I woke up this morning, turned on the television and what was playing but my Punk Rocker video!!! That songs popularity astounds me!!! So let me tell you exactly where the idea for the song came from...

Well, it was a combination of things really. I was living in good old Crystal Palace in South London at the time in a poky little bedsit on a really dark street. I was pretty damn lonely and broke!! But I was a budding songwriter and had to get my foot in the door in London. One day I came home from a really long writing session and all I wanted to do was get my dinner and chat to my pals. I went to the local store, bought some food and I swear to God I turned my back for a minute and my car had been broken into, wallet, keys and phone GONE!!! I was soooooooo upset. I missed my family and all my friends in Liverpool so my mobile phone was extremely important to me!! I cannot tell you how alone and isolated I felt in that very moment; then I realised I didn't have a clue what to do without my phone! I didn't have a land line in my flat either so my only option was to use a payphone. My first mobile phone was given to my when I was 13 so I don’t think i'd used a pay phone in about 10 years!!

Sobbing and afraid I ran down the street trying every single pay phone I came across but lo and behold none of them worked, they were either broken or vandalised. I must have walked for miles to try and find some kind of way of phoning someone to tell them what had happened but I could not find a working pay phone and it was really late, all the shops and bars were shut. Eventually I realised that I had a spare car key in the glove compartment and pretty much a full tank of petrol. So I got in the car and coasted all the way back to Liverpool to the flat I shared there with my friend. I managed to call my mum, the bank, etc etc and sort out a new phone but the resounding feeling of complete and utter helplessness stayed with me. The fact that I had become so reliant on having a mobile phone made me think.

Later that week after re telling my story to friends and family it started a really interesting conversation about days gone by. I heard stories from people of my mums age and people of my age. The whole experience basically sparked off a creative spurt and I started writing about those times.

I wondered if that had happened to me back in the days of the hippies what would I have done and would I have freaked out so much? Would it have even happened in the firstplace? Who knows! Anyway, that week my writing session ended up in Liverpool. So my writing partner Tom and I sat down and I told him my harrowing tale. I remember as clear as day, after I told him this entire story I muttered the words "Man, I wish I was a punk rocker....to which he replied.....with flowers in your hair!" Right there and then we knew that we were going to write a song that would be either loved or hated.

We knew the connotations of that phrase, we knew some people wouldn’t get it but I've never been one for conformity! Just as the song states. And so it seems that a lot of people at that time felt the same way as I did, longing for that lost era of simpler more innocent times....we all know however that I went on to use technology like nobody had before to promote my first album so I will always remain on the fence where that topics concerned!!

I hope this has been somewhat enlightening for y'all, I'm happy I could share it with you. Tune in next week to hear about "When Horse Power Meant What It Said!!" from Smile...It Confuses People ; )

Big love ST xx