Take Me Away.

In 1989 I was living the life of a single person, I was working hard but also playing hard, if there was a band I wanted to see I would usually do a few gigs, I wasn’t exactly stable at the time either I got into the habit of blowing shifts because of it, the tale that’s about to unfold is what brought it all to a head and is the last jaunt that I did following a band around the country.

I was about to do a night shift on a task that had been planned for a couple of weeks, when I bumped into a couple people who I knew, I worked in a large shopping centre at the time and night time was the only time major tasks could get done, I was sat with the MEWP (mobile elevated working platform) while the rest of the gang went to get the rest of the gear, the centre was winding down so there wasn’t that many people on the ground, when I spied my mates who were obviously about to hit the town and I was asked why wasn’t I going to see Blue Oyster Cult at the City Hall that night (9/3/89) I was completely oblivious to it, I instantly started of thinking of ways that I could blow the shift to go, no matter what hairbrained scheme I could think of it was no good, so I gritted my teeth and knuckled down to the job, the shift dragged mainly because I didn’t know that they were even touring, I kept kicking myself in the butt, I had seen them every time they had played Newcastle and I was annoyed with myself, however with it being a Thursday I was off all day the next day so many cunning plans fell into place.

The shift finished early as we cracked on and I got a lift back home I was in bed for just after two in the morning, I was up with the larks and had scored a lift to Sheffield the scene of the next gig, I bought a ticket outside and buggered off to the pub with my mates, this was going to get messy, we decided to get some food so that we could at least enjoy the gig and we walked straight into Eric bloom from BOC, who was chatty and asked for directions to the gig after he had finished his curry, he wished us well and we said that we be making noise in the balcony, I also told him he would see us as I had a giant red BOC flag, not the band I had (cough splutter) borrowed it from the British Oxygen Corporation plant in Gimpsville back in 1980 so that I could take it to a gig just like this, he laughed and said he would look out for us.

A few more beers and I will admit to being a tad unsteady on my feet but I was ok (these were my drinking days) we got to the venue and had missed the support band (I never did find out who it was, not that I was bothered)and found our seats in the balcony, it wasn’t sold out so we basically sat were we wanted and waited for the main event now don’t ask what the set list was or the opener I have no idea it was over 30 years ago, and as I mentioned before this was my  drinking days, the set started and mid-way through the first song we unfurled my red flag, and yes Eric spotted it, at the end of the song he pointed to us and said “I see the boys from the North are in the house tonight” we threw the flag down to him and the show carried on, I enjoyed the gig, I have a tendency to stop drinking when the band are on as I intend to enjoy them, the night was over and we left the building to jump into our hotel for the night ( a Ford Transit van) which we parked at Ferrybridge services (I hope, allegedly I have no idea) and we all crashed and rose like the walking dead to go get an early breakfast and to get washed, we aired the van out as we recovered, the stench of flatulence and beer was a heady mix, once we had recovered we set off to Hull for the next gig in the itinerary.

We struggled to find a car park to fit the transit in and when we did the day was slipping away (for drinking) we ate and saw the sights (pubs) and again attended a sparsely attended Hull City Hall, again the gig was great we all wondered why they were playing Hull, again I enjoyed the gig even Buck’s Boogie (in which Buck broke a string and swapped guitars without missing a beat) the gig ended a little early I’m assuming because of the small crowd again I’m not sure who the support band was but it wasn’t the same as the band the previous night, a few more pints after and we all got kebabs, if the night before was toxic the next morning was positively vile, we drove back to Durham with the windows down!

All the way back I was wondering if I could do anymore gigs, my friends weren’t so that simply made it all the more interesting me and my wallet! again I was off on the Friday so I hitched to Manchester and then caught a train to Bristol it was thankfully dry so I wasn’t soaked, I got a train around 12.00 and got to Bristol in plenty of time to book some digs in a pub close to the venue (Colston Hall) I had stayed there before when I had seen Marillion on another jaunt, again the crowd was enthusiastic but small I was a tad concerned as it didn’t look good for them, again a great gig, I was more sober as I was by myself and didn’t want to get into bother out here in the Badlands, I was back in my digs by 23.00, asleep and as always up early had a shower and was sat waiting for breakfast at 07.00 they didn’t start serving until 07.30, it was well worth it, I then wandered off to find the local bus station as London awaited I had started to watch my pennies at this stage as the weekend was just starting, surely London would be full?

