Your Day (apart from gardening) - what took place?

Glad you liked it. I have a few Carpenters albums. That's on the "Now and Then" album.
I bought that because it is covers of 60s classics.

This is the original Shelly Farbares version. I have that in one of my vinyl jukeboxes.



The song got revived in an episode of TV's "Shoestring," starring Trevor Eve decades ago.

 

I started collecting the carpenters with the singles album, think it was 1975.
Found that they were just right for me to sing to them, it went from there.
I managed to see that video of the original Shelly farbares, think it was good, but Karen carpenter was just as good.Had turn off my phone and start up again. It didn't work the last time.

 

In 1959, still in our teens my future wife and I moved into a flat in Soho above a milk bar.
Actually it wasn't quite in Soho it was at the top end of Shaftesbury Avenue, but near enough.
Ronnie Scott's (he died in 1996), first club was only a few hundred yards away, which we joined when it opened that year. It cost 7/6d to join, now at his second club it's over £300.

We spent several week-day evenings in there as I've always been into modern jazz and "my future wife feigned a similar interest." Anyway, she was happy as she was with me and it was free entrance for members and warmer than our flat.
One night, Ronnie who we knew reasonably well as we did Stan Tracey the house pianist, during a break between sets, dragged a Dansette record player into the middle of the small dance floor, announcing, "You must hear this new record!" We expected a jazz import from the States. But he proceeded to play three tracks from this.




Peter Sellers was very popular back then.

 

Not wishing to prolong the agony, as it wasn't a golf day, I had a go at playing "Johnny Angel" again this morning.
I hadn't played it in years, so I had to remember the chords as my original recording I'd busked anyway.

"I rounded up the neighbourhood kids to sing in the second chorus."

Seriously, I'm amazed at the progress in the technology of modern "work stations" as "leccy pianos" are now described. Amongst the multitude of different instruments there are 70 different choir "sounds." This is a combination of two of them.

 

This reminds me of when I was in my teens. In my first job, I worked for a company based in Regent Street. So I and a few other kids who worked for the same firm would often walk into Soho after work. I was never particularly enamoured of British pop singers who for the most part copied American singers. We much preferred to play the jukeboxes in the many coffee bars, which had a good selection of American recordings. One evening we were walking up Old Compton Street and as we passed the 2i's someone we knew was coming out. I'd never been in there, it looked very unsophisticated from the outside, more like a working man's cafe. The best and most attractive coffee bars were owned mostly by Italians.
Anyway, we asked him who was "on" in there, he replied;

"Some rubbish singer, but he's finishing at the end of the week and they've got Joe Brown next week."
I said I quite liked Joe Brown, because at least I thought he was original.
The "rubbish singer," to whom he was referring was of course... Cliff Richard!
I never bought any of his records.

 

That's amazing.

 

Knew all those, though our favourite was the Chapingo. The "working girls" liked that one too, they'd come in for a coffee when they were on their "break."

One memory remains of a basement coffee bar called The Martinique. It was behind Oxford Circus. Yards from where we worked. It had a very distinctive Caribbean decor and dark atmosphere.
But it got sold and the new owner completely changed it, had brighter lights installed, mirrors all round the walls, more like a Wimpy. It was owned by an obviously Jewish middle aged man and his very attractive daughter acted as a waitress. (The only reason we went in there for a while after it changed hands). It was very quiet if we went in straight after work around 6.00pm. I remember once him calling out to her. "Loretta, you've brought back two coffee cups and only one spoon!"

Which brings me on to Arcoroc crockery. (I may have mentioned this before)

These were the most common form of crockery used in coffee bars at that time.

I had a hard job finding this photo.



These were quite spectacular, as if you dropped one it would smash into thousands of pieces.

We used to pinch these occasionally, I say we, but usually it was the teenage office girls who worked with us few boys. We'd casually lower the cup and saucer into their straw baskets which went everywhere with them. They were like a big flat sombrero when open on the floor, but as you lifted them up by the two handles the "brim" closed and hid the contents, when we were ready to leave.

So we all had them for our work-place coffee breaks, much nicer than the thick pot cups and saucers provided by the firm. One of the girl's bosses once asked her if he could have his coffee in a cup and saucer like the one he'd seen she had. She replied, "Yes you can, if you go and pinch it from a coffee bar." He was quite shocked.

 

Very few "souvenirs," remain of my youth. A few years ago my wife finally threw out my 1pt mug which had "Hand in Hand" (Wimbledon Common) etched on the side.

 

Once I applied for the job a greenkeeper at the Warren Golf club in Eltham. Past training etc I had all that was required. It was a Sunday morning. I arrived at the clubhouse and was introduced to the committee. I'd already summed up the situation. No way was I going to be supervised by a group of boozers. I accepted a pint and questions were asked. Hey ho! I'd got the job. Honestly, no way could I see myself working happily here. Then thankfully one member piped up. So, Mike,Mr Allen. Are you a golfer? I suddenly came alove. NO, I don't play. To be honest I think it's a daft game. You hit the daylights out of a tiny ball and the spend ages looking for it. Thankfully a few days later, in the post. Dear Mr Allen the committee have decided that perhaps this situation is not of your choosing.

 

That sounds like an enlightening experience.

However in most clubs, the administration isn't carried out by a group of boozers.
We have a well respected and able head greenkeeper, who for the most part, is just left to get on with it.
Amongst the members, we have many professionals in all sorts of disciplines with a lot of experience. So things like recruitment of staff, is overseen by an experienced retired personnel officer. Same with health & safety, administration and accounting. As for legal, we've solicitors and even a high court judge who can advise, all for free, after it's "their club," too.
In this day of the breathaliser, it's mostly at most just a pint before going home (for me it's a pint of lime and soda or a pot of coffee) as the majority of members as is in most clubs, aren't local, so we've not many boozers and if there were they wouldn't be in any position of authority or influence.