My Life In ... Films

The eighteenth in an occasional series of alternative Curriculum Vitae because no-one on their death bed says "I wish I'd spent more time in the office". 

FaceBook. July-2018.

Talking to the daughter of a friend in the pub, after debating favourite music artists, I realised this post has been sitting in draft for ages. So here it is...

Following a previous meme to nominate your 10 favourite albums [My Life In ... Albums], there followed another. "Dopo la musica non potevano mancare i film ! Quelli che vi hanno fatto ridere, piangere, pensare e che potreste rivedere in ogni momento*.  Top 10 movies ! Day n. I nominate no one. 

*[After music, movies couldn't be left out! The ones that made you laugh, cry, think, and that you could watch again anytime.]

Day 1 of the 10 day challenge: The Blues Brothers.

This was the first that popped into my head as I have watched it many times and it features many quotable lines. At one point we bought the Italian version and even without subtitles I pretty much knew every line.

My favourite quote is “Elwood: It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark. And we’re wearing sunglasses. Jake: Hit it.” 

Day 2 of the 10 day challenge: Die Hard. 

Obviously a classic Christmas movie. A cracking adventure movie with some of the best smart arse wisecracks. And the inevitable Bruce Willis stained and ripped T-shirt.

My favourite quote is “No fucking shit, lady! Does it sound like I’m ordering a pizza?”.

Day 3 of the 10 day challenge: The Shawshank Redemption.

Another movie we have watched over and over. The combination of Tim Robbins quiet and meticulous patience of Job combined with the incomparable voiceover from Morgan Freeman - great combo.

Favourite quote is “I’m known to locate certain things from time to time.” 

Day 4 of the 10 day challenge: The Terminator.

Some say that Terminator 2: Judgement Day is a rare example of the sequel bettering the original. That is probably a fair judgement (see what I did there) but I did see this one first so deserves it’s slot. What I like is Arnie’s ruthless determination as the ultimate bad guy and a heroine who shows some gumption.

Favourite quote is “Listen, and understand! That Terminator is out there! It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear and it absolutely will not stop… Ever, until you are dead!” 

Although an honourable mention should be given to the classic, “I’ll be back!”

Day 5 of the 10 day challenge: Back to the Future.

Another time travel movie and an absolute classic. I read that they filmed Part II and III back-to-back. The plot device of the protagonist seeing the same scene from different angles is a something I first saw way back in the early 80s at the National Film Theatre in an obscure Czechoslovak film called “Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea”. 

I have the BTTF box set, but only occasionally watch Part II and III as the original is sufficiently self-contained to stand on its own.

Favourite quote is "If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 mph, you’re going to see some serious shit."

Day 6 of the 10 day challenge: The Empire Strikes Back.

I saw this when it first came out in a cinema in Leicester Square. It was a group outing organised by Maureen who rushed off to buy enough tickets for a crowd of us to go and see it together.

The scene that really knocked me out was the section set on the planet Hoth. It was so convincingly real it was like they actually filmed on location on this distant ice planet!

Favourite quote is from Yoda “No. Try not. Do… Or do not. There is no try.”

Day 7 of the 10 day challenge: Blade Runner.

A visual treat - dark cyberpunk style and futuristic design proving an inspiration for many later films.

Favourite quote just has to be Batty’s final words, “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire of the shoulder of Orion. I’ve watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time.. Like tears in the rain... Time to die.”

Day 8 of the 10 day challenge: The Draughtsman‘s Contract.

A bit of an outlier this one I have only seen it a couple of times. The first time was at the Everyman in Hampstead in a sparsely occupied cinema and it struck me as both beautifully filmed and mysterious. It took the second viewing for me to really understand what was going on although that was secondary to the sheer visual treat.

I do not remember any quotes from the film, but looking up on IMDb one made me chuckle. "Why is that Dutchman waving his arms about? Is he homesick for windmills?"

Day 9 of the 10 day challenge: 2001: A Space Odyessy.

When this film came out my father, a die hard science-fiction fan, took us on family trip from Coventry to London to see this on first release in Leicester Square in CinemaScope with surround sound. A film that made a huge impact. Two things I remember vividly was the chattering sound of apes as they scampered off behind us in the auditorium and the scene where the hostess walks round in a hamster wheel style contraption to end upside down and it felt like the whole cinema was tilting. A very unnerving sensation on the inner ear.

Favourite quote is "Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL. HAL: I’m sorry, Dave I’m afraid I can’t do that."

Day 10 of the 10 day challenge: The Fifth Element.

