually reply that it’s equal measures prog, world music and Monty Python. Radcliffe and Maconie recently played Aegean Sea as the Early Riser on their BBC Radio 6 show and I was reminded of the day that I bought the album.

Back in July ’77 I had a summer job working in a clothes shop in the centre of Glasgow. One day the manager tasked me with taking an expensive pair of denims from one branch in the Gallowgate to the other branch under Central Station. Perfect, I thought. I can nip into Graffiti Records on Queen Street and pick up that copy of 666 that I’d ordered.

As I was crossing the busy intersection at Union Street I noticed that the lights had changed but decided to leg it anyway. As bad luck would have it, one of my platform shoes became caught inside my flared corduroy strides and I went flying, the album landing flat with a loud smack on the hot tarmacadam. To my horror, when I looked up to my right I saw that the traffic was hurtling towards me at speed and just managed to make it to the kerb in record time.

I remember thinking at the time that, as a recently lapsed Catholic, perhaps buying an album called 666 possibly wasn’t such a great idea. Well, they say that that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The album was unharmed and only my pride was dented that day.

Mrs Black often asks me,“Just how many formats of 666 do you need?” To which I reply, “Just all of them.” If any of your readers have a spare 8-Track cartridge, I can give it a very good home.

Mighty Joe Black, Worthing