Off to see Cribs at Temple Newsam and Piece Hall next year! If you’re about, drop me a text and I’ll buy you a pint
I was walking into town c.1979ish for a few drinks with mates when a large car pulled up besides me. A door opened and this guy says 'Do you know the way to the Civic Hall?' Being naive |I said 'Yeah I'm gong that way myself. If you give me a lift down there I'll show you.' The door was opened and I got into this car with all these people I'd never seen before, but, fortunately for me we set off and I guided them down towards the Civic. As we travelled the short distance I asked them who they were etc.. 'We're The Specials and we've got a gig tonight' said one of em I'd never heard of the Specials at the time but it transpired they'd just released their first single and were plugging it. When we got out of the car I told them I'd show them the way up to the concert area and as they went through the bouncers/security I just said 'I'm with these guys' and walked througn with them. Free concert, a ride in the car with The Specials and also as it turned out some of my mates turned up and paid to watch em later. They were good anorl.
I think I may have been the first person to get thrown out of Whispers. I was at Barnsley Tec at that time and had all my stuff in a briefcase. As they were converting the building (garage?) to Whispers - I walked in carrying the briefcase and had a look around. This gaffer type of guy said - who are you? I said - I’m just having a look around, it’s looking nice int it? He then turned to two workmen and said - chuck this foooker out!
Japanese Whispers used to be Eyres Brothers Car Showroom and as a kid I used to deliver newspapers to them every morning. My paper round included a few shops and pubs dotted around the town centre.
I did ONC in Sciences at Barnsley Tech and one subject we had to do for an hour was called General Studies. Normally students did a crossword and paid little attention to the tutor but one occasion will stick in my mind forever. We had a student teacher introduced to us by the Principal. This guy must have been late 20s at most and he was teaching 18 year olds. Anyway, he decided that the subject matter for the lesson would be "swear words" and the reason why people decided they were offensive. He starts off by asking for some examples of swear words. There was total silence as we mulled it over, was this a trick? He then said, " Come on, I'm not going to be offended". So one guy shouts out, "Tw*t" and this teacher writes it on the blackboard. "Any more," he says. This was like a rallying call to the troops and there followed a torrent of abuse. C unt Fc uk Boll ocks Ar5e Pr1ck Fanny M1nge Piss And so.on were shouted down from the lecture theatre and he duly wrote them on the blackboard. No sooner had he said,"Why do people find this combination of letters offensive?" than in walks the Principal to see how he was going on. He took one look at the blackboard littered with expletives and said, "Could you come down to my office please ". We never saw that tutor again.
I got asked that in the 247 Disco which was held above the Cons Club. It was in the late 60s. I just said tell her no it's you I'm interested in. She just said oh okay and nothing happened after that.
After Summer Camp in USA four of us did the usual student tour on the Greyhound bus, taking in New York, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, New Orleans and Florida. It was what can only be described as a “budget” trip, with buses booked to travel overnight so we could sleep on the bus and avoid paying for B&B / backpackers lodges. First trip New York to Boston arriving 4am, and taking in a communal open air swimming pool so we could all get showered. Then onto the tourist haunts - and a failed attempt to get in the famous “Cheers” Bar. The Bouncers took one look at us, and said we couldn’t go in. To be fair we did look like a bunch of scruffs. As we were debating what to do next, a stretch limo pulled up outside. A sharply dressed man and his very elegant wife got out. No idea who they were, but they took a liking to our English accents, and sympathised with our predicament of not being allowed in the bar. “How about my driver shows you around Boston?” He told the driver to be back in an hour, but to give us a tour. We all climbed in, made ourselves at home. As the couple waved us off, they invited us to help ourselves to the minibar. Has to be one of the jammiest days of the trip! But there was also another rather lucky thing that happened when we got to Florida....