listening
The Thundering Typhoons
The Thundering Typhoons was a local band from when I was a teenager.
The old mp3s in this post have been kicking around my hard-drives for decades. Have a listen, I think they are pretty great.
Johnny I Hardly Knew Yah, a brilliant song with a long history
Fifteen years going on sixteen but I looked younger. I began to visit The Blue Anchor mainly to escape the fighting at the Youth Club. The Blue was an ancient pub established six centuries previously. The granite door lintels are high enough for your average medieaval bloke. Even as a youngster I had to duck my head in the doorway. My two older brothers vouched for me as long as I kept a low profile. Tony the bartender and eventually Sid the publican let me stay. I started off in the games room occaisonally playing on whatever old arcade machine Sid had installed. My brothers would sneak me the odd beer.
Follow Me Up To Carlow, an Irish folk song celebrating the defeat of the English. Very popular in the Skittle Alley back in the day.
I had a Scottish friend, Peter, whose Dad was a Chief Petty Officer at the local Royal Naval Airbase, Culdrose. We fell out after I once mentioned I liked this new band called The Pogues. It wasn’t just the music it was political. Peter told me his Dad had told him he could not be mates with anyone who liked Irish music as they obviously supported the IRA. I begun to notice how some peoples opinions aligned very closely with The Daily Mail.
The Skittle Alley back in the late 80s
I forget the names of who began to organise the bands in The Skittle Alley. They had started before I was there. I am very grateful. We would squeeze past our fellow drinkers down the smooth worn granite slabs. Pint glasses pressed against the crook of the shoulder, to avoid spillage. The narrow alley led past the great brew tub of raw Spingo, the infamously reeking loos and hazy pot smokers, out into the wet night air. At the Skittle Alley door we would buy a pass to listen to the nights acts.
Kelly From Killane another Irish fighting song. This was back in the day when the English Tory government was at war with the IRA.
The Typhoons were just one of the many rough and ready mix of entertainers to grace that tiny stage. Anyone with (or without) a singing voice, musical talent, poem, joke or rant was welcomed to the stage. On good nights the goths, punks, hippies, fishermen and farmers all crowded in. Some nights were fun and some dismal. The evening always ended with a 1 hour walk home in the rain.
Hag At The Churn, another Celtic number
Nowadays the Blue Anchor has smartened up its act. It churns out Spingo which actually tastes quite good according to at least one London beer critic. The new owners bought the neighbouring property and expanded the beer garden to dwarf the Skittle Alley. I hope they still provide a venue for underage kids to dip their toes in good music and bad habits.
Paul and Adam fronting the band on the tiny stage down the Skittle Alley
Thanks to Paul, Adam and all the people in all the pub bands.
Not Ep02 A Two Wheeled Ute
ERRATA:
I got the audio files mixed up. I actually reposted the the first episode. The second recording, as it turned out, was made in March last year. I recorded it on my Purism phone but the audio quality is terrible which is a shame because I remember having a lovely bicycle ride. I encountered a very long freight train before pedalling off towards Menindee.
I recorded this a year ago and only found it again yesterday whilst out walking the dog. I could easily have recorded it yesterday, it would have been much the same.
I’ve not been out cycling or walking with the dog as much as usual. The summer here brings out hordes of bush-flies. Flies buzzing into every orifice as well as instant sunburn and dehydration which turns excursions out-bush into an ordeal. It is not all bad though, after the recent rain the plants are flowering and green which is lovely.
Not sure what plant this is. If I find out I’ll update this.
UPDATE
Since writing this La Nina has struck again and Broken Hill has been flooded. I drove home from work today along a fast running road-become-river. A small sports car was stranded at the roundabout up to its wheel arches in the flood waters. I offered to help them push it out but it’s electronic gearing would not shift to neutral. Who’d own a car like that out here anyway?! Even now the rain has set in as thunder rumbles around us with speckles of lightning. I don’t think there has been this much water in Broken Hill for quite some time.
Current life news for me.
- I took a flying lesson last week with the delightful Hugh Lord. I was surprised how much I enjoyed myself. I am looking forward to doing it again soon.
- I hurt my back this morning. Note to self, Do Not Twist and Lift. This is why I am posting this on my back.
Future plans.
An Apology to Mr White
This post is possible because of Neil Goodman (pictured) who first introduced me to Andy Whites, Rave On. Thanks Neil.
As I write this I am listening to Andy Whites’ latest album, This Garden is Only Temporary for the second time. It really is a bloody good album. Earlier this morning I was walking through the dusty outskirts of Broken Hill with my fat dog immersed in Andy’s lyrics and tunes attributing my own stories and emotions to fit them. Get it Right This Time followed by Not So Far Away actually had me tearing up like the emotional old fart I am. No mean feat for a bit of music that’s new to me.
It’s a funny thing about music, the old songs get more and more powerful with time. As I get older it’s easy to get stuck in the rut of listening to that old stuff. I cancelled my Spotify account to get out of that rut. I am really loving this new album. Consciously listening to a new album instead of just streaming the same old shite has gifted me with a new soundtrack for the map of my life.
Whilst writing this post I dicovered Andy has a podcast in which he picks apart This Garden is Only Temporary. Brilliant.
Addendum
This post was from a very old text file on my laptop called apology.md. The file contained one sentence reminding me that I need to apologise to Andy White for a post I wrote 7 years ago
Andy, I do apologise for that old post and thank you for your songs.
Ep01 A Two Wheeled Ute
I have recently begun a coffee lent, which means I start the day with a headache. It took a bit of effort to motivate myself to go for a bicycle ride yesterday. The extreme heat of summer has eased off which means I can go outside without getting crispy. Taking plenty of water and a sturdy repair kit I headed out.
I skipped through my podcast playlist as I cycled. I listened to TuxJam for a 15 minutes before skipping it. I enjoy hearing Kevie, Andrew and Dave in their northern lilts but I was not in the mood to go into the intricacies of less than desirable user interfaces and clunky installers.
I stopped to see if I had any more episodes from Sam Knights delightful Halfway Home bicycle podcast… but none. He finished up in the depth of an English, cold, rainy, covid winter - understandable. On a whim I decided to record my own version.
I expected the mic to just pick up rushing wind and me wheezing. Luckily I am the worlds slowest cyclist so you just get the wheezing and a bit of sniffing. I did think of sending my recording to Sam Knight but I’m buggered if I can find how to send him a message via that crappy Anchor page (a Spotify asset). It just wants to record audio via the web page which is a fat lot of good when I want to write a little message to the guy and attach an mp3 file. Instead I’ll attach it to this post and let’s call it Episode 01 - A Two Wheeled Ute (being my ideal bicycle) and then I might do it again sometime. Anyway that served well for in-flight entertainment to help me ignore my headache until I hit the dirt tracks out of town.
The Pinnacles, never before seen by Scott of the Antarctic
After I had talked to myself for a while I continued out to the Pinnacles. The Pinnacles being one of the camping spots for the ill fated Burke and Wills, that had been bothering me. Not Mills and Boone or even Scott of the Antarctic. As far as I know Scott did not bother with Broken Hill.
On the way home I listened to a couple of episodes of the excellent Cancer Survivor Guide. I listened not because I have cancer (although one can never be too careful) but because I am an oncology nurse and always on the lookout for good resources. The show is put together by Penny Johnston, herself a cancer survivor, it is just the right amount of reality and reassurance. If you know anyone who has been diagnosed then I recommend you listen and share.