A another visual treat and an entertaining plot with a nice mix of drama and humour.

I have always liked the concept of the four elements: fire, water, earth and air. Going back to the ancient Greeks and popping up again in mediaeval times with the paradigm of the four humours. 

Favourite quote is “Mul-ti-pass."

Looking back on the list the heavy science-fiction bias is very apparent. Hardly surprising as my father was a keen reader of sci-fi and growing up the family bookshelves were full of titles from the golden age of science fiction and formed much of my childhood reading.

Edy Hurst at Theatre by the Lake

Keswick, Cumbria. Friday 05-December-2025.

We booked to see Edy Hurst performing “Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Himself“. The central conceit of this performance is that Edy is a direct descendant of one of the witches of Pendle*. This means he has wizardly powers which is the cue for some hyperactive spell casting. Interwoven with this is an obsession with the Vengaboys 1999 album The Party Album and their female vocalist Kim Sasabone.

We ignored the first rule of comedy club which is "Don’t sit in the front row". So when the time came for a "volunteer" from the audience, he picked on me, front row right by the aisle. Fortunately, nothing too embarrassing. Edy proceeded to deliver an hour’s worth of magick entertainment in a slapstick style that can best be described as manic! It was all quite a hoot really.

* Read more about the Pendle witches at Lancashire witch trials. 

Pride and Prejudice at Theatre by the Lake

Keswick, Cumbria, UK. Tuesday, 18-August 2025.

As part of my second cousin Effie's visit to Penrith we organised a trip to our nearby Theatre by the Lake in Keswick for what was billed as an entertaining production of Pride and Prejudice performed in the round. It was part of an action packed day starting off with brunch at Bassenthwaite Lake Station followed by Surprise View for views of Borrowdale and Derwent Water and then a wander round Keswick which is a delightful market town. We then had a pre-theatre lunch at BarES.

The stage was minimalist with four pieces of furniture, however the acting was anything but minimalist. In fact it was at times hilarious. The production stuck pretty faithfully to the plot with all its coming and goings featuring a hysterical Mrs Bennet, a sanguine and sardonic Mr Bennet and well matched Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. We enjoyed it immensely and the professional reviewers agreed.

The Reviews Hub.com writes:

“Played as caricature and farce, this romp is deliciously funny. The more ridiculous characters become even more ridiculous; the more sober-sided characters simply add contrast. Joanna Holden as Mrs. Bennet takes histrionics to a new level, while Dyfrig Morris, as her saturnine husband, quietly ignores the hysterics. Jessica Ellis doubles up as ladette daughter Lydia, emptying the punch ball at parties, and the overbearing snob Lady Catherine, playing both extremes with due relish. Similarly, Ben Fensome makes Wickham a roguish charmer, but turns Mr Collins into the creepiest cleric to ever don a cassock”.

The Northern Arts Review writes:

“Austen is light and fun, but this production gave us some real belly laughs, well beyond the humour of the book. This was entirely due to the superb actors, not one of whom was anything other than faultless. Rosa Hesmondhalgh, as our heroine Elizabeth Bennet, captured the independent, carefree spirit of the character perfectly. Likewise, James Sheldon, as her antagonist, Mr Darcy, was wholly believable as the rugged but honourable gentleman. Together, their portrayals brought laughs and pounding hearts in equal measure. […] For me, this is an easy five stars. In fact, this is six out of five stars, as far as I’m concerned. The play was absolute perfection. If you love Jane Austen, you simply have to see this version. If, like me, you’re lukewarm at best, go see it and have your mind – and heart – changed.”

A hugely entertaining and enjoyable visit to the theatre.

Waverley Villages

Farnham, Surrey. Sometime in the 1980s.

Rummaging through the pictures on my Mac I came across a folder of pen and ink illustrations that my father did for a book of walks around the Borough of Waverley. 

Our childhood pet was a black cat called Max and many of his illustrations feature a small black cat making a cameo appearance.

01 Thursley. 

02 Wonersh.

03 Elstead.

04 Dunsfold.

05 Bramley.

06 Chiddingfold.

07 Ewhurst.

08 Tilford.

© James Michael McLellan 2025.

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Spitfire Girls at Theatre By The Lake

Keswick, Cumbria, UK. Wednesday, 26 March 2025.

Once again the Theatre By The Lake comes up trumps with an entertaining production of Spitfire Girls. We booked our tickets as soon as we read about they play and invited Mary's aunt to join us. We treated ourselves to pre-theatre tapas at Bar eS and then off to the theatre.

