Christmas Eve? Weird. It’s raining outside and grey and dreary but it’s not Christmas less your wrapped up in sweaters and tucked in bed with all the heaters on, and despite all the grey rain it’s still warm enough to walk around with a t-shirt on.
We’re still getting the house in order through the day, and early afternoon Broni’s mum and dad, with G_ pay us a visit. They’ve brought us everything else from Bathurst including a fridge – we’re nearly a house ‘cepting furniture still but they do bring the futon too, so now we nearly have a bed.
We feel great building up our new home slowly and gradually and we feel like we’re in a place we’d like to stay for a while.
As quick as they came they left, like a whirlwind and far too difficult for us to make head or tail of – that’s the Smith experience! But hey, dad Smith made an attempt to fix our washing machine but ended up running off with the pump to fix, that guy should slow down (though we’re very thankful for his efforts).
We finish off the day filling the fridge with food, eating some of it and slipping in a bottle of champagne just to see if the christmas spirit will make itself more clear.
2nd Apr 2021 – Since moving out of home, I forget which year – 1992 maybe – and meeting Bronwyn, we ended up living in 17 different places in the space of two years (including moving to the other side of the world). This house was no different as we only ended up staying for 6 months though I forget the reason we ended up leaving this one, maybe a rent increase. I know the next place we lived, an apartment in Gosford, on a hill overlooking the lake was a great place and I loved it there. The bathroom was windowless, stuck in the middle of the whole space and I remember drinking champagne and reading Homer’s The Iliad out loud whilst sitting in the bath. Alas we didn’t even make it through the six month contract in this place as we ended up back in the apartment in Allawah in Sydney.
Well, are you feeling festive on the first of the Christmas month? I’m sure confused because Christmas time normally means cold days, long nights and sifting around with the heating on. I’m currently running around in t-shirt and jeans and mostly less than that! Not much snow forecast in Sydney for Christmas I don’t suppose.
Anyway, after coming back from cousin Jan’s we attempted to park the car in the garage and scraped the front, taking off some paint, which we thought might cost us some to repair if they pick up on it when we return it on Tuesday. Oh well, nothing we could do about it.
After all the excitement of the beach on Sunday we had to get Broni into the city for a job interview, it turned out to be a bit of a waste of time as it was pretty much earmarked for someone else and they were just going through the motions of interviewing people anyway. It was interview practice anyway, for her interview in Newcastle, which is where we headed after that, this road will be as familiar to me as the Poole-London motorway soon, at least this road is a sight prettier.
We hoped to hit the beach but the weather turned from boiling hot sunshine to a dull mist by the time we got there. As we drove through I figured Newcastle seemed like a cool place to live, not too far away from Sydney and a little more relaxed than there. We planned to stay with Broni’s friend Christa and after bumming around town for a bit we went to her house, a Victorian looking terrace house about a hundred yards from the beach (lots of beaches here!).
Inside, the house just blew me away, it was huge, kinda deceptive from the outside cos it looked kinda squashed in there, though it did remind me of something out of Chelsea, London. So, inside Christa shows us around. The ceilings are high which give the impression of space, the floors polished wood, furniture sparse and functional, all clean and tidy, as we go we get to meet the rest of the household, Michael, who actually owns the place, he’s a doctor,Jim, who’s also a doctor and practicing surfing, so we agreed to get down to the beach sometime in the future, and Cathy who’s a physio and gave me that deja vu feeling that I’d seen her somewhere before. Christa is an occupational therapist, so everyone in the house is well paid and they’re having a ball, quite prepared though they were to share their good fortune with their friends.
The house goes down one floor to the kitchen and a bedroom and outside into a yard where Michael and Jim were making some mighty fine home brew (checked some they’d made earlier and it was good). Upstairs to more bedrooms and bathroom that included a spa bath and a shower that hung down in the middle of the bath with at least a seven inch head. Through another bedroom that lead out onto a front verandah that was shut off with big yellow storm doors, and upstairs again to an attic room that just about had a view of the beach left between the buildings that had recently been constructed. What an amazing place to live and incredibly cheaply too, these guys had really fallen on their feet. They all made us feel really comfortable and relaxed.
