In the midst of researching something else in 1970 Melody Makers, I’ve just chanced upon an advert for the above. The fare on offer: The Tony Williams Lifetime (with John McLaughlin), Blodwyn Pig and DLT. I wonder if anyone left truly satisfied?
Nottingham University Rag Ball, October 1970
Lifetime? What a pleasingly descriptive band name. I’m thinking of forming a band called Tuneless Crap.
Ah me oh my.
I remember I “discovered” “proper” music around 1970/71. Just as I was hitting “puberty”. As I did so, my eyes “widened”, my consciousness “expanded” and I saw “pubic” hair pictured for the first time. On the cover of Two Virgins. Pubic hair! And breasts!
I scoured the ads in the back of Melody Maker as scantily clad “girls”, later to be known as ‘hippy” “chicks” were to be found, in poses “moody” and “alluring”. Advertising “Tee-shirts” and “Velveteen loon pants”. Not quite as much fun as perusing the “lingerie” “section” of Kay’s “catalogue” but “educational” “nonetheless”.
Unearthed in said “pages”, were “bands” revelling in names such as “Savoy Brown”, “Taste”, “Heavy Jelly”, “Trapeze”, “Spooky Tooth”, “Keef Hartley”, “Toe Fat” and “Black Widow” and “Chicken Shack” and “Juicy Lucy” and “Edgar Broughton”.
It was a long time before I actually heard the “music” and when I “did”, I realised it all sounded the “same”. and that it wasn’t very “good”.
It made me pine for my “Christie” and my “Edison Lighthouse” and “Chicory Tip” and “Marmalade” too and wonder why when I saw “Jenny Hanley” on “Magpie”, I “felt” the same way as I did when saw the “ladies” in their “hosiery” in the catalogue I “mentioned” earlier.
I liked those “hippy” “chicks” too, but I didn’t like the music they seemed to “like”.
Dear Mr 59. In that one post youve nearly used up the Afterwords weekly supply of inverted commas and apostrophe’s. There was only one left and Ive just wasted it.
I got 2dozen that I “found”. Damn, make that 22. A £fiver and you can have them. Tell you what, I’ll thrown half a dozen commas and a couple of exclamation marks, £six pounds the lot. Erm, only 21 left… best hurry.
Funnily enough Fin (who very accurately recalls lots of the third division acts regularly appearing in 1970 MM club ads – trust me, I’ve just read through the whole year’s worth of issues) has forgotten to mention the one most “appropriate” to “his” style of “writing”: Comus.