Sometimes I think they should only allow audiences in by seat number rather like boarding an aircraft. We were at the end of a row and the remaining audience members trickled in ending with the central couple last. We spent quarter of an hour doing repeated Mexican waves along the row!

The plot concerns two sisters during the second world war who sign up for the Air Transport Auxiliary partly for the excitement of doing something for their country and partly to get away from their stultifying life working for their farmer father. The play covers their induction, training, the people they meet, romances they have and what befell them later, told partly in flashback. 

We learnt so much about an aspect of the war that was previously unknown to us. The ATA used women pilots to ferry new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, maintenance units (MUs), scrapyards, and active service squadrons and airfields.

The play is very much carried by the two brilliant female leads with excellent support from three other members of the cast who play a variety of roles. A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Held on the High Wire at CatStrand

New Galloway, Scotland. Sunday 24-November-2024.

We first came across Myshkin as part of the Mike West Band at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival in 2001. We learned that she also performed solo and with her band The Ruby Warblers. She has such a fantastic voice that we followed her from afar and bought a number of her CD’s over the years. We then saw her again in 2013 when she appeared at the Green Note Cafe in Camden.

Little did we know that not long after her return to the hippie town of Joshua Tree, California later that year her partner, Jenny Q, was struck down with sepsis. Jenny then went through a terrible ordeal, suffering a period in a coma, great pain, multiple operations and the amputation of both her legs. 

Her experiences are documented in her book “Held Together”. This performance is based on that book and the music that Myshkin wrote during that period “Trust and the High Wire”. The title of this performance is a portmanteau of the book and album titles.

The performance consisted of narration interspersed with songs recounting that time. This was a harrowing but ultimately uplifting tale of the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity: sepsis, terrible pain, sudden disability, PTSD and subsequent addiction and cold turkey withdrawal from all the painkillers. 

It must have taken great courage to lay bare their souls concerning that traumatic period. Jenny explained at the end that she wanted to start a conversation: that amputees should not hide their prosthetics but wear them openly. She has beautifully decorated artificial legs. Also talking about PTSD and addiction should not be taboo but essential topics. 

To quote Myskin’s website “A candid, spellbinding multimedia performance that tells the story of Jenny's near death experience, sepsis survival, and new life on metal legs.” Read more about this extraordinary collaboration at myshkinwarbler.com.

As we were still a bit tired from a Saturday night birthday party we decided it was too far to drive back in the dark through Scottish country roads so treated ourselves to a stay in the Cross Keys Hotel just a few hundred meters from the venue.

The Hound of the Baskervilles at Theatre by the Lake

Keswick, Cumbria. Saturday 17-August-2024.

Mary spotted this piece of entertainment at Theatre by the Lake (TBTL) and thought we would take advantage of our Old Gits(™) bus passes and go for a matinee. That way we could get there and back for free. It also meant I could have a drink or three.

My father had two Sherlock Holmes omnibus editions, one of the short stories and one of the novels which I read multiple times during my teens so the tales are embedded in my brain. Not quite sure what I was letting myself in for based on the description but always game to have a go at another interpretation. 

This production was basically farce with a fair amount of slapstick thrown in and the fourth wall was not only broken but smashed to smithereens. All parts were played by just three performers with an emphasis on cross dressing in true Pantomime Dame fashion. It was all very clever and entertaining. 

Having been here a few times now and been impressed by every performance we feel lucky to have this gem of a theatre in our area.

Afterwards we had booked ourselves an early supper at Bar eS Tapas and had some time to kill before our reservation so went for a beer at The Crafty Baa. We had been to one in Windermere but this Keswick bar was a new discovery for us, a decent craft ale bar with a an extensive collection of bottle beers and half a dozen on draft. I had the stout and Mary went for a weiss beer. Neither us were particularly impressed by our beers, they were OK but nothing special. 

We have been to Bar eS Tapas before and we enjoyed a selection of dishes, five between the two of us was their recommendation though we did add a sixth and had no trouble finishing them all.

After the meal we had time to wait for the next bus so we went into a nearby wine bar which we had not tried before: Lake District Wine. It describes itself as a tasting room and shop. You can buy by the glass and they also offered the option to buy a bottle off the shelf and pay corkage. I had a Puglian Appassimento and Mary had an Alvarino. Too late we noticed that they offered a tasting flight of three wines so next time we are in Keswick we will give that a try.

Then it was back home on the bus having had a very jolly afternoon and evening out. 