After much chat, me, Broni and Christa headed into town, in what was a dull rainy old night, though still warm enough for only a shirt, we hit the Thai restaurant and deluged ourselves with red curries and satay sauces. The pace in the whole town seemed really comfortable and more to my liking compared with Sydney, so we hope that Broni goes well in her interview, in fact Jim’s girlfriend is a speech pathologist at another hospital and gave us some inside information which could mean well for Broni, let’s hope so.
Off to bed, Broni sits up and revises, especially in light of this new information, and when she eventually turns out the light we lay awake for sometime before hitting snoozeland.
Bright and early risers with much on our minds, fingers crossed and all that, we say our farewells and thanks to our new friends and drive up to the hospital, which is set around beautiful bushland, the birds screaming mad messages at the edge of the car park.
Broni comes out about an hour later with a big smile, knowing she’s done well and in with a chance, now the desperate wait ’til they get in touch and advise us. We grab a local paper with houses for rent and other jobs for me advertised, let’s force our luck, hey?
We drive up to Peter and Paula’s house, which is another stylish house with an incredible view over the beach and the town, must cost a fortune to live up here. They feed us, Peter decides to help out by painting the scrape in the car, unfortunately it doesn’t work too well in the short time we have to fix it and he comes up with this hail’ brained scheme of covering the car in dirt and mud which he then proceeds to do, a little bit of oxide thrown in for good measure, we have to dash to get back to Sydney in time but on the way we start to feel guilty and stop quickly at a jet wash and hose off the offending dirt, leaving just a small trace of oxide near the scrape.
Gunning for home, hitting 140 on the flat, that’s k’s now, not mph ok, we break the sound barrier and arrive with a half hour to spare, run in and pay and run out again straight to the train station and onto a train where we sit back and relax.
We get some beer and wine and celebrate the night away, exhausted after these five free days, free to drive anywhere anytime and boy, did we, nearly a thousand k’s.
Well, that’s as much excitement as I could stand these days so I’ve spent the next two calming myself down a bit. And today, I’m gloriously happy, content with life and my long term buddy, Broni, and happy at all the fun I’m due to have, come and get me!
25th Mar 2021 – I remember none of this except the scrape on the car. I’m thinking it’s a good job I wrote it down but then wondering if I haven’t bothered to remember it much because I wrote it down? It is a lot of beers ago now though.
Searching for images to use for some of these posts throws out some really nice old old pictures. 1924 or 1994 – it’s all getting old these days.
Entries from 1994 are left as written, except fixing any typos. On reading these words again 24 years later I can see they don’t always form a great narrative structure and introduce people, concepts and ideas without any background. That may become apparent in future entries from this period and I’m also loath to add to this dialogue from the present – ‘knowing all the things I know’.
All written here dedicated for Steve Burgess R.I.P. 28/12/93
Many things have happened since Steve’s death. It was a shock to everyone. I remember when Rob called and Bronwyn called me from the other room, I could tell by her voice some had died and I initially thought it might be my mum. We were both in tears. And I was still getting over chicken pox. What a terrible Christmas.
We went to see everyone in Southampton on the 30th. We went to John and Selena’s. It was a funny atmosphere but we all had a few drinks and by the end of the night, we were pretty drunk. Selena spoke to Chrissy in the morning. She was still sad but seemed fairly positive. New Year’s Eve was the worst. I burst into tears several times with Bronwyn comforting me. I had a big cry and did feel better for it.
Things have been pretty quiet otherwise around this time. Thursday 6th was Steve’s funeral. It was very good (if that’s the right word). I’m sure everyone he knew was there. A lot of us went to the pub afterwards. It ended up with me, Bronwyn, Fatty, Rich, Rob, John, Selena, Gary and more (can’t remember). It got very emotional. I had a little cry and so did everyone else. Me and Fatty had a heart to heart as he was upset that I considered Steve my best friend – though we didn’t really resolve anything. Bronwyn suggested writing to him and after a day’s thought I did so.
