Boomerang Gang

Bulurru of Australia is the self-professed "market leader in the production and distribution of authentic Aboriginal Art based products," including...neckties! This tie's label says it's polyester, which surprised me because it really does feel like silk.

I could go on about Aboriginal Art here, but instead the boomerang theme of this tie has prompted a reminiscence about a 1985 trip to London (because I saw the band Boomerang Gang at the legendary Marquee Club, where the Rolling Stones had played in their early years; too bad I didn't see a band with more staying power, but I was only there for a short time). My family and I (which at that time meant me, my parents, and my brother, though now it means me, my wife, and our kids) went to London after a week in Germany; my college-radio buddy Ira was going to be in London at the same time. Before we left the States Ira told me to meet him at the Alien Sex Fiend concert. Well, that turned out to be the night before we got to London. So I picked up the music papers to scour the concert listings and figure out where I could find Ira. I figured he would probably go to see Nik Turner's Inner City Unit (and I would have gone to that anyway), so I went. I walked into the hall and there was Ira, waiting for me. "I knew you'd be here," he said. So we met up after all and spent some quality hanging-out time in London. Other musical highlights of the trip included seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers' first UK show ever (at Dingwall's in Camden), and Jayne County (née Wayne County, whose signature song is "Man Enough to be a Woman") in Croydon. I bought so many records on that trip my luggage was over the airline weight limit! Ah, that was fun. (Incidentally, you can download almost all of Inner City Unit's catalog on Dead Fred's website!)