My Life in ... Theatre Programmes: The College Years

The seventeenth in an occasional series of alternative Curriculum Vitae because no-one on their death bed says "I wish I'd spent more time in the office"

Recap: Over the years, I have kept just about every theatre programme for every play, dance, performance. The bankers’ box full of programs had grown over the years into two boxes and travelled with me from home to home. The vinyl collection mostly went in 2015 as part of a downsize, the theatre programs were next on the list. I looked at selling them on eBay, as many other people have done, but the effort involved and the prices they would fetch meant it just was not worth the effort. So what I did was scan them, mostly just cover page and cast list. Then off they went to the recycling bin. Exceptions were programs where I knew one of the performers or they were particularly significant productions.

Scanning old theatre programmes is like watching your life flash before your eyes but v-e-r-y slowly. 

Oxford years.

In the four years at Oxford my attendance at the arts was eclectic as is only right and proper at university with everything from Gregorian Chant to Karlheinz Stockhausen with a fair number of theatrical productions thrown in. As I am missing a number of ticket stubs and programmes I am indebted to the geeks and fans of the internet for supplementing my memory.

Oxford University Film Society (1971/1972) My introduction to many classic films including Throne of Blood, Metropolis, Casablanca and the overlong, pretentiously arty Chelsea Girls by Warhol.

Oxford University Orchestra at Oxford Town Hall (01-December-1971). Mozart, Beethoven and Walton. I do remember that one of the percussionists was a red haired biochemist called Arabella who I also saw in another, undocumented concert, playing a brass instrument - versatile lady.

Clerks of Oxenford at Magdalen College Chapel (04-March-1972). Thomas Tallis and a load of 13th century music.

Karlheinz Stockhausen at the Oxford Union (May 1972). I saw Stockhausen when he gave a talk at the Oxford Union [Part 1, Part 2 Part 3]. We were up in the balcony which is where the cheap seats were because we were on a student budget. Stockhausen looked at the almost empty stalls and invited all of us seated upstairs to come on down. So we got excellent top price seats for next to nothing.

Conduct Unbecoming at the Belgrade Theatre (16-May-1972). Well I had the programme so I must have seen it.

Hawkwind at Oxford Polythechnic (10-June-1972). We went as a group to see them and hear their new single "Silver Machine". Two things I remember from the gig were:

• The roadie doing the sound check didn't bother with "One, Two, Testing". He just went "One, One, One, ...".
• They had a large, naked lady dancing on the stage who Google informs me was Stacia.

Julius Caesar at RSC Stratford (Summer 1972). My first time seeing a young Patrick Stewart (the next was nearly 40 years later in Waiting For Godot with Sir Ian McKellen). Given the venue it would have been a family outing organised by my parents during the summer holidays. Of course back then the cast names meant nothing to me (Corin Redgrave, Margaret Tyzak, etc.) such is the wisdom of hindsight.s

BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall (26-July-1972). This was my first ever Proms with a programme of Mozart, Stravinsky and Bruckner.

• Mozart Symphony No. 38, in D major (Prague)
• Stravinsky Capriccio for piano and orchestra
• Bruckner Symphony No.3, in D minor.

Hertford College Music Society (05-November-1972). My first encounter with the lovely and ever popular "Lark Ascending" conducted by a very young Simon Rattle.

King Crimson at New Theatre (25-November-1972). We were into prog rock and bands like Yes, Soft Machine, Kevin Ayers, The Bonzos. One of our group had the classic album In the Court of the Crimson King. I remember little of the actual gig but a bootleg recording is available at DMG.

Fellow student from my primary school. Catherine Bott in As You Like It at the Talisman Theatre (1972) and again in Venus and Adonis at King's College, London (1974).

 

Fellow student from my secondary school. Jane Broughton Perry in
Androcles and the Lion (1972).

 

... and Saksoon at Teddy Hall (1973).

Schola Cantorum Oxoniensis at St Edmund Hall (17-February-1973). Renaissance music, mostly 16th century.

Jesus Midsummer Ball (1973). A Commemoration ball is a formal ball held by one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in the 9th week of Trinity Term. They start late and go on to the wee small hours. I felt I could not miss out on going to one of these so I asked my friend Jane to be my guest. We saw Steeleye Span and I remember watching Magical Mystery Tour through a slightly alcoholic haze.

Plan and timetable.

Plays at Various colleges (Summer 1973). Many of the colleges had amateur dramatic groups who put on plays during the summer term when I could easily see three performances per week. There were no exams at the end of the second year so it felt like I was a liberty to study less and enjoy more.