On the Saturday me and my baby drove up to Southampton. We dropped in on Rich and Rob before going to Chrissy’s. I felt happy to be where Steve lived and didn’t feel uncomfortable in any way. I didn’t once think it was strange that Steve wasn’t there. There were lots of flowers and cards. Chrissy seemed very well. She’s been a lot stronger than I expected. Heaven knows how I’d feel if I lost my beautiful Bronwyn.
We went to pick up John and Selena. Selena said she felt a bit strange about going round but we convinced her it was going to be the best thing to do. I think people are worried about what to say to Chrissy. Chrissy just wants everyone to act normally. Rich and Rob were a bit worried about that too.
I took a bit of control in the evening by organising everyone (I consulted Chrissy all the time though), in the hope of relieving Chrissy from having to worry about people coming round. Selena phoned up Rich and Rob to get them to come down but she said Rich sounded a bit off on the phone. I snuck out and went and got them.
By this time pizza had arrived and a few drinks had been consumed. Everyone started to relax a bit and I think Chrissy was happy with that.
I had a chat with Amanda in an effort to try and get her to sleep!
Well, everyone got pretty drunk and had fun playing cards til 2 o’clock when everyone left and we went to sleep in Amanda’s room.
We spent all Sunday playing with Amanda. I think she enjoyed having a male adult around. I really enjoyed myself and had lots of fun though it was very exhausting. Steve said ‘The best thing you can do it have kids’ and I did find myself a bit clucky. Wow!
Rebecca’s a beautiful little baby too. What a shame she’ll never meet the man who fathered her and a shame he’ll not be able to watch her grow up. I felt attached in some way to Chrissy, Amanda and Rebecca and think it’s my way of hanging on to Steve.
I was sorry to leave Sunday night but happy to know me and Broni will be having our own kids someday. We talked virtually non-stop on the way home. I dropped the letter into Fatty’s too. Rang him up next day and he looks like he’ll definitely be moving out of there and we can move in. He said we should have a talk so we decided to go out on Thursday. I couldn’t tell from his voice if he was upset with me or not. He sounded kind of stern – like it was what we ‘ought’ to do. However, he seemed fairly chirpy otherwise which certainly is a change.
Spoke to Rob tonight about the poetry booklet and it could cost us a fair bit but feel it to be worthwhile. I’m writing an introduction which I think is fairly good even if I do say so myself.
Me and Broni had a couple of P.M.T. fights but we resolve things fairly quickly. I want to be more patient and understanding. I want to stop putting her down too I don’t even know I’m doing it. She’s great, really the best girl I could ever wish for. A true companion for the rest of my life. I’m pleased other people say this to me too.
Welcome to the first S.T.E. Bulletin of 1994. We hope you had a pleasant Christmas + have a Happy New Year. There’s been something of a cloud over us in the last few weeks, following the death of our close friend + THIRST guitarist Steve Burgess, between Christmas + New Year.
Suffice it to say all the columns this time are devoted to Steve + this + all future bulletins, are respectfully dedicated with love to Steve’s memory.
There are several benefit gigs being arranged, as a memorial + on behalf of the Wessex Heart Foundation. Watch these bulletins for details.
As always, we actively encourage people to get involved with the S.T.E. (in any capacity), so please get in touch. If anyone wishes to receive these bulletins on a regular basis then ask to be put on our mailing list. The Christmas gig raised £53 for Southampton Anti-Fascist Action, so thanks to everybody who contributed to that.
Cheers also to ONE BY ONE, KITCHENER, CHICKEN BONE-CHOKED, OLDER THAN DIRT, Chris, Mint, the Joiners staff, Tony, Pete Osmond + everyone who has supported us, we really do appreciate it
love + greetings. Rich/Rob/Paul…the S.T.E. Collective.
12th Jan 2024 – See the next few entries for other’s thoughts and recollections about Steve in this month’s STE Bulletin.
As midnight approached, there was a drought of happiness. Instead, a flood of tears, uncontrollable sobbing.