Unfortunately that wasn’t to be the case it was the busiest venue that I had seen so far, I arrived in London and made my way to the Novo hotel on Hammersmith Broadway, my hotel of choice if I was going to the Odeon ( I wonder if it’s still there) I bumped into some people I knew in the bar and the barman (Guiseppe ) used to Run The Dog and Parrot in Newcastle back in the sixties he always gave me a warm welcome as I always took him Pease pudding from Newcastle as a present as he was heavily addicted to it, a tiny man with a heavy accent he never forgot a face and never forgot an order, we had some bar snacks thanks to our friendly Italian and then we headed off to the venue, getting there around 20.30 again we missed the support act, the band were up for the gig and although not full it was busier than previous nights and I saw some friends from Durham so I did have a couple more pints, I was back in the hotel just after 23.00,  a wonderful bed awaited and I slept right up until 09.30 a bath a change of clothes, breakfast in the bar with Guiseppe and a fond farewell I never saw him again and he would probably be about 500 years old by now surely?

Sunday was my travel day and I was back on the National express i jumped on the bus around 15.00 there was issues right from the off there was only a handful of us on the bus and it limped into Nottingham three hours later with crap blowing out of the exhaust, it wasn’t like it is now with a replacement bus magically appearing from nowhere they stuck us in a B&B and gave us a ticket for the first bus in the morning, this would cause me problems as I was meant to be at work for 08.00, ah well what mischief could I get up to, hang on a second BOC are playing the Royal court in Nottingham tonight, it was a sign, I headed down to the venue ( I went to the Rock City first as I was a dumbass) thankfully the Royal Court is just down the road I paid £3 for my ticket and I don’t think there was more than 400 people in the venue, the band came out and gave it their best but this was the shortest set I have ever seen them complete at just over an hour and twenty minutes and that was with an encore. Back to the digs and I had about five pounds in my pocket I was going to have skip the breakfast in the morning I always had snacks so that was helpful. The bus was time however it got to Newcastle just after 12.00 noon, it stopped for everyman and his bloody goat on the way, I was late for my shift and I hadn’t rung in, I knew I would have face the music when I went in the next day.

I arrived on time but looking decidedly sickly and although I was given a bollocking it wasn’t as severe as I thought it was going to be, I was like a sickly dog all day and I seemed to have gotten away with it ( I hadn’t I had been seen in Newcastle and that information was saved for a rainy day by my boss), it was then that I realised that I needed to knuckle down and make plans accordingly rather than just wander off around the country, as a tour in reality it must have been disappointing for them and also for me, the gigs were great but looking back you could see that they were going through the motions, it was time for me to start to grow up, I mean not straight away, I was soon to meet the wife and then life changed for the better.

So there you go a historical one, and if you think that the details are a bit sketchy they are as I had to think long and hard about it, I remember the generalisation of the tour but the details are somewhere in the back of my head, what brought this to the front of my mind was I bumped into someone who was in London at the time and he regaled me with some of the details of when and where, I do have to admit after all these years I’m still annoyed that I missed the Newcastle gig, what a dumbass, hopefully you have enjoyed this one, normal service has resumed, watch the skies for incoming, stay safe and stay alive until the next time…..Toodles!

Right Here Right Now 5.

Life as always seems to be speeding up, with no let up, work has been definitely speeding up, it’s all good in the hood, just Busy, Busy, Busy, well it was until yesterday when I took a surprise tumble, well it was a surprise to me, right up until I hit the floor then it was a big ouch moment! As I got to the main bus terminus, sore and feeling sorry for myself I was helped onto public transport by a pensioner (considerably older than myself) who had took pity on the shuffling mess attempting to get on the bus……damn that was me!

Writing has not been at the forefront of my mind as my wife also had two tumbles (I was simply copying her) her first resulting in dislocated fingers and then because of this when she did exactly the same trapeze stunt, she cracked her wrist, she now has a lovely blue cast, I simply dented my pride! The wife left me and the pooch when her and the youngest went on a jaunt to London to see a play, she came back to find out I had knocked out the fire place to assist with the incoming wood burner, what should have taken me about 90 minutes in the bad old days took nearly six hours over two days, when did I become so decrepit? Answers on a postcard to who gives a rat’s ass! God I was sore and in pain…. OUCH!