• Androcles And The Lion - Regents Park College 
• Dom Juan - Brasenose
• Hadrian VII - Keble Collge
• Mandrogola - Magdalen
• Pericles - University College 
• Volpone - Lady Margaret Hall
• Saksoon - St Edwards
• Caravaggio Buddy - ?
• Hay Fever - Keble College
• Peer Gynt - Merton College
• Richard III - Brasenose College
• Six Characters - Jesus LMH
• The Cocktail Party - Oriel St Annes
• The Fall And Redemption Of Man - Teddy Hall
• The Flies - St Catz
• The Mad Islands - Wadham College
• The Seventh Seal - Magdalen
• Toad Of Toad Hall - Oriel College
• Venus And Adonis - Kings College

Gregorian Chant (venue and date unknown). One of the more esoteric concerts. Strange to hear Latin spoken with a pronounced American accent.

Ballet Rambert at Oxford Town Hall (date unknown). All I remember is one dance where the dancer wore a brightly coloured cloak which was repeated whipped away to reveal another colour underneath. Or I may have just imagined that.

Mayfly Festival (01-May-1974). It was a small two or three day concert in Oxpens Meadows in Oxford. I have no memorabilia but I believe I must have attended in 1974 because one of my college mates was a huge fan of Gong, Hatfield & the North and Henry Cow. and one of the acts was the Virgin All Stars comprised of members from all three bands.  

It was a lovely sunny day is about all I can remember. I also remember one of the performers saying that he rehearsed and rehearsed so that what you heard when you saw him live was as close as he could make it to the studio album. I am convinced that it was Kevin Ayers but I can find no evidence on the internet of his performing there so perhaps I imagined it was him. Or it may have been some other artist.

Kevin Ayers et al. at The Rainbow (01-June-1974). I do not have the programme but I do have the vinyl as the concert was released as an LP. It was with Pete from college plus Pete’s friend Graham. Graham lived in Greenwich where he ran GAS ((Greenwich Audio Services). He had an amphibious car and a Messerschmitt bubble car that he gave me a lift in to the concert. You whizz along with your bum just inches from the tarmac - scary! 

"The album is officially attributed to all principal performers Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico, although other well-known musicians, including Mike Oldfield, Robert Wyatt, and Ollie Halsall, also contributed to the concert." [Wikipedia]

That is a fair old mix.

My Life in ... Theatre Programmes: The School Years

The seventeenth in an occasional series of alternative Curriculum Vitae because no-one on their death bed says "I wish I'd spent more time in the office"

Recap: “Over the years, I have kept just about every theatre programme for every play, dance, performance. The bankers’ box full of programs had grown over the years into two boxes and travelled with me from home to home. The vinyl collection mostly went in 2015 as part of a downsize, the theatre programs were next on the list. I looked at selling them on eBay, as many other people have done, but the effort involved and the prices they would fetch meant it just was not worth the effort. So what I did was scan them, mostly just cover page and cast list . Then off they went to the recycling bin. Exceptions were programs where I knew one of the performers or they were particularly significant productions.

Scanning old theatre programmes is like watching your life flash before your eyes but v-e-r-y slowly.

I have seen things you people wouldn't believe...”

The School Years.

As a child / teenager my theatre and concert going was very much down to the beneficence of my parents, Dad specifically as the sole breadwinner growing up. I received a modest amount of pocket money just sufficient to buy myself some treats down at the sweetshop, a jamboree bag or sherbet dab. Once I reached 16 I started earning money over the summer as an archaeological digger which expanded my options.

Looking back my dad was a pretty cool dad. 

Toad of Toad Hall at the Belgrade Theatre (1961, age 9). The very first ever performance I went to as a child, age 9, was Toad of Toad Hall at the newly built Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, which made an impression on a young child not least because of the vertiginous aisles. What I did not know until many years later, when we went to see an evening with Ian McKellen was that I had seen him right at the start of his career in his role as chief weasel! 

Startime at The London Palladium (1964, age 11). I also discovered a programme from a visit to London where I saw Tommy Cooper and Cilla Black at the London Palladium in 1964. As I was 11 that must have been thanks to my dad and a trip to the big city. I remembered nothing of that trip so this programme came as a complete surprise! 

Maybe that is why I am now a big fan of Tommy Copper. 'Spoon, Jar, Jar, Spoon'.

Cilla would have been in the charts with "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and headliner Frankie Vaughan with "Hello Dolly".

The Great Siege of Kenilworth - 700th anniversary (1966, age 13). I was keen on archaeology and history in my teens. I was a regular visitor to the castle as local residents got in for free. The 700 year anniversary celebrations were right up my street. I had the original souvenir programme and recently unearthed a forgotten set of photos. 