I sat on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket to ward off the cold chill of winter. It was two days ago that we were sitting here quietly sipping our coffees, Bronwyn still tending to my last few days of chickenpox. Oh yes, it has certainly been a terrible Christmas.
The phone rang and Bronwyn got up to answer it and I was hoping for a friendly voice for me to set upon my story of terrible illness, oddly proud of my survival and hardship. I wish that had been the case.
By her voice, I knew something awful had happened. It sounded like….like someone had died. She called me through her choking and sobbing.
Thoughts raced. My mum? Not my mum!
Bronwyn said, ‘It’s Rob.’
‘Oh, thank god, ‘ I thought, ‘it’s not Steve.’ Or did she mean that it’s Rob on the phone? Oh, those few seconds are so clear, all those thoughts whizzing around as I took the receiver, Bronwyn too distressed to talk.
‘Steve passed away from a heart attack, the day before yesterday.’ WHAM! It was, as you’d expect, like a ton of bricks.
25th December 1983 Well, it’s Christmas. The cat slept with me. Forgot to make my mum a cup of tea – was so tired as I didn’t get to sleep til 2. Had 2 and a half bottles of Merrydown so was very merry all day. Zoe called me and talked for one and a half hours. Cat slept with me again. Social Distortion – Mommy’s Little Monster Minor Threat – Out of Step MDC – Multi Death Corporations Menstrual Cycles – Skin/Punx
26th December 1983 See next diary
28th December 1983 Carrie’s on
Forward Engagements 6th January 1984 – Subhumans/Self Abuse/(maybe us)
SATAN’S CHILDREN SONGS Lyrics: BE DAMNED DECAY ENTER THE PIT POLYTECHNIC SONG IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW MANY REAGANS YOU SHOOT YOU”RE THE DEVIL NOW DOGSHIT DANGER GAS MASK DANCE BAUHAUS SATAN’S CHILDREN ABBATOIRS GOD AND LIGHT DICKHEADS ANONYMOUS DULCE ET DECORUM EST HALLSBALLS
Music and Lyrics: DOCTOR MARTEN BOOTS POLYTECHNIC SONG LOUIE LOUIE SATAN’S CHILDREN ABBATOIRS
Practices: 1
21 Dec 1983 Jan 83 – Simon sacked from Species Jun 83 – Species split Me, Justin, Simon got together and the idea born – Violent Rubbish Justin’s friend Paul Reid said he may be interested in playing guitar Aug 83 – Justin, Simon, Paul and Rick had a practice while I was on holiday. Sep 83 – Kenty persuaded Paul to leave 2nd Butcher gig at Capones – got Andy to be our guitarist Oct 83 – Had a practice at Herbert Carter Nov 83 – Tried to play at Cult Maniax gig – Andy had diabetes attack – changed name to Satan’s Children Dec 83 – Gig planned with Subhumans and Self Abuse – Jan Cliff may be joining
Record of the week: Crucifix – Dehumanization, Kraut – An Adjustment To Society
18th December 1983 Pissed off with Justin cos we should’ve had a practice Got pretty bored instead
19th December 1983 Started off bad – ended up alright – nothing special
20th December 1983 Found out Disorder is not on – bloody typical – depressed. Watched Rollerball – pretty violent, pretty crap
21st December 1983 Finish school – thank god Go to see Disorder, Amebix, Admass, Manic, Dead Popstars Silly day at school – bit of a laugh Watching the Fog tonight – not James Herbert – good fucking film
22nd December 1983 Records came thru’ post – can’t see them tho’ until Christmas (looked at them tho’ haha) Got letter from Zoe Not a bad day but nothing special Carol singers came round so I put on Chaos UK
23rd December 2023 Finished reading ‘The Book of Shadows’ Got to clean the yard – ‘my contribution to Christmas’ – Grandad Started reading ‘The Fog’ Listening to Kraut all day
24th December 2023 Intend to get pissed in Poole – did slightly Nearly got in a fight – all the trendy nouveau wankers were enjoying themselves. Had a chat with the blokes in Our Price. May this be my last Christmas.
29th Sep 2022 – And so we are here, at the mysterious back pages of the diary.
