I'm trying to remember if a kazoo was my first musical instrument. I remember when I got my first one. I was ten and it led to my first unaccompanied trip on public transport too. On a bus. I missed my stop. I was too timid and didn't tell the driver I wanted to get off. I was wrong anyway. I needed to get off one stop later than I thought. Perhaps the bus fairy watches all first time travelers thus. There were people from my school on the bus too and they were laughing (although not nastily) about the fact that 1) This was my first unaccompanied bus trip and 2) It was to go a get a kazoo. 20p it cost. Bargain -- even by 1975 standards.

But I don't think it was my first musical instrument. I had a green swanee whistle (slide whistle if you will, but we called it a swanee whistle) which I didn't use to make music with but I did go around pretending to be a Clanger. I also had a recorder (what small child doesn't) -- a treble and a bass -- and there was probably tin whistles lying around. Oh and harmonicas. Hey, these are all things you blow. I applied myself to the recorder somewhat, with mixed results. I managed to play a few classical bits, but only by memory. I pretended to read music, but I couldn't (still can't really).

Then as one gets older one wants a guitar, because you know, rock stars and such. Only I didn't want to be a rock star, I wanted to be a musician's musician. You know, the sort that doesn't sell much music of their own but guests on the albums and tours of real stars. Robert Fripp used to be my stock example of this. So I got an electric guitar to go along with my acoustic and played a bit with friends. Which was fun, but I wasn't very committed.

Then I moved on to drums. this was more my forte. In later times I played with my upstairs neighbours (join 'em and beat 'em) who had multiple guitars and a bass and a sax player but no drums. I made all the difference. We even went as far as renting out a practice room. But they moved and that was that. Or did I move? I can't remember. They went on to win some battle of the bands thing but I haven't heard of them since.

Oh I forgot about my trumpet (another blowing thing). While I was in New Zealand I bought a trumpet. I have no idea why, or even if it was a good or a bad one, but I had it nonetheless. BP Fallon borrowed it to audition for the part of Jimmy the Lips in The Commitments and I never saw it again. I couldn't play it anyway.

Lately it's been the piano and I have discovered that I'm not committed to that either. All the time I like the idea of playing much more than the actual practice. The only exception was the drumming, so maybe I should look at that again.

Paddy (it always comes back to him doesn't it?) has a little plastic stratocastor type thing and he does the rock star thing. He likes what he calls 'big songs' which involve lots of drums and guitar. We quite often stick on The White Stripes and headbang our way through the songs and I've noticed lately that he's strumming his guitar in time. Maybe I should encourage this more.