Apparently Peanut and Simon from Kaiser Chiefs visit my humble little hamlet at the end of the month.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, home of the Hob Nob, Hula Hoop and moi and arguably the most exciting thing that has happened here since Sir Walter Scott based his Ivanhoe novels on our castle will see two of the Kaisers Peanut and Simon "do a DJ set" in a local nightclub.
For the same price as admission for our opener against Derby in just 16 days, I can enjoy a VIP entry, hang with The Chiefs (well 2/5ths of them) and maybe get them to autograph a bit of merchandise - I'm sure they will be delighted to autograph a Leeds shirt or maybe I could dig their last album out (if I can find it) failing that, the Works were knocking them out at two for a fiver.
A little harsh, following on from "Employment" and "Yours truly, angry mob" was always going to be a hard act to follow and one of the few wonderful things to happen to me since 2004 was I was proud that Kaiser Chief's came from Leeds and were unashamedly Leeds fans too. Far more credible than that awful moment in 2001 when Gareth Gates fleetingly declared an affection for the whites'.
In my opinion, the Kaisers finally put Leeds on the music map. Okay we had the Who (Live in Leeds) and giants such as Queen, U2 and Madonna have showcased the city, but like home-grown talent through the youth team acts we were proud to call our own were few and far between.
The dominant years in my own music buying life were the late 1980's early 1990's. It soon depressingly dawned on me that most of my favoured acts, such as The Smiths, Morrissey, New Order and Happy Monday's hailed from Manchester or Madchester as it was known back then. Liverpool's The Farm were pretty good too and they often championed the Leeds act The Bridewell Taxis. Being a non-City dweller I own up to having originally misunderstood the meaning of the word Bridewell! Maybe you can own up to spending a night in there?
Reliant on that essential tool of an undergraduate Wikipedia, the Bridewell's are omitted from the list of bands formed in Leeds, why? Cud are another notable admission! Reading down the list, we have Chumbawamba - anarchist squatters, one of whom Danbert Nobacon gave John Prescott a good soaking with an ice bucket. One memorable footie type song and a couple of them turned up at ER and that was that! I did manage to blag some Chumbawamba CD's for TEAB reader prizes when a contact put me in touch with a record company exec who's boyfriend was a big Leeds fan, it did cost me some free copies though but it was more than a fair exchange.
I can vaguely remember 1991's "Kinky Love" by Leeds own Pale Saints, it reached number 72 in the charts! Another set of Saints were Utah Saints, a dance act who bluntly were a pile of shite.
Some will argue Leeds gave birth to gothic rock and Red Lorry,Yellow Lorry are put in that genre according to Wiki (don't remember them myself and I'm far too portly to be a goth!). The Sisters of Mercy were another act born in Leeds but lead singer Andrew Eldrich held a deep dark secret, in 1992 he was apparently gutted when his adopted hometown team Leeds pipped his beloved Manchester United for the title!
Leeds Poly, as it was then, was the meeting place for Marc Almond and David Bell better known as Soft Cell. Yes, a bit cringeworthy that they called Leeds home but commercially in the early 80's they were immensely successful.
Down the bottom of the list (in alphabetic order) and creators of one of my favourite all time tracks "Brassneck" are The Wedding Present. Scratch the surface off and all isn't what it seems....putting aside the band have had a significant line-up change since they ceased being the Lost Panda's in 1985, Dave Gedge hailed from Manchester. They also had an album called "George Best" featuring the "people's pisshead" on its cover....but I can forgive them that for their endurance in a career which has seen them experiment with Ukrainian folk-music amongst other things.
Have I missed anyone out? Did you spend your angst years tuned into the John Peel Show championing all things Leeds on and off the park? Are there any rising stars who you tip will make us as proud as we are of the Kaiser Chiefs?