LIKE A BOLT OUT FROM THE BLUE

It was while thumbing through the bargain bins at a local HMV emporium that I was suddenly, and inexplicably drawn to a thing of inmense beauty and gorgeousness - yes, you've guessed it, the check-out girl on till No.3 - No, No, I jest!
 
No! At that time, although I didn't know at the time, "From Langley Park To Memphis" was being piped through the store's loudspeakers, and above the cacophony of the hustle and bustle of the shoppers, "I Remember That" entered my ears and filled my head.
 
I had been immediately taken, like a bolt out from the blue (sorry, Paddy!) from the mundane surroundings of a Manchester HMV store I had been transported onto a higher plane of existence. Totally transfixed by the melodies wafting over me, I was impervious to anyone or anything around me - that is to say apart from the check-out girl on till No.3 !
 
I decided to stick around for more of the same - music, I mean!
I listened on intently, completely absorved. Three bargain bins later, "Hey, Manhattan!" ("the poor can live here too ... these myths belong to you" - stirring stuff) approached its climax, strings shimmering. The hairs on the back of my neck began to stand on end. I had to have this at all costs, but who the hell was it?
 
Eagerly joining the queue, money clenched in hand, it suddenly occured to me that no-one else had apparently succumbed to this wonderful music. I thought maybe I was the only person who could hear it. Who gives a shit, I thought. I, for one, had never heard anything remotely like this in my life.
 
"Knock On Wood" started, brilliant, this is brilliant, each track surpassed the previous, each held my complete and undivided attention. I was desperate for this album. Not since Rene and Renato's "Save your love my darling, save your love" have I been so moved.
 
"Next, please. Would you like to move down, sir?" Thank God - at last!
"Yes, er, what's this playing?", I said. "Prefab Sprout - good, isn't it?", she said.
 
"Sold", I said.
 
Stephen Sharp