James!

I posted a long and rambling blog on the 'Space about how much I love James. Read it here if you'd like.

Eh, what the hey. Here it is for all you non-'Space folk.

So, I've become quite the Facebook dork wasting far too much time there. I was killing time at work last night by adding bands I like to my profile when I thought to add James. When I pulled them up it said they were on tour. WTF??? They've been broken up for ages. Or have they? Turns out, Tim Booth has gotten back together with the guys. They've booked a small-venue UK tour for March or so. And they're releasing a new album in April.

I am so excited, you have no idea. It brings all sorts of memories back to me. The first thing I think of is Stacey & I going to see Duran Duran at The Palace, circa 1993. This "James" fella was opening for them, according to the tshirts they were hocking. I sorta half-recognized the logo from one of my brother's cd's. He listened/listens to all sorts of crap no one else has ever heard of. Anyway, this James guy has a huge backing band when he comes out. And he has curly hair. A big huge mop of curly hair. And he dances like no one else I'd ever seen, in a very good way. And this short fella plays a violin. And I am just in awe. Apparently it's written all over my face because Stacey asks me if I'm in love. Of course I am. How could I not be? The curly-haired boy is playing the pretty music.

Turns out the curly-haired boy is Tim Booth, one of the coolest cats on the planet. Did I mention they're British? They are. As my former Barnes & Noble boss, Sloth (yes, that was his legal first & last name) said, they're "painfully British". So we have curly hair, pretty music, & English blood. If I had died right then and there I would have been a happy camper.

The next day Stacey & I go to Birch Run and immediately spring for their latest album titled "Laid". So, as I was fond of saying, I got Laid by James. I'm sure I'm the only one to ever come up with that. What we heard on that cd was pure magic. It became the soundtrack of the AQ days. No one we hung out with liked it, but we were in love with it. I even went out in a horrible blizzard to get her a copy. I still can't listen to it without an absolute deluge of memories and emotions running back through my mind.

A couple of years later James was touring and came to Pontiac. I wanted to go, but it was in the middle of the week and it's a 2 hour drive and baaaahhhhh! To heck with that. I'll catch them next time. Some time later I was in for the shock of my life when they announced they'd had it with the Yanks and their backward taste in music. They'd stopped releasing albums and all touring in the states. I was absolutely crestfallen.

They were releasing an album in 1999. And let me tell you, kids, this was before you could just pull up Amazon and buy anything released anywhere in the world. How would I ever hear this album? I had a plan. I suckered this English boy into being my friend through a Spin Doctors chat room I made. Then in March of 2000 my brother & I flew 'cross the pond to the prettiest & greenest land I ever did see. We stayed a few days in the countryside with James (yes, my English boy is also named James) and his family. First full day there we went to the shoppes as he was looking for a book or something. The first thing I did was buy me a copy of the James album, Millionaires. Track 1 is Crash and again, I can't hear that without recalling the days of driving through the English countryside with hedge & daffodil lined roads with my curly-haired boy James.

I return to the states, cd in hand, and go back to B&N to work. I'm so proud and excited about my purchase and brag to my co-workers. They were all very cool people who also saw the genius that is James. Then we get this new chap working with us who had some connections and was able to get the "unavailable" James cd's in the store. I guess I didn't need my elaborate plot after all. It was decidedly worth it, though. I highly recommend touring the UK if given the chance.

For my final James memory I'll recount the days of yore when yours truly was a newlywed. The year was 2004. We were in Iraq and in the midst of a depressing Presidential election. My, how the times have changed. I'd just moved to Texas from the only home I'd ever known. I was feeling quite down from having left everything & everyone I knew and loved. I was living with the in-laws. Don't get me wrong. They're great people. But let's just say it's not top on anyone's To Do list immediately after getting married. I was also unemployed. My new husband was working lots so I had a lot of lonely time.

I got a live James dvd from the 'Flix and watched it. It's a mixture of live performances & interviews. I turned on the subtitles so I could understand them through their thick accents and by doing so was able to actually read the lyrics Tim sang while listening to them. It really hit me. The beauty and poetry absolutely touched the very depths of my soul and truly comforted me. I have never felt anything like it before.

So yes, James is one of the most special things in my adult life and is positively dripping in nostalgia, emotion, memories, & heart to me. I love this band and I can't wait to buy the new album. I just hope I don't have to fly back to England to get it. Or do I...?