Record of the week: The Greedies – Merry Jingle
29th Sep 2022 – Phil Lynott from Thin Lizzy and Steve Jones and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols were the Greedies and this song is a fun, romping Christmas song but as with most Christmas songs, won’t hold up at any other time of year. I wonder what it is that makes people think to write a Christmas song? If it’s your last resort maybe it’s time to give up?
29th Sept 2022 – Paul Mariner, Mick Mills, Mick(?) Lambert, Bobby Robson, Trevor Whymark, Roger Osbourne, John Wark, George Burley, Paul Cooper, Kevin Beattie…the other faces are familiar but names stuck somewhere deep in the noggin. I’m going to go search the rest of the names as a reminder.
Frm Fidy tety sx nw cod i sudrtkn
29th Sept 2022 – Any codebreakers got this one? I reckon ‘From Friday Twenty Six…….” – any significance to the missing letters? Children and their warped minds.
Andrew said “I don’t think the FONZ is very interesting.”
29th Sept 2022 – Me trying to work out how to spell Leif Garrett, and yes, I had to look it up again just now.
Me —— Them Golf -8 —— -2 -2 —— -2 -3 —— -6 -4 —— -10
29th Sep 2022 – In my childlike imagination my bedroom was a golf course. Using one of our eating knives as a club and a marble as a ball, I devised a course around the bed, chair, floor, drawers etc.
I remember the knife well, it was one that was least favoured to be used at the table, it was the odd one out in the cutlery drawer. It had a cream handle, some kind of imitation ivory, bakelite maybe? Where the blade joined the handle had a small piece missing that added to its devious charm. The tip of the knife was an industrial semi-circle shape, with no pointed end as with our other knives. It was ugly. So it became my mini golf club and I loved it for that.
Of course, I just played against myself, labelling the scores Me and Them and generally always favouring Me, naturally.
When you chatted up the girl with the great big boobs I don’t make a fuss, I just kept me cool
29th Sept 2022 – The genesis of getting into writing lyrics and trying to make them outrageous as per my idols. I didn’t yet have the vocabulary and ability but genius (haha!) must start somewhere!
Bed (curtains) 2p Bricks 102p Make own tea 2p Make both teas 5p Make tea to drink 1p Collect coal 1p Collect wood 1p Extra jobs… 1p Depending how hard… 2p It is 3p and so on
29th Sep 2022 – Keeping track of potential earnings. No matter, I would always spend more than I earned, well into my late 20s. Some lessons take a long time.
Racing Kempton 1.30pm 10p stake 1. Be Better 8-1 80p Kempton 2.00pm Catechism 7-1
29th Sep 2022 – A minor interest in Maths, betting and odds developing. I soon realised what a con gambling is, though when I say soon, it probably took another ten years as I did usually put some money through the fruit machines of pubs I attended for a while.
29th Sep 2022 – Artistic skills don’t look particularly promising but that never stopped me from trying.
I want Sex Pistols book, LPs and Clash ‘Give ‘Em Enough Rope’, dartboard
29th Sep 2022 – I ended up with all these except the Clash album which I curiously never owned on vinyl and even now when I listen to it it still sounds fresh and new as many of those songs are not so familiar to me. Weirdly, I think I only ever owned the first album and Sandanista on vinyl and I’m not sure why I missed out on London Calling, which is also a little less familiar to these ears.
Friggin’ in the Riggin’ Ch. Friggin’ in the riggin’ (repeat two more times) Cos there’s fuck all else to do Stick glass up your arse (repeat thrice) Cos there’s fuck all else to do
The captain’s wife is Mable And when she’s fully able She’ll give the crew the daily screw Upon the mess room table The captain’s name is Dodo And he’s a lazy bugger He isn’t fit to shovel shit From one place to another
29th Sep 2022 – As Graeme Gray introduced me to the Sex Pistols through this song I would ask him to repeat these lyrics for me until I could remember them and write them down. Not accurate as expected but filthy enough to warp the precious minds of eleven and twelve-year-old potential brat-punks.
75m – 11.2
29th Sep 2022 – I was obviously pleased with myself for being a fast runner.