Caesar And Cleopatra at the Belgrade Theatre (1967, age 14). My first ever Bernard Shaw play but certainly not the last. 

Mother Courage and Her Children at the Belgrade Theatre (1967, age 15). My first ever Bertolt Brecht play and not one I'd care to repeat. I remember it as tediously long and boring but then I was only 15 and probably failed to appreciate it fully.

Roy Liechtenstein at the Tate (1968, age 15). This was another trip to London to see an extensive retrospective of one of the greats of Pop Art. It made a big impression on me.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, age 15). Not theatre or music but a memorable outing nonetheless. Dad took the whole family down to London, from Kenilworth, in order to see 2001 in CinemaScope in Leicester Square. It was the IMAX of its day, with full stereophonic surround sound. I still remember the sound of the apes behind me as they ran off and the unsettling effect on the inner ear as the stewardess walked upside down.

The Magistrate at The Chichester Theatre / Moon Landing (1969, age 16). This was part of a father and son weekend away, just me and dad. We stayed in a B&B near Chichester the weekend of the first moon landing. During the day we went to see Fishbourne Roman Palace and that night stayed up late to watch the Apollo 11 moon landing live. Looking back I realise it must have been as thrilling for my dad as he was a lifelong reader of science fiction and this was history in the making. The next day we went to The Chichester Theatre to see this production starring, amongst others, Tamara Ustinov (Peter's daughter) and Alastair Sim.

Midsummer Night’s Dream at RSC Stratford (1970, age 17). Peter Brook’s production of The Dream was simply magical: the white stage set, the primary colours of the costumes, the eerie whistling noise made by the fairies whirling wind pipes.

Now we enter the zone where I had money from my summer job as an archaeological labourer and could buy my own tickets.

Isle of Wight Festival (1970, age 17). I saw some of the most famous and influential bands and acts in musical history including Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, The Doors, Miles Davis, the list goes on. Sadly I remember very little. I think much of this was due to my musical illiteracy at 17. If they hadn't appeared on Top of the Pops I wouldn't know who they were and so did not appreciate who I was listening to. Full blog post: Isle of Wight Festival 1970.

Tyrannosaurus Rex at "Castle Rock" (Saturday, June 5th 1970, age 17). My first ever T.Rex gig. Full write up at Castle Rock feat. Tyrannosaurus Rex. At least I think it was my first ever Tyrannosaurus Rex concert. There was an earlier gig at Birmingham Town Hall but I have no ticket stub nor diary entry so I may have imagined being there.

Tyrannosaurus Rex at Birmingham Town Hall (Wednesday, 14th October 1970, age 18). The tickets were a very modest 10/- (ten shillings or 50p in decimal).

Incredible String Band at Birmingham Town Hall (1970?, age 18). I have no record of the exact date but it featured Licorice Mckecknie on bass. The internet suggests several possible dates but Saturday, 31 Oct 1970 is the most plausible.

Lancaster Polytechnic Arts Festival (January 1971, age 18). Curved Air featuring the lovely Sonia Christina followed by Monty Python live. A full write-up in this post: Lanchester Arts Festival 1971.

T.Rex at Birmingham Town Hall (Tuesday, 16th February 1971, age 18). I was in the orchestra gallery, unreserved seats behind the stage, so really close to the band. Also pretty close to the speakers so it was really loud.

Edgar Broughton Band, Pink Fairies, et al at Warwick University Arts Festival (March 1971, age 18). I went to the performance of Stravinsky's Mass followed by some drummer who did a 25 minute long drum solo. Later the same evening it was the turn of local group the Edgar Broughton Band featuring their hit single Out Demons Out. On the Sunday I went to see the Pink Fairies. There was no seating so the audience sat on the floor. The music was painfully loud, so much so that I had to lie flat on the floor to get some shielding from the people in front of me. 

Image courtesy of Trev Teasdel.

Then I went up to college and a whole new chapter began.

John Bishop at O2 City Hall

Newcastle, England. Sunday 12-May-2024.

When we saw that John Bishop was touring and appearing in Newcastle it was an obvious event to go on to after Edinburgh. The last time we saw him in 2017 when we were down in Bournemouth and made it a weekend with my second cousin.

He was just as funny as the first time we saw him so we had made a good decision!

Apparently it is national deafness awareness week, and so John had a sign interpreter, translating his routine for the benefit of the deaf members of the audience. After about half an hour, he then handed over to a deaf guest comedian and the signer’s role was reversed; he translated the comedians sign language into speech for the hearing audience. The guest made some comedic mileage out of the dumb things that hearing people ask, and the misunderstandings that can occur when trying to mime certain actions that also happened to be ESL words!

