Ten Years...

Anniversaries. Blink and you miss ‘em. There was such a hullabaloo about the whole C86 shtick in 2006 that I forgot my own anniversary. Yes, Tangents was ten years old this year, and I didn’t even notice. It was only this afternoon whilst preparing things for 2007 (look out for John Carney’s enviously marvellous Shivers Inside series) that I happened to glance at the earliest articles and spotted the 1996 tag lines. Now I had actually thought that whilst the first paper issue of Tangents appeared in ’96, the first Internet version didn’t actually pop up (on the old Zynet server) until 1997. But no, this article, penned in October ’96 would seem to prove my memory wrong. Wouldn’t be the first time.

Reading it back now, I feel some words of apology are needed to people like Bob Stanley, Matt and Clair of Sarah records, Everett and Stephen Pastel. I guess I was just feeling exceptionally grumpy that day. Reading it back too I’m struck by how there was still the need to be a kind of apologist / evangelist for the Web back in those days. It’s inconceivable now of course. How times change. I remember too how later in 1997 C and I put together a fledgling ‘alt.Exeter’ website. We even got a photo in the Express and Echo; me sitting at my 15” monitor with Scully on my lap. On the back of that we approached lots of local businesses asking them if they wanted websites built for them, and presence on the ‘alt.Exeter’ site. To say they laughed in our faces would be polite. I seem to recall they suggested that something like the Internet wasn’t really for them… As I say, it’s funny how things change. Needless to say that by the time all those businesses decided that ooops, perhaps the Internet was something they needed to think about after all, we couldn’t be arsed with it and let someone else make the money. Well, I say ‘let’… we didn’t really have a choice, did we? Never having been business-minded and all that.

I swear a business manager would have a fit if they talked to me about Tangents, and Unpopular and blah blah blah. Which rather pleases me, but that’s another story.

To get back to this one, it’s a shame I forgot about the ten-year thing because I always rather thought I would celebrate it with a gig or something, perhaps much like the Fortuna Pop festival earlier this year. See, Sean and his gang didn’t forget their tenth birthday… But whatever. I’d just like to wish Tangents a belated happy tenth birthday. Have a bar of chocolate and a cup of tea to celebrate. Kick back. Be proud.

Comments

[Dimitra]

Perhaps we can have a gig for ten-and-half-years soon? It will sound much more original anyway.

(Yes, I really am online at 8 minutes to midnight on New Year's Eve. What can I say.)

[me]

i thought you guys were going to the phoenix? well anyway, i was on-line reading your comment at a few minutes after midnight, so i guess we are much the same :-)

and yeah, maybe a ten and a half year anniversary gig/party would be cool.

[Trev]

11 year birthday bashes are just as much fun, y'know.