E-mail Received 4/15/2005 from Chris Mohammed (Manchester, UK)
I love your Deaconlight website! Lots of information and surprises were found there. For example, I had no idea that U2 had opened for Todd! That was a real shock! I wonder if they were fans of Todd's and vice versa. Even more surprising, perhaps, is that Grandmaster Flash was also on the same bill! Wow that must have been some concert, wish I were there.
Incidentally, I was in contact with The Edge for a little while. I received postcards and letters from the band and their manager. I was just a kid in those days. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to get acknowledgement.
Whilst in my teens, I got turned on to Todd by pure accident. My brother who was working for Virgin Records in Manchester, brought home a promo of a Utopia video called 'Royal Oak.' I wasn't at all interested as I was into my punk, indie and avant-garde bands such as The Ruts, The Chameleons and Cabaret Voltaire. The only rock band I was big into was Be-Bop Deluxe.
After awhile of laying in dust, I decided to watch the Utopia video and I was completely surprised at how good it sounded. The only track I didn't like was the one that the keyboard player sang. Roger Powell is a brilliant musician, but one of the worst singers in rock!
Since then, I've bought many of Todd's albums and a few Utopia ones. Todd has been a major influence in terms of my musical development. I write and sing.
He has also been a major influence on Power Pop. Power Pop and RnB being my favourite types of music today. Although I must say that I am a punk rocker at heart.
In the UK, there is probably a lot of good music being made. Most of it I guess would be underground. But sadly the UK is besotted with boy and girl acts. For me, it has become really banal. I guess this is the reason why I've turned to your country for musical inspiration. Lucky for me, I've found it in the form of Power Pop and Underground R n B.
Anyway, just before I go, I'm so glad that you were able to come to the UK and to London. I haven't been to the Capital for a while. I would like to though. It's a shame you didn't make it to Manchester. Manchester used to be one the main fashionable places to be in the 80s. Most of this was due to the media hype, which focused on the 'rave parties' and drugs that was much of the scene. Even back then, I was never into those things and I'm still not!
Well I could go on and on, but I won't as I'm sure you have so much work to do with getting the website into shape. Do keep in touch, as it would be awesome to hear from you from time-to-time.
Your pal,
Chris Mohammed (Manchester, UK)
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