There was an interval, and the second half was all John Bishop doing his usual storytelling observational style of humour. Amongst that, he gave us some behind-the-scenes description of the making of TV programs he has appeared in recently: “Who do you think you are”, “DNA Journey” (with Hugh Bonneville) and Dr Who.

Like many other excellent comedians, he is very adept at repeatedly returning to earlier themes even impromptu ones introduced by conversations with people in the front row.

After the show we wandered about in search of somewhere for one last drink. To our surprise a lot of Newcastle, famous as drunken, riotous town, was remarkably quiet with most places closed. On the way back to the hotel we found The Beehive Pub which was fine until exactly 11 o’clock when the staff became very loud and shouty about drinking up and leaving. We were not impressed at the way they chivied us out. Apparently there is no longer such a thing as “drinking up time” in England and Wales, but Scottish law still allows 15 minutes for you to finish your beer before being ejected from the premises.

Still I did get to try a local Newcastle boutique gin to round off a very enjoyable night.

Lanchester Arts Festival 1971

Lanchester Polytechnic. Sunday 31-January-1971.

One of the earliest gigs I went to in my youth was a very memorable double bill of Curved Air, featuring the lovely Sonja Kristina, followed by a late night show of Monty Python live.

Googling, I found a number of copies of the timetable online, clearly all the same image scanned once and borrowed multiple times as they all had identical tick marks against various events. I thought my own copy was long gone and was very pleasantly surprised to find it towards the bottom of my box of old theatre programs (See My Life In ... Theatre Programmes: Intro).

A simple, one-page, double-sided flyer, this is my copy.

Timetable.

Visiting my sister earlier this year, she reminded me that she had accompanied me on this outing which I had forgotten! Just as I was leaving, she rushed up with a copy of the full program which she remembered she had somewhere in her archives. So I present here selected pages and, available to download, the PDF of the complete program.

The "Mixed Media" event was a couple of poets, most memorably Ivor Cutler who had been featured on the John Peel radio show on a number of occasions followed by Curved Air, featuring the electric violin of Darryl Way and a lead vocals from the enchanting Sonja Kristina. I must have also heard Curved Air on John Peel's show as the single Back Street Luv had not yet hit the charts. I certainly had their debut album, Air Conditioning which was released the previous November.

First up Curved Air.

Text:

Sunday 31st January

CURVED AIR.

Curved Air have been together since March 1970. Sonja Kristina, violinist and singer, Francis Monkman on lead guitar and keyboards, lan tyre on bass guitar and Florian Pilkington-Miksa as percussionist have adopted what is currently a very dynamic stage act, using "see-through" perspex guitars. They were chosen by "Hair" composer Galt McDermott to play the music for his "hate-rock" musical, "Who The Murderer Was", they then played at the Pop Proms and have one L.P. entitled "Air Conditioning", which is selling in enormous quantities.

I saw Ivor again some years later at The Roundhouse but that is for another post.

Text:

IVOR CUTLER

Ivor Cutler is a Scottish poet. He has two books, "Gruts" and "Cock-a-doodle-don't", and is at the moment writing books for children. His poetry has appeared in many newspapers and magazines, he has appeared on television and radio as well as at the Edinburgh Festival. He composed the music for Ken Russell's T.V. production of "Diary of a nobody" , and has made several records. He appeared at LAF70 amidst wild scenes.

Addenda: Appeared in "Magical Mystery Tour" as Buster Bloodvessel.
Books: "Meal One", out in April 1971.
"A Seal is a Sheep without Feet" (Poetry) out 1971.
Discs: "Life in a Scotch Sitting-room”, vol. 2.
Also an L.P. with Julie Driscoll singing Ivor Cutler.
Concert: Albert Hall 28th January with Soft Machine.
Bogs Paper: Poems and Cartoons in 'Wipe', the illustrated Bogs Paper.
Dial-a-Poem: Reading his poetry on 01-836-2872 from noon 22nd to noon 29th December 1970.
Teach-ins: available for free African-type drumming, creative poetry, drama etc.

At the end of the concert, a large percentage of the audience walked across the road en masse to see Monty Python live in a midnight show in the Belgrade Theatre chanting, as a mob, "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye" [*]. Many of the audience were wearing knotted handkerchiefs on their head in the style of D P Gumby with cries of "My brain hurts!"

* "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam.