What has brought life into true focus the man I’m named after my Uncle Colin passed away this morning, and the brakes were applied to life in short order, the family circle of the originals is down to one Auntie and around five cousins, that really does the circle of life into clear focus, it seems it really is life’s way of saying our family has ever decreasing circles, am I sad, I am but I realise now that he lived his life, he enjoyed his life, I hope I can get to 84, to be honest my health issues are the same as my uncles, I have his name and most of his hereditary medical issues, so there is hope for me yet…….allegedly!

Tonight, my intention is to have a drink a rather large drink and to raise my glass and celebrate his life, it’s what he would have wanted, he had a DNR tag, he wanted no flowers, no funeral policy, he went in his sleep exactly what he wanted, I wonder where I get my life view point from, I just realised, Unc here’s to you!

So, there you go it took a couple of falls and a death in the family to get me back to break the dam and get writing, the usual normal service (well as normal as I can do) will resume presently…………Honest!

Until then stay safe stay alive and until then………...Toodles!

Four on the Floor – Whitesnake.

I will admit to loving Whitesnake then falling out of love with them and then falling back in love with them at a much later point, as you can see with the first album that I review Trouble I loved every single note on that album, then Love Hunter appeared and I hated it, at the time I didn’t care much for Ready and willing but soon swam back to the shore with Come and get it, but I’m getting ahead of myself, here we go…….again!

Whitesnake – Trouble    8.5/10.

I remember my brother getting the snakebite ep (in white vinyl oooooh the good old days) and I was hooked, then this album came out and I was hooked even more, I even like the Beatles cover, I loved the twin guitars of Mr Moody and Mr Marsden, I thought that the band was tight as a… , well I’m sure you get the picture Mr C was singing in a natural register and he wasn’t screeching his nuts off, I loved Martin Birch’s production and it had the added surprise of Jon Lord on Keyboards, what wasn’t there to like on this album nothing it was a little rough around the edges but that just added to its charm, was it going to smash sales records? no but it was a great start from  the band.

Whitesnake - Come and get it   8.5/10.

I had wandered away from the band, but this album brought me back to the fold, I’m not even sure why I hated Love hunter I just did, same ingredients, I simply didn’t care much for it I then tarred Ready and willing with the same brush, which in reality I shouldn’t have as it’s a great album, oh the joys of being a bigoted youth! Come and get it was again ten great songs, well played and well produced, and still singing in a lower tone, in reality the last true great record by the original band, Mr C started to tinker after this and although he started to sell more it was never the same.

Whitesnake – Slide it in     7.5?10.

This has its moments but also has its disappointing moments, Mr C was starting to cater to the USA, with a full remix just a couple of months after the original release, I know the line up changed there’s a couple of songs I don’t care  for Gambler is a weak opener it’s probably a poor b side if I’m honest, the three singles were all good and proved that the band were going in the right direction, the problem with this album, the good songs are great and the weak ones exactly that, watch the rock in Rio concert that the band played, with the band as a four piece and the potential is unbelievable, but in hindsight what we should have seen was that it was going to implode like it did!

 

Whitesnake – Restless Heart    9/10.

And then it went through the roof, superstar line ups, did I like the albums yes, I did, but I don’t think I rate them as much as the four that I picked, slip of the tongue was simply yuk, three decent tracks do not a great album make. I like Steve Vai but he was the wrong person for the band, then what followed was more faceless sidemen just taking the cheque. Until you get to this album, which upon release I avoided, simply because it was billed as Mr C and Whitesnake as it was going to be a solo album for him, I was gobsmacked when I first heard it and it was on continuious play once I listened to it, if its that good why only 9/10? it was going so well and then he had to blemish it with a cover, Stay with me baby is a pure car crash, horrible to say the least, what salvaged the record was when it was reissued after 25 years, and OMG it got even better but it still had the damned cover on it, the last great vocal by Mr C on this record after this he went off into dog whistle territory and simply ruined his throat, if he sang like this today he could go for another 25 years.

So, there you have it, probably controversial, but it is what it is, no 1987, I’m  simply bored with it, it’s a great album but too many repeat old tracks , Here I go again which is good as is crying in the rain, but its simply played to death, Sykes was awesome but it simply wasn’t to be, I’m expecting a bit of poison and bile over this one, it’s what I like I’m not saying the albums that like are worse or better it’s what I liked and still like now!