Fab, Faith! This knee-wiggling has got me thinking. Did I have a "type" ingrained from early telly viewing? My first TV crush was Adam West as Batman. Music-wise, Davy Jones of The Monkees. Later, I really liked the look of Lol Creme of 10cc. David Bowie, of course…
None of them look very much like my eventual partner, tall and skinny, with a David Sylvian haircut when I met him in 1986. But then, David Sylvian was also easy on the eye…
Love ‘wiggling’! Davy Jones was very cute - I can see the appeal. Oh I love the look of Lol Creme - that hair! How could I forget David Sylvian - like a thinking woman’s John Taylor, both with the same chiselled chin as Adam West surely?!
Oh boy, we had the same popstar crushes. I readily admit to Adam Ant and a mild obsession with highwaymen that lasts to this day. But I thought I'd buried the shame of the Shaky years. Not deeply enough, it seems!
So evocative Faith. My first crush, even if I don’t quite get it, Barbara Streisand in A Star Is Born…that voice, hair, nose…Kris Kristofferson wasn’t too bad either…;-)
Thanks so much Ruth! It's so memorable this stuff isn't it?! And not solely down to one thing I imagine. I'd love to look more into the science of all this. Thanks for reading!
Love this Faith. You and I were on the same page with Shaky, and I agree that attraction is imprinted early on, although I did deviate from my preference for dark haired men toward Jason Donovan - still have a soft spot for him.
Thank you Sharon! Yes I remember we've touched on Jason before, so to speak. There is a sidebar of blonds I also loved which included Bros, Stefan Edberg, Damon Albarn and Jason, but Shaky will always have my heart 😂.
This went in a different direction than I was expecting, but I still loved it!
(just trying to picture a ginger Brett Anderson...)
Well, I think you know this, but my early musical crushes were Susannah Hoffs and Belinda Carlisle. In the early 90s I had the hots for Liz Phair and Sarah Cracknell. I swear, every time I saw Saint Etienne live (it must've been 5-6 times), I thought Sarah was looking right at me, but then of course she had that lazy eye, so who knows really.
I'll have to share the story one of these days of the time I bought a beer for Rachel Goswell (of Slowdive). I'll put in in the same post as the Suede pizza place story (remember?)
You know my love of Suede (and Brett Anderson). I had that same cover of Select up on the wall of my halls of residence! And I remember his quote about being a 'bisexual who's never had homosexual sex'. I'm pretty sure I had the hots for him and no other band had the influence on me that Suede did. Have you read either of his autobiographies btw?
🤣🤣 Well he was the spit of Bernard Butler actually - and Italian.
Yes I remember we had a first crush conversation! That's hilarious about Sarah Cracknell and no, I'll never forget the Suede Pizza Express story and your outrage!
Yes that quote backfired on him slightly - I've read Coal Black Mornings but not the second - is that as good? Did I tell you about the time I actually spoke to him at a book signing for that?!
It might've been in the same Select issue where Brett had an interview and when asked his favourite drug, said 'I don't know...probably cocaine.' and then a paragraph later, 'I don't know...probably ecstasy' and then in the next paragraph 'I don't know...probably alcohol'. Dude didn't know what he wanted!
I too have only read Coal Black Mornings. I have the second buried somewhere on my Kindle. I read Love and Poison years ago and I still have countless VHS tapes with Suede material somewhere in a box in the US.
Yet another wonderful piece of writing. My childhood crush was Cher. I met her when I was 10 (long story) and she was as stunning and unworldly in person as she was on TOTP. Did it shape me forever? In a way, yes.
Thank you so much Mike! Wow Cher - I can see why that would have left a lasting imprint. I remember seeing her on Wogan with a long ginger wig and her skin was sort of melting. She was still impressive though
My first crush was Mike Read - the radio DJ one, not the Eastenders/Runaround one - who played in my dad's cricket team when he was on mere local radio and I was about 6 years old. Somehow, I managed to get up the nerve to ask for his autograph - and then carried it with me EVERYWHERE for months. My mum was completely baffled.
