68 Guns by The Alarm Turns 40

In 1983, The Alarm made the UK top 40 for the first time with their single, 68 Guns. It's a song that brought many fans to the band for the first time after seeing them perform the song on Top Of The Pops. I had been fortunate enough to have heard their previous single, The Stand, on John Peel earlier in the year and had been to see them at The Marquee Club in London in the May. I've never looked back and this year I have celebrated my 40th anniversary of following The Alarm. If the golden era of 1983/84 remains my favourite period with those amazing gigs in the London ballrooms, then for me what Mike Peters is doing with the current incarnation of The Alarm in recent years comes second without a doubt. I'm very much into the here and now and looking forward to whatever is coming next from Mike and the band. The Alarm always have been at their best live. I was never one for following their tours around the country, but I salute those that did. Back in the 1980s it was usually just the London gigs. However in recent times, and mainly as a result of those new friendships, I travel all over to see the band including two trips to New York in 2018/19. 

On October 6th to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the appearance on Top Of The Pops a remixed limited edition signed 7" vinyl of 68 Guns was released. I was incredibly fortunate to get myself one of just 68 copies (actually 70 were made, but two were kept by Mike Peters for The Alarm archive). To own such a limited edition is amazing. I have always enjoyed buying music, and as a teenager I was always always collecting rare records. However, this is one of the few rare Alarm records that I have alongside the debut single Unsafe Building. I have most of the band's limited edition releases from back in the day, and I've bought every release over the last 40+ years, so I have a pretty decent collection. Not that I will ever part with it!

If hearing The Stand was a defining musical moment for me, then 68 Guns propelled the band and us fans to a whole new level and has shaped much of my musical journey for the last 40 years. In recent years, as a result of my fundraising after losing Mum to bowel cancer, I have finally emerged from the shadows to make many amazing friendships with fellow fans. Many of whom would have been at the same gigs as me all those years ago. It's a real shame to have missed out on so many years of friendships, but better late than never...