evanevanevan

A vague early childhood memory is coming back to me - and it's only an indirect memory at that.

I was born as an American expat in a bustling city which was then a British colony (three guesses?). We moved back and forth between there and the States for a while, before finally settling down permanently in Illinois when I was in 4th grade. I was enrolled in an American-style school while I was there, but the company my family kept, largely from the Anglican church we attended, tended to be primarily British. During our first stint overseas, my brother did attend a British school, though I was too young for school at the time.

I remember a series of primers (that's pronounced primm-er, folks) assigned to him to teach him how to read. They featured characters identified by the colors of their hats: Roger Red Hat, Percy Green Hat, Billy Blue Hat, Johnny and Jennifer Yellow Hat. A Google search reveals to me that these books were called One Two Three and Away...but little else, other than a few people on message boards struggling to recall these books.

I think Percy Green Hat would make a great band name. I've been thinking about how I need a moniker to use for solo recording projects (and there's one in the works!) when Melanie's not involved in them. Percy Green Hat seems like a good choice, though I worry about the confusion caused by recording under a first name that is not your own (see: Hootie & the Blowfish). It also maybe pigeonholes me as twee '60s Lewis Carroll-inspired faux-Victorian English popsike:

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Sweetshop - "Barefoot and Tiptoe" [mp3]