Chorus to Pretty Vacant We’re so pretty, oh so pretty -ow – Vacant (repeat) And now, we don’t careeeee!
Second verse and chorus to Silly Thing People here, people there People around you everywhere What you gonna say What you gonna do Now you’ve missed out once again But I thought you knew Ch. Oh, you silly thing You’ve really gone and done it now (repeat)
More songs Bodies There’s a girl from Birmingham She’s had an aboushtion She looks a screaming mess Screaming mess Fuck this, fuck that Fuck that fucking little brat She don’t want a baby like that I don’t want a baby like that She looks a screaming mess Screaming mess
29th Sep 2022 – More outrageous Sex Pistols lyrics. It’s really hard to comprehend what an impact this band had at the time. For folks like me, it has been a lifelong inspiration and influence that I am proud to be a part of. It all looks old-fashioned and pointless now so I’m forgiving of anything that kids are into these days and forgiving of those who were consumed within their own subcultures that were at pinnacles in the past. We don’t have to understand what they like but we can understand the feelings that it gives them.
RAD DID IT GRANDAD DID IT
29th Sep 2022 – I had an irrational dislike for my grandparents. Being a snotty kid around Victorian/Edwardian grandparents was never going to be easy. I did like them when I was smaller but perhaps they were more forgiving then too. I would soon be driving them crazy with super loud music and friends visiting for drinking parties. I never really reconciled with my granny (as I called her and my mum wished to be called by Hayden) before she passed but I was more sympathetic to my grandad as I got to my late teenage years. I was surprised to find out at one point that they were actually quite liberal and were members of CND. They weren’t quite so impressed when I showed them the lyrics to Crass’s What The Fuck but they did seem to get the sentiment.
This fucking’ little bastard Was a fuckin’ little burk He didn’t know what to do When he went to work
23rd Sep 2022 – The Beat were tied in with the Two Tone movement but were more traditional in their songs than the almost straight-up ska of the Specials and early Madness. The Beat trod a more poppy path than the Ruts and I’d argue even some Haircut 100 went down that path too and later this sound was brilliantly utilised by one of the best bands no one has ever heard of, Crane, who covered both The Beat and The Ruts at different times.
23rd December 1979 Wonder what I’ll get see 26 Dec 2p 2p 94p*
24th December 1979 Can’t wait 2p 4p 92p*
25th December 1979 WOO!! 2p 2p 88p*
23rd Sep 2022 – I believe in the afternoon of this Christmas, mum and I went to my Auntie Lorna’s house and it looks like my Auntie Shirley stayed at my house with my grandparents.
I thought my Auntie Lorna was quite sophisticated as her house had a lounge that went around the corner and the corner part had a lamp, table and cup holders. At this time my cousin Elise would have been about 10 I guess and she and I never got on, possibly because we just had different lives and the only thing that connected us was this odd tie of family.
Lorna was still married to Jim though that would fall apart over the next couple of years, I believe because of his infidelity but that is only what I heard. I liked him because he would play with me. Children make interesting judgements on adult’s characters. I would make fun of him because I discovered his middle name was Aloysius, which was (and is) an unusual name, so much so that I just had to look up how it was spelt. When I knew how much he hurt my auntie though I didn’t have such a great opinion of him and he disappeared from all our lives once they got divorced.
26th December 1979 Got Never Mind The Bollocks This pen, desk diary Book – I Like This Poem 2p 2p 84p*
23rd Sep 2022 – Boxing Day and the shops were open again. I’m not sure why but we made a special shopping trip to Bournemouth which was just amazing to me.
We parked at the Triangle which I would become more familiar with over time as it was the bus stop for buses from Wimborne and also you could usually find a parking spot here. It’s usually a nice walk down to the Gardens and to the record stores on the other side and up the hill. I have a clear memory of it being gloomy and cloudy when we arrived and then dark and rainy when we left, this was so magical to my little mind. I was in the big city at night time!
Bournemouth Gardens, down to the beach.
