Auteur/autrice : Madjid Ben Chikh

Christmas 1981, I was 16. My mother’s friend Donata had given me 50 francs so I could buy me a present. What should I buy, I thought. We were in Belleville at Donata’s appartment, so I walked along rue du Faubourg du Temple and rue du Temple to Beaubourg where I spent some time to listen to some records. I listened to Spear of Destiny. The next album was Faith. And this is how I listened to one of my favourite pop album ever.
/ Maria / Freddie

I started listening to this kind of music in 1981, when I was 15/16. In my city, called Bondy, in my neighbourhood, I was the only one I guess and openly gay. Many people were thinking I was weird, I knew that, but I didn’t care. This is how I met my friends, those who stay close to me despite the distance… Mainstream music at that time was soooo boring, between charts and “baba cool nostalgy”. I parties, I lernt to share my time with my alter-ego, the funk guy. It was a lot of fun because usualy the both of us were not really invited but used to do the DJ.

1982… I was going 17. Memories from the summer, Tuileries, Broad, Deligny where I caught the most incredible sunburnt ever… An incredible storm in July. Vacations in Sarthe.
Maris / Cap / Freddie / Jean / Michel

Lunch-time was a kind of heaven between 11:30 and 1:30. We used to go to the Cafe-Bar Le Celtique, 3 minutes from school (Lycee rue Fremin, Bondy) or to Maria’s house (her parents were working) or Cap’s. Listening to Joy Division, Siouxsie, Dead Kennedy’s.
Or The Cure. I loved Faith, certainly their best album. But The Forest was just perfect. And Play for today was one of my favourite. I was 16, or 17… and it was between 1981 and 1983…

I was just 16 when school started in september 1981. I had many adventures during the summer which changed me completely. Anita lent me this LP. During a history class, I argued Renaud the signer was boring and young people should be allowed to listen only for young music and not 30 years old something crap. The teacher was surprised (I was THE best student in history). Other students laught, especialy because I was openly gay. But one of them asked me some questions and would become my little great sister, Maria. I miss her, as we live 10000 km one far from each others…

End of 1982, beginning of 1983, I am 17… That winter, maybe around February or March, I go to the concert of Siouxsie and the Banshees at the Mutualite hall. I meet Anita and Georges from school. The concert was great, but unfortunatly, we did not have the chance to have Robert Smith as a guitarist like in this incredible YouTube video.
Maria / Georges / Marylene / Anita / Cap

I was 16 when I heard this song for the first time, and this duet became one of my favourite. I remember the concert aired on Radio Cite Future and commented by Anais Prozaic, with a small introduction about the coming concert of The Residents.

1982, I’m 17 y’o. Concert this automn at l’Espace de la Roquette in the 11th arrondissment in Paris. Catherine “Cap” is late, she will not come. Lukrate Milk, Les Maitres and Brigades Internationales are on stage. Lucrate is funny, Les Maitres is boring, Brigades is almost unearable because of all the punks yealling in the crownd (unluckilly, Brigades is before Lucrate).
This evening, I meet the guy who will become my best friend for years, almost 15 years, Olivier.
Life continues. I met Cécile with my Blog because I was talking about this Band.