The Pythons did very few live shows. I feel privileged to have been in the audience on the first night of their first ever live show and see many of their famous sketches performed on stage, including the incomparable Dead Parrot sketch.

The Pythons were on at midnight and Jane and I had cheap seats up in the gods.

Text:

LATE NIGHT

SUNDAY JANUARY 31st FOR THREE DAYS 12 Midnight

MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS

WHO'S WHO

PENIS. Sir Arthur. Philosopher and flamboyant. b. 1902 d. 1938.
PYTHON. Montagu. (Monty) Impresario. b. on probation 1907 and again a year later. Only son of Mr. and Miss Samuel Python. Educated Harrods and Trinity Bldgs Camberwell. Founder of Monty Python's Flying Circus. (q.v.) Ex-poet, ex-Lumberjack, ex-Parson, ex-King Zog of Albania. Has recently co-produced a film "And Now For Something Completely Different", based on the life story of Tony Hateley, adapted by Ann Hayden-Jones and her husband "Pip"
PYTHON. Monty's. Flying Circus of. Founded by above. First sold to BBC TV in May 1969 as part of the deal that took David Coleman to Sport. (From Philosophy).
Containing, in height order:
CLEESE, John. The tallest. Voted Rectum of St. Andrews instead of Derek Nimmo. (TeeHee) He is reading a book which has no pictures in it.
CHAPMAN, Graham. Dr. 'The Mad Medic of Mirth" (Spotlight) "Scunthorpe has never laughed so much" (The Stage) A few weeks still available in July.
IDLE, Eric. The third tallest. Favourite colour, Black. Favourite acid, sulphuric. His ambition is to become an all-round family entertainer
PALIN, Michael. Writer/performer. Winner of Best Perf. Gent. 1962, Sheffield Co-op Drama Festival. (Honest). Married to Terry Jones. Michael is coloured.
JONES, Terry. Writer/delinquent. Interested in the Underground. Lives just South of it. School Gym Captain. Only went to Grammar School.
GILLIAM, Terry. Draws the pictures, and will be learning to write soon. He is an American and refuses to get out of Vietnam although he has been told repeatedly.
All five have previously written for David Frost Shows and wish to apologise publicly.

This is the first time Monty Python's Flying Circus has ever been performed on the stage. So there.

Text:

MONTY PYTHON'S QUIZ

1) What have the following in common? a) Moshe Dayan. b) Sammy Davis Jr. c) The Nawab of Pataudi.
2) Edward Heath is a What?
3) Who wrote "The gushing leaves that through the argent windows blush"?
4) Can you name seven planets?
5) Which of the following is not in Asia? Lahore, Singapore, Dacca, Bangkok, Coventry.

1) They're all foreigners.
2) A bachelor.
3) I did.
4) Smartass.
5) Coventry (All the rest are in Asia).

A SHORT HISTORY

The cast of Monty Python's Flying Circus met up through the medium of Oxbridge. John Cleese studied at Cambridge with Graham Chapman and took part in "Cambridge Circus" with Tim...

... Brooke-Taylor. Michael Palin was at Oxford, Eric Idle at Cambridge where he took part in the Pembroke "Smoker" revue club, started by Peter Cook, and the University Footlights Society. John and Graham resumed their writing partnership on the Frost Report and collaborated with Tim Brooke Taylor and Marty Feldman on "'At Last the 1948 Show".

John Cleese married Indianapolis-born actress Connie Booth in 1968 and took the next 15 months off to nurse a pulled muscle (the two events, he claims are quite coincidental), but he and Chapman joined Terry Southern, Peter Sellers and Joseph McGrath on the screenplay for the "Magic Christian". They were also ...

... co-authors, with Peter Cook and Kevin Billington of "The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer"

Michael Palin is best known on television for his brilliant compere/introducer scenes. He and Terry Gilliam, the American animator in MPFC, responsible for the weird and wonderful collage-animations, met up with Eric Idle on Rediffusion's "Do Not Adjust Your Set" and went on contributing to "Frost on Sunday" and the first Marty Feldman shows.

Eric Idle has written scripts for "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again”, “The Frost Report", Roy Hudd and "Do Not Adjust Your Set". He wrote the screen play for a feature film with Roy "Albert Q.O.S.O." and contributed to London Weekend's "We Have Ways Of Making You Laugh".

It would be fair to say that Monty Python's Flying Circus was initially moulded around a personal admiration in each individual for Spike Milligan and his anarchistic, irrelevant humour. It is not in the true sense satirical but amazingly amusing and captivating.

"As I remember it what a night!".