As for Shaky, I thought he was fun - until reading a questionnaire in Smash Hits that asked if he had any pets, and his response was literally, I kid you not, "I hate pets". What a monster.
That's so cute!! It's amazing how strong these early feelings can be isn't it? But you may have burst my Shaky bubble with that Smash Hits anecdote - what was he thinking?! Thanks so much for reading.
Hahaha ! I wasn’t into Shaken Steven’s but I did have a massive crush on Adam Ant !!! Not sure if this taste in men followed me over the years , I do like dark haired men though. 😄
This is very funny. Adam Ant was so handsome. Once upon a time I met Shaken Steven’s chauffeur. He had a few stories to share.
When I was 4 I really liked Gary Glitter. I think he clearly knew how to appeal to youngsters but we better not go there. Thankfully it was the music not him I was attracted to.
Thanks so much Margaret. Handsome is the word! Oh wow - what the chauffeur saw 🫣Yes my parents once met Gary Glitter and got his autograph for me but it was the music and costumes I liked. Horrible to think about that too deeply.
My first crush was Madonna in the Like a Virgin video, not my type in the slightest. But before I pour scorn all over the theory, I did kind of fancy Evil-Lyn in the He-Man cartoons - which was clearly the start of my love of goth/alternative types.
Ha I think we can all be forgiven for a Madonna crush - she was an unstoppable force, we had no say in the matter! Evil-Lyn has Wonder Woman vibes - I can see the attraction. Thanks for reading and for the restack Lewis!
Fab, Faith! This knee-wiggling has got me thinking. Did I have a "type" ingrained from early telly viewing? My first TV crush was Adam West as Batman. Music-wise, Davy Jones of The Monkees. Later, I really liked the look of Lol Creme of 10cc. David Bowie, of course…
None of them look very much like my eventual partner, tall and skinny, with a David Sylvian haircut when I met him in 1986. But then, David Sylvian was also easy on the eye…
Love ‘wiggling’! Davy Jones was very cute - I can see the appeal. Oh I love the look of Lol Creme - that hair! How could I forget David Sylvian - like a thinking woman’s John Taylor, both with the same chiselled chin as Adam West surely?!
My first crush was Billy Idol 🙈
No further comment 😅
And it's worth noting that autocorrect changed the word "crush" to "crash", which I'm sure is no coincidence either 😂
Ha ha - autocorrect knows all Stephanie! I can totally see the attraction of Billy - he’s definitely in the top 3 of my favourite blonds list 😂
Oh boy, we had the same popstar crushes. I readily admit to Adam Ant and a mild obsession with highwaymen that lasts to this day. But I thought I'd buried the shame of the Shaky years. Not deeply enough, it seems!
Thanks for owning up Anna - I feel so much better! Yes I don't think I'll ever tire of the highwayman era!
So evocative Faith. My first crush, even if I don’t quite get it, Barbara Streisand in A Star Is Born…that voice, hair, nose…Kris Kristofferson wasn’t too bad either…;-)
Thanks so much Ruth! It's so memorable this stuff isn't it?! And not solely down to one thing I imagine. I'd love to look more into the science of all this. Thanks for reading!
Love this Faith. You and I were on the same page with Shaky, and I agree that attraction is imprinted early on, although I did deviate from my preference for dark haired men toward Jason Donovan - still have a soft spot for him.
Thank you Sharon! Yes I remember we've touched on Jason before, so to speak. There is a sidebar of blonds I also loved which included Bros, Stefan Edberg, Damon Albarn and Jason, but Shaky will always have my heart 😂.
This went in a different direction than I was expecting, but I still loved it!
(just trying to picture a ginger Brett Anderson...)
Well, I think you know this, but my early musical crushes were Susannah Hoffs and Belinda Carlisle. In the early 90s I had the hots for Liz Phair and Sarah Cracknell. I swear, every time I saw Saint Etienne live (it must've been 5-6 times), I thought Sarah was looking right at me, but then of course she had that lazy eye, so who knows really.
I'll have to share the story one of these days of the time I bought a beer for Rachel Goswell (of Slowdive). I'll put in in the same post as the Suede pizza place story (remember?)
