And here it comes at last. The sense of familiarity. It does seem strange that this one isn't an Andy Partridge track, but there you go. His track count is definitely creeping up on this album. And you can see why they'd stick "Making Plans..." on as the first track. It's interesting how different the next track, "Helicopter" sounds - we're right back to that post-punk vibe of the first two albums. Where "Plans" is perhaps more influenced by...? Thomas Dolby? Devo? I don't know. Maybe it was a hit precisely because it sounded different to lots of other things. And I say hit, but it looks like it got as far as #17 which I think is really surprising. I would have predicted it had been top 10, for sure. Songs hung around for such a long time in the late 70s though. 11 weeks on the charts.

"When You're Near Me," well, we've all been there pal. This has echoes of other things as well - even the Soft Boys maybe? The timing is really interesting, right on the cusp of the 80s.

That move from 70s to 80s is something I can remember pretty well, maybe one of the first "political" memories I have, at age nine or whatever. Thatcher was now firmly in control and I was becoming more aware that this was "a bad thing." I don't think my mum and dad were ever explicit about saying this is right and this is wrong in terms of politics, but you pick up a lot at that age just through osmosis. On top of this, of course, was the feeling of Scottishness which doubled down on the sense of otherness, difference. So it wasn't always clear if bad things were happening because of right-wing vs left-wing, or because we were the forgotten Scots who were always bottom of the pile.

I guess it would have been five years after this that I was listening to stuff like the Thompson Twins, or Nik Kershaw - vaguely electronic-tinged pop. Some of that must have come from the same roots as "Drums and Wires."

"Ten Feet Tall" is not a million miles away from the sounds of a much more pop 80s. Aztec Camera, Del Amitri, Lloyd Cole - all Scottish, or Scottish-affiliated. By the time we get to the second side though, there's something much more familiar going on again, with Outside World, another Parklife out-take on a different planet. And there's Scissor Man, of course, who's title inspired an early 90's Edinburgh indie band surfing the wave of Madchester... who signed to the same label as Spitfire... and thus another Brighton circle is completed. The song itself is a bit of a curio though.