It wasn't that I didn't "get" their music really - when I was about 15/16, my mates formed a band that (as they were local) Mike Peters helped out and they all absolutely adored him as a result and I couldn't stand all their "Oooh - we know a rock star" kind of thing so I consciously avoided the band as much as possible (as idiotic 15/16 years olds do!). Even when Mike was diagnosed with the same type of cancer that I'd had 9 years earlier and was being treated by the same doctor that I was I studiously ignored them!

Fast forward to 2026 and over the past 3 years I've become friends with the Peters family through being a regular in the cafe/bar that they own, I'm a volunteer helper with their cancer charity Love Hope Strength, I attended Mike's funeral last year and I'm absolutely loving hearing/learning loads of music from The Alarm and Mike mainly via it being played live by his 19 year-old son Evan who is a chip off the old block.

So not quite the same thing, but I do definitely wish that I hadn't been so pig-headed about them back in the day as their stuff is great and the Peters family are absolutely wonderful people.