You know my love of Suede (and Brett Anderson). I had that same cover of Select up on the wall of my halls of residence! And I remember his quote about being a 'bisexual who's never had homosexual sex'. I'm pretty sure I had the hots for him and no other band had the influence on me that Suede did. Have you read either of his autobiographies btw?
🤣🤣 Well he was the spit of Bernard Butler actually - and Italian.
Yes I remember we had a first crush conversation! That's hilarious about Sarah Cracknell and no, I'll never forget the Suede Pizza Express story and your outrage!
Yes that quote backfired on him slightly - I've read Coal Black Mornings but not the second - is that as good? Did I tell you about the time I actually spoke to him at a book signing for that?!
It might've been in the same Select issue where Brett had an interview and when asked his favourite drug, said 'I don't know...probably cocaine.' and then a paragraph later, 'I don't know...probably ecstasy' and then in the next paragraph 'I don't know...probably alcohol'. Dude didn't know what he wanted!
I too have only read Coal Black Mornings. I have the second buried somewhere on my Kindle. I read Love and Poison years ago and I still have countless VHS tapes with Suede material somewhere in a box in the US.
Yet another wonderful piece of writing. My childhood crush was Cher. I met her when I was 10 (long story) and she was as stunning and unworldly in person as she was on TOTP. Did it shape me forever? In a way, yes.
Thank you so much Mike! Wow Cher - I can see why that would have left a lasting imprint. I remember seeing her on Wogan with a long ginger wig and her skin was sort of melting. She was still impressive though
My first crush was Mike Read - the radio DJ one, not the Eastenders/Runaround one - who played in my dad's cricket team when he was on mere local radio and I was about 6 years old. Somehow, I managed to get up the nerve to ask for his autograph - and then carried it with me EVERYWHERE for months. My mum was completely baffled.
As for Shaky, I thought he was fun - until reading a questionnaire in Smash Hits that asked if he had any pets, and his response was literally, I kid you not, "I hate pets". What a monster.
That's so cute!! It's amazing how strong these early feelings can be isn't it? But you may have burst my Shaky bubble with that Smash Hits anecdote - what was he thinking?! Thanks so much for reading.
Hahaha ! I wasn’t into Shaken Steven’s but I did have a massive crush on Adam Ant !!! Not sure if this taste in men followed me over the years , I do like dark haired men though. 😄
Thanks so much Francis - Adam was just so beautiful! Dark haired men? Well there you go!!!
I also loved Shaky! Although I’m not sure I fancied him. I’m not sure I have a type, maybe I’m just a whore.
Ha ha ha, thanks so much Dean.
I listened to like the first two seconds of Shaky’s song and was like, “that sounds like Adam Ant”…and then came Adam Ant!
My first crush was on my 3rd grade math teacher. She was blonde and my wife is blonde- so maybe I have a type!? 🤣
Thank you Henny! Aw that's so cute - see it's true then!!
This is very funny. Adam Ant was so handsome. Once upon a time I met Shaken Steven’s chauffeur. He had a few stories to share.
When I was 4 I really liked Gary Glitter. I think he clearly knew how to appeal to youngsters but we better not go there. Thankfully it was the music not him I was attracted to.
Thanks so much Margaret. Handsome is the word! Oh wow - what the chauffeur saw 🫣Yes my parents once met Gary Glitter and got his autograph for me but it was the music and costumes I liked. Horrible to think about that too deeply.
My first crush was Madonna in the Like a Virgin video, not my type in the slightest. But before I pour scorn all over the theory, I did kind of fancy Evil-Lyn in the He-Man cartoons - which was clearly the start of my love of goth/alternative types.
Ha I think we can all be forgiven for a Madonna crush - she was an unstoppable force, we had no say in the matter! Evil-Lyn has Wonder Woman vibes - I can see the attraction. Thanks for reading and for the restack Lewis!
Faith. This is INCREDIBLE. But who’s that Essex girl dancing to Shaky in front of the 80s mirrored wardrobes?!! 🫣
I couldn’t possibly say 😆Argh I forgot the mirrored wardrobes detail 🤪