Leaving home

1972 University - where you discover new ideas and make the transition from teenage to adult

I met and became friends with people from all over the country. My political view, previously shaped by the One Nation Conservatism of my parents rapidly shifted leftwards. I didn't much like Portsmouth, and often headed home, by train when I could afford it hitch-hiking when not; back to see my parents, school -mates, Charlton; back to the reception area of Radio Nordsee, and the catchment area of the Black Prince. My musical taste wasn't really changing. I'd already taken with me a solid foundation of rock, and in the early days there it was just a case of sampling the LPs of housemates. Portsmouth was at least a seaport, and in the first six months the track that lives in the memory is this haunting sea song.