Codpiece Memories

I’m listening to Candy by Cameo at the moment. I’ll never forget the first time I saw Cameo on Top of the Pops. I think it was the red patent leather codpieces that made the video so memorable. Despite having lived through the punk and new romantic eras, I couldn’t quite believe that a band could wear such a stupid outfit without it being some kind of absurd joke. For once, I was in full agreement with my mum when she scoffed.



I’d usually argue in defence of the sartorial kinks of the bands on TOTP, feeling a teenage tribal loyalty to whatever the 80s produced. For instance, I remember defending Annie Lennox vigorously when my mum said she looked like a lesbian. As a fully paid-up member of the politically correct leftie club, I’m sure she didn’t mean anything offensive by it, but that wasn’t the point. She was massively uncool and didn’t get what was going on in MY era. The irony is, of course, that my mum was younger than I am now when we had those arguments and I don’t consider myself to be past it and out of touch. But then I’m sure my 8 year old daughter would disagree – I already have her rolling her eyes at me when I don’t pick up on some nuance in the world of Pokemon.