Monday, April 25, 2011

Dear Diary:1980 - April


April 1980 comes with a handful of calendar conundrums.....

Which era did ITV's Hollywood series cover (finished on the 1st)? I seem to remember it being the just silent/Sennett/slapstick age - but this may be because of a tie-in Harold Lloyd poster still in the loft.

Pelican Tennis (5th) - rings an unanswered bell

But 'snake, pub, fair' (13th) ? Not a clue!

Sinclair (9th) was the local bobby on the beat. A 'Mr Nasty' cut of copper, famously quick with his clips and fists, who on this occasion took to throwing me around the rose gardens (mostly trees and holly bushes in reality) by the throat - simply because he thought I was 'smirking'. Perhaps my God Save the Queen tee rattled him, or that we'd sometimes sing the Batman theme as he went barreling by on his boneshaker bike with the wind catching and flapping his cape.

'Gillow hit on head by roll' (22nd) could be where some sparky type threw a jam roll out of the school changing room windows, bouncing off of Andrea Gillow's noggin, only for a second sarney to land squarely on the head of a passing PE teacher. Whoops..class detention for that one (at lunchtime too - grrrr)

And it must be spring as local temptress LOTR seems to to be presenting again (18th)!


Singles added to the collection are: Devo, the Cockney Rejects brand of boot-boy of Oi and The Undertones. As a variant I'll post a lesser heard versh of My Perfect Cousin

The Undertones - My Perfect Cousin (demo)





Chartwise the top 75 is as Randomland as ever - 10 to 20  being a cross generational peppering of pop.And the albums *goes cross-eyed* John Cooper Clarke neighboring up with Martie Webb. And where did Bobby Vee come from!

Top 75 singles

Top 75 albums

The Bruce Lee double bill, seen at The Classic, Westcliff was my third trip to an X certificate. Previous peeps were Saturday Night Fever (age 12) Carrie/Pirhana (age 13)



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

On the 24th you had ideas for T-shirts? Did they turn out well?
Thrasher making an appearance again, ohh he does sound like a bad lad :-)

Mondo said...

Made a couple I think - a hand-drawn Who Killed Bambi one and put prisoner style arrows on a grey long sleeve shirt, trying to do my own versh of the Seditionaries Anarchy shirt

Piley said...

Great stuff! This ones choc-full isn't it. I see you played with Dave Williams telly game... some sort of Atari pacman or space invaders thing I'd guess?

Hollywood... I LOVED that programme. Funny enough, I was only thinking of it last month, as I read a Harold Lloyd biography, and bits of it reminded me of the series. Beautifully made, and narrated throughout by James Mason. You are right, it concentrated on the silent era of Hollywood. Would love to see it again, never repeated and never on DVD.

P

ally. said...

the life you live dear mondo ... although how you avoided defacing bates's smug mug is a mystery
can't wait for the next thrilling installment
x

Mondo said...

What's the Harold biog P - I've got a large format book/bio - bought 82ish from Terry's in Vic Circus. Be very tempted with your recommendation.

Wild ol' times aren't they Ally - I still can't bear Bates. Brace yersel' I think the Hairy Cornflake may be Mr May..

frankenslade said...

That version of "My Perfect Cousin" is very cool to hear. Driving to work this morning, thinking about tonight's final soccer practice of my boy's U14 team, this song and the video came to mind. Nice coincidence stumbling across this demo version just now!