A week is a long time in parenthood. Last Saturday Carole and I and a packed house watched Keira and her fellow dance school pupils put on a great show. The school puts on a show only once every three years and boy do they prepare well. As a result, the performances were compelling. A mix of dance genres: ballet, tap, modern, street and musical theatre were shared with us. Graceful and entertaining.
This weekend I find out that Keira has a new drumming project. Her teacher has asked her to learn the classic Sheena Is A Punk Rocker, by punk trailblazers The Ramones. I love the way kids can flip and flop to learn all manner of different things, and seeing this in Keira is a constant reminder to me that experimental learning and doing is useful and fun.
In the summer of 2011 I was fortunate to meet Arturo Vega, artist and muse to The Ramones, and by way of a vaguely interesting coincidence, back in the early 80’s me and a bunch of journo mates recorded a version of this song as a birthday gift for the eminent photographer Tom Sheehan. It was unspeakably rude and it made number three in the Melody Maker playlist the week after we handed it to Tom (via everyone in the press office of course). And now, courtesy of my daughter and her drum teacher, It’s 1977 again – in a good way.
While I leave you to think about the new stuff you’re going to learn this week, here are The Ramones at their 1977 best. 1234……