Things Wot I Knew

Have you ever seen something, or heard them, and instantly known they would be huge? Before they made it, doesn't count if the artist/musician is already successful. I remember hearing Guns n' Roses before Appetite For Destruction was released and thinking, 'f**k, these are going to be huge!' Ditto Nivana. I was slightly off note with a similar prediction about Skid Row, however they were successful for a brief time in the 1990s.


These lads were big you know

My Nostradamus~like forecasts were not restricted to musos either. Mickey Rourke was the first actor to appear on my 'success radar' when I saw him in No Prayer For The Dying and Johnny Handsome. 'Now there's a guy who is going places,' I said at the time. Sure enough the next time I saw Mr Rourke he had made his Hollywood breakthrough and was romping around with Kim Basinger in the super sexy 9 1/2 Weeks. Lucky git.
Christian Slater was the next boyo I chanced upon and blessed with my Welsh wand (ooer!) After seeing him in the wonderfully dark Heathers I knew he was going to join Mickey in Hollywood glory. Sure he gets his acting chops from Jack Nicholson but that ain't no bad thing, no siree!
The next BIG THING I discovered (before it was a 'big thing') was Skateboarding. When I felt the rumble of the board, heard the 'punkiness' of the soundtrack and popped my first ever ollie, I just knew good things awaited this cool sport/hobby. Have you ever seen Thrasher? The prophecy is all in that piece of film.
The last of my predictions did not fly as well, mainly due to the fickle nature of the British public. Hedgehog flavoured crisps. How on earth in a sane world did they ever die out? How? How in the name of Dimebag Darrell how? A brilliant idea, tragically lost in 1980's Britain.
So there. The things wot I knew before they were touched (and some would say tarnished) by the whiff of success.