Love the way he doesn’t bother to sugarcoat anything for the kids. Band got together while having a bevy in a pub (hand gesture to demonstrate that means drinking). Mentions leaving school without suggesting that they should stay in school, study hard, etc.
I actually think Mac was quite cordial and good natured here. He has never struck me as the type who would be sneery about kids' tv shows. He saved his acerbic side for his contemporary bands and people he regarded as fakes.
A lot of it was just for effect and controversy.He made peace apparently with U2 , after seeing Clayton wear the T Shirt or something. But in 1984 there were a lot of great bands.Ocean Rain and The Unforgettable Fire came out.
The interviewer is spectacularly as stilted as the kids asking questions, which makes it hilarious. It's just lovely to hear his arty laid back Merseyside accent as I miss the North so much, and to see how high he got his hair, really. They are a superb band, undoubtedly, very Northern in their emotional and ironic scope, and I'm fucking homesick.
I read that it was something he did for a bit of cash--buy records. He wasn't a bodyguard per se. He accompanied a money collector, the logic being safety in numbers with 2 being less likely to be jumped on than 1. But yeah, even that, I find it hard to imagine! A teenage McCulloch was half-blind and androgynous--not exactly the image of a tough guy!
God Kirkdale is rough, I can't imagine arty Ian doing anything there, although like most of us Merseysiders he's full of mouth and opinion, which can either have you pegged as a genius or get your head kicked in, or in the South, not understood and ignored!
I award this clip 2 stars out of 5 for diversity. Looks like some sort of broadcast beamed in from another planet compared to what CBBC air today, wow!