Bournemouth was so high class compared with sleepy Wimborne and the, as then, still unexplored Poole. At the record store, which may even have been a chain store such as Our Price, I convinced my mum to buy me the picture disc version of the Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks album. I was so proud, and, not being able to play it until getting home a few days later I stared at the live shot for hours.
27th December 1979 Don’t think there is any charts today Shirley sleeps in my bed Ha Hee Not charts 2p 2p
23rd Sep 2022 – Knowing that my Aunt Shirley would sleep in my bed whilst I was away I filled it with itching powder that I’d either received for my birthday or that Christmas morning!
28th December 1979 Get the car re-serviced Flooding Got a taxi home only to Horseshoes, had to walk through the water. 2p 78p*
23rd Sep 2022 – This was the year of the big flood and on the way from Ferndown to Holtwood, which isn’t too far, we had to slow down many times after hitting water that just looked like the road in the early dark of the evening.
I’ve seen images from the floods in 1979 but can’t find them now. This one is from around 2014 and shows what it was like driving through the waters. Imagine that at night time and not even being able to tell where to road turns to water.
We couldn’t even get directly home and had to go around through Gaunts Common and even then the depth of water was too intimidating for the taxi driver at Horseshoes. I couldn’t believe it. Mum said, Come on, we’ve got to get out and walk through the water!
The top of the hill, coming from Gaunts Common down to Horseshoes. It looks beautiful here and makes me want to go and visit again.
And me with my brand new unplayed copy of the greatest album in my world, that I hadn’t even listened to yet! The water came up to our waists and we held our bags as high as we could and at least it had stopped raining.
Record of the week: UK Subs – She’s Not There Highest entry: Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmas Time
9th Sep 2022 – How many singles did the UK Subs put out in one year? Rock bands these days are slow as fuck to do anything. ‘In my day’…haha – the punks were cranking this shit out month after month, no wonder there is so much great music from this time period. Of course, there was lots of shit getting cranked out too but let’s not talk about that.
Despite hating Christmas, Paul McCartney and Christmas songs, for some reason I really like the tune in this song. I mean, not so much I went out and bought it but at least I can find it somewhat unirratating. I suppose Mud’s ‘Lonely This Christmas’ isn’t a bad vocal melody too. You don’t hear that one so much though. And since living in Thailand, never heard again!
2nd December 1979 Not a lot happened give me self a new hairstyle 2p
9th Sep 2022 – I can’t imagine that this went well but this was the year of hair experimentation. It wouldn’t be long until Mr Gander sent me out of class to go and fix my messy hair in the bathroom. As a teacher now I can’t really imagine asking a kid to do that. Imagine messy hair being such a terrible affront to the possibility of learning.
3rd December 1979 did myself this… 2p
4th December 1979 week… 2p 6p
9th Sep 2022 – I seem to be just filling up the days with a sentence spread out a word a day, just so I could feel that I managed to write something every day.
5th December 1979 Got it Punk rocker in Coronation Street 2p
Mike refuses to get involved in an exchange trip to Charleville as the machinists are too busy. Renee returns from her mother’s. Suzie rouses Hilda into having a slanging match on the other side of the connecting wall to put buyers off No.11. Steve tells Ivy the Trades Council are organising a French exchange for five of the machinists. He realises he shouldn’t have told her when it’s too late. Suzie puts six buyers off the house. The factory girls challenge Mike about the French invite. He tells them he’s been too busy to tell them. Paul Haines, the estate agent, rings Suzie to tell her that he’s not happy with the way no one is interested in No.11. The machinists row over who’s to go to France. Mike isn’t happy with Steve’s attitude.
9th Sep 2022 – Punk goes mainstream. I don’t think any punk representation was portrayed in a particularly positive light though. Still not as bad as CHiPs or Dr Quincy would be.
6th December 1979 1. Police 2. Pink Floyd 3. Donna and Barbra 4. Dr Hook 5. Gibson Brothers 6. Tourists 2p 6p
7th December 1979 DO… 2p
8th December 1979 Ipswich 4-0 Man City 2p
9th Sep 2022 – Well, that’s a positive result to end the week on.
1994ever 