We had a debate, me and Jocelyn, on who was cooler, my dad or hers.

She’s my boss, so… her father is cooler than mine. That’s where the title of the post comes from.

But anyway…

My dad is 64. He wasn’t a hippie, he didn’t travel the world, no arty friends or anti-something sit-in to recall. He is one among many who was in his twenties when the Beatles exploded and a man walked on the moon (what was his name? Sting… Armsting… yes! Armstrong!) But, thank God, he didn’t raise me with ultracommercial 60’s melodic Italian pop.

He used to (and still does) go to flea markets. He has never come back home from these places without bringing some vinyls or cassettes with him. On unlucky days the shopping was nothing better than “Traditional Irish songs” but it could also happen to be Lou Reed’s “Berlin” on vinyl as well as R.E.M.’s “Reckoning” on cassette.

Thanks to this method, I discovered artists I still love (like David Sylvian, Joe Jackson, Jane’s Addiction, Cocteau Twins…) and 90% of my collection of The Cure’s rarity vinyl comes from these flea market raids, actually.

One day the result of his shopping was a vinyl copy of “Stop Making Sense” by The Talking Head, which is still there, on the shelf.

And so… to celebrate this “my dad deserves a Nobel prize!” campaign, here’s “Once in a Lifetime.”

Enjoy.

ps: his (and my) favourite flea market is the one that takes place every sunday morning in the “Bastione” ( = stronghold, sort of), in Cagliari.
white marble terraces with palms, and breathtaking view.

Bastione, main terrace, at dusk

courtesy of blinky73