OOPS, I did not mean...

I took to the music of Val Doonican at quite an early age. I was probably only just double-digits when first deciding that I liked this guy's sound. I much preferred his slow ballads to the catchy Irish tunes though. One of my favorites was Elusive Butterfly. It almost got me into trouble at school, however.

I had played Val's album through several times over the weekend and this song particularly stood out at the time. I tried to keep playing it without the rest of the album - but it was on a vinyl disc, not a CD, and therefore difficult to do without scratching my parent's record. I was so enthused that I drew out a circle on a piece of card and sticky-taped it over an old band badge, making a Val Doonican one. I was going to wear it to school the very next day and show the whole school that I loved this man's music.

Alas, I was only 13 at the time and I did not know that VD stood for something other than Val's initials... How was a naive little young teenage village idiot to know that wearing a badge claiming 'VD RULES' was going to get me some rather strange looks! It might have been worse - I cannot recall more than a couple of teachers looking rather shocked/amused, and a few kids snickering before one boy told me that VD stood for something else apart from Val Doonican! Luckily I had been told before the principal found out. I instantly removed my badge, planning to write the name in full - next time!