sometimes, or every now and then if you will, look you see, i propose or otherwise set out to do a post in which the title pretty much says it all. this, i have every confidence, is the case here. but i have started now, and so i will carry on.
the subject of education is rarely far from controversy. it tends to be used as a political football, or indeed a political hot potato, depending on what sort of metaphor you prefer. either of them work, and i suppose your choice would relate to how much of a vegan you are. anyway, that is not the point.
what is easy to forget is that education has always been an "issue". i fear that over time some of the most controversial moments have been forgotten. like, for instance, that time when four plucky warriors of the new romantics movement led a resistance against tougher marking of geography o level exams.
it all started innocently enough. the late 60s and early 70s proliferation of cheap package holidays to places such as Spain, and indeed Spain, meant more and more people from the UK were travelling to foreign, partially exotic lands. an unexpected side effect of this was the erosion of geographical knowledge. when people could simply get on a plane and go somewhere, rather than earning the right to be there, an awareness of where places were was felt to be unnecessary.
something had to be done. what that was to be was far tougher, more stringent geography lessons in most public schools. so tough, in fact, that from around 1974 to 1982 getting anywhere near a decent grade or passing mark in o level geography became impossible. at this stage four (i think) plucky lads from the ranks of the new romantic resistance banded together into, well, a band, to bring balance to it all.
of the various measures brought in to make o level geography tougher, the most sinister - the most feared - was a much stricter marking system for what countries were where in the middle east. for several years not knowing which was closer to the UK - Iraq or Iran - was something that nobody cared about. now, however (well, late 70s early 80s), applying an alphabetically correct but geographically incorrect knowledge of saying that Iran must surely be closer as it "made sense" could see a student get a B instead of an A, or more commonly a C instead of a B.
enter A Flock Of Seagulls. no, not an actual flock, the band. so brazen were they in their resistance to harsh geography grading that their name blatantly said what they were going to do. if for some reason you didn't know this, their name comes from a line (the final one, i think) in the lyrics to Toiler On The Sea by The Stranglers. and as we all know, The Stranglers were the greatest geography based band in the world, with songs such as Sweden, Outside Tokyo and The Wizard Of Aus.
in order to help o level students get a better grade in geography than the system tried to impose it was so that A Flock Of Seagulls released one of the most memorable, and awesome, songs ever. this, as you are no doubt aware, was and very much is called Iran (So Far Away). an incredibly catchy and brilliant song it was, and easily helped students remember that Iran was indeed further away than Iraq, assuming you went in a conventional west to east direction.
of course various UK educational and examination departments clocked what was going on. the courts, however, had no patience for their complaints. a result of various cases brought about by the song, with claims that it was giving students an unfair advantages, was the non-legally binding but commonly accepted decision that the song should simply be known as Iran from then onwards, rather than Iran (So Far Away).
and yes, you are quite right in that observation. whilst at heart Dire Straits wished to be part of the new romantics movement everything about their dress sense meant they would always be excluded from it. but they remained passionate about the scene, and so recorded a song called So Far Away as a tribute to what A Flock Of Seagulls had done.
just what effect the bold move by A Flock Of Seagulls had on o level geography grades is a matter of contention. many believe that they helped any number of students get a higher passing mark in the subject, allowing them to continue into further education and go on to become leaders of industry, or minor cabinet serving politicians. others will say that the efforts of the band were negated, even thwarted, by the decision in the mid-80s to make o level geography less about actual geography and more about stuff like trees, mountains, erosion and so on. you know, leftie hippie stuff.
when people say "modern music is rubbish", they don't just mean that it is unimaginative, dull and instantly forgettable, not even existing long enough to be disposable. nor do they just mean the fact that is all meaningless, with the charts being corrupted to the extent that a single (usually by that Ed Sheridan who is supposedly popular but no one ever answers questions on him in game shows) can somehow be a "million seller" without a single copy of it actually being bought. no, another reason it is rubbish is that it does not set out to "do some good", like what A Flock Of Seagulls did here, or that Bob Geldof did with the song about Christmas and that.
so yes, then, no, people do not allow this curious and strange possible moment in time to be forgotten.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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