Sunday 8 January 2012

31 Days of Blogging - Day 8


Day 8 – Blondie - Atomic



I’ve had a lot of crushes in the past – and Debbie Harry was one of them. I wasn’t such a fan of Blondie but I absolutely loved Atomic.

Here are some of the women I worshipped from afar in the 1970’s:

Debbie Harry




Debbie Harry was amazing and had an edge that I loved. She was dangerous - or at least she gave that impression when performing. And I loved that about her.

Lindsay Wagner


I loved the Bionic Woman (being a geek) but the main reason I watched the show was because of Lindsay Wagner. She was just a clean cut American girl next door – with the power to punch a hole through the wall – see what I mean about liking dangerous women?

Jaclyn Smith




Have I got a problem? Jaclyn Smith of Charlie’s Angels fame, could “kick ass” as the Americans like to say. Again, she was dangerous but also very lovely.

Linda Carter



And the most dangerous of all was Wonder Woman, a lovely lady who could deflect bullets and had a whip powerful enough to scare even the most determined masochist.

There were other famous ladies that I fancied but those listed above were by far my favourites. I’ve always had a penchant for strong women and I guess my choices reflect that. That didn’t stop me from liking the girl next door though – I just love women who can stand up for themselves.

In 1980, all the girls my age were just as scared about life as I was and I found it very difficult to convince them that I was a worthy boyfriend. When I split up with C, I did so with nothing to fall back on and spent my final year at school embarrassingly free of love.

Mates at school and at home all seemed to be settling down into cosy little relationships – and yes they were becoming relationships. Even my two younger sisters had boyfriends.

It didn’t help that I was shy. I was fine asking girls out for S (as I said in my previous post) but I simply didn’t have the courage to express my feelings to the girls I craved. When I did (and it took a lot of courage I can tell you) I was told in no uncertain terms that I was not suitable boyfriend material.

One girl, with whom I was very friendly, jokingly said to me when I was around 18:

“When you finish university and get a great job, will you come back to Walsall and marry me?”

Like a bloody idiot I misread the signs. I plucked up the courage to ask her out but couldn’t cross the line to do so. I begged S to do it for me and, remembering past favours, went to her house to ask her out for me.

He came back and told me the bad news.

“She says that it will never happen.”

Again my soul was savaged and my heart fed into a shredder.

The next time she saw me, she told me that she liked me as a friend – but that was all. She confirmed that her marriage quip had been just a joke.

I felt like a complete and utter buffoon. I felt humiliated.

Thankfully S was the soul of discretion and so was she. Nobody else knew so I was spared wider humiliation.

None of this stopped me from feeling gutted and although the girl and I kind of remained friends I found myself drifting away from her. I haven’t seen her since 1981 either – but recently she found me on “Friends Reunited” and we are kind of “cyber friends” even though I have only briefly asked how she is.

So as well as having to make important career decisions, pass important exams, deal with hormones, and cope with untold other stresses, my heart was being eroded gradually by failure after failure with women.

1980 and 1981 was the time when my life started to change and not just because of A Level exams and the prospect of going to university. I had to change on a personal level and I finally began to take steps to do so…

…starting with my hair.

10 comments:

Kath Lockett said...

PlasMan We. Have. To. See. Some. Photographic. Evidence. Of. Your. Hair. 1980 onwards please!

Oh and even *I* had a crush on Deborah Harry, The Bionic Woman and Wonder Woman!

Pandora Behr said...

Blondie has to be one of my favorite bands from the eighties - and Atomic brings back fantastic memories of boxing class in the gym at Liverpool Street Station. LOVE this song - though Debbie Harry isn't my type (cos she's a she) Blondie's always been great for grunt.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Bonjour Kath,

Coincidentally, I recently borrowed some photos of myself as a kid from my mum so that I could scan them.

Mrs PM took one look at a photo of me at the age of 17 and said "If I'd met you then, we would NOT be going out together".

I look like a mop, wearing clothes, drawn by a madman.

I will post it - but only when I can pluck up the courage.

:0)

Cheers

PM

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi Pand,

And Debbie Harry doesn't look anything like Clive Owen, of course.

;0)

Cheers

PM

Elisabeth said...

And I thought the girls of that era had it tough. clearly some of the boys on the other side had it tough too. Great post.

You're quite famous in my small corner of blogland, now following your meeting with Kath. So clearly your charisma has developed.

drb said...

Dear Mr PM,

I really do feel for you. I know others won't agree but I do think it is harder to be a teenage boy than a teenage girl. Girls just have to keep their weight under control, have clear skin, shiny hair, sparkling teeth, nice smiles and fitting clothes. Boys in addition to the above, have to master the skills of disiphering body language, hidden signals, courage to chat up the girls and rhino-hide to deal with rejections.

After reading your blog, I asked Rob whether he fancied Wonder Woman. To my surprise (as I thought all men fancied Wonder Woman), he said, "No, she runs like a girl," and started to demonstrate what he meant.

I didn't realise at the time how much anguish I inflicted unknowingly on some boys. :-(

River said...

I remember Debbie Harry's "I Want That Man", one of my favourites in the 80s. I had it on tape in my walkman, but don't have it on my i-pod. Yet. I have only vague memories of the Bionic Woman, but we saw a lot of Charlie's Angels. I remember not liking the blonde who replace Farrah Fawcett.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi Elisabeth,

Famous? I wouldn't say that but it's nice to get new people willing to read the drivel I write.

I'm not alone when it comes to being a teenager who failed miserably with girls. It was tough because, I think, so much was expected of us.

I think things have changed a bit since then.

Thanks for your kind comments.

:0)

Cheers

PM

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi drb,

I think if you are a teenage boy with bucketloads of confidence then it is easy.

I was very shy (and deep down I still am) and that was a major contributing factor.

Being a mutant with bad hair didn't help either.

:0)

Cheers

PM

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi River,

I remember "I Want That Man" too. My other favourite was "One Way Or Another" which was just an album track I think.

Farrah didn't do it for me I'm afraid. I only had eyes for Jaclyn.

:0)

Cheers

PM