This
was written in London at 1.48 am January 1st
2017 – in Los Angeles it is still in the afternoon – 5.48pm.
I
remember many years ago – many many years ago – when I was about
20 and still living at home; in fact I was 20. We threw a party and
when we threw a party we really did; plenty of ice cream, jelly,
custard, cake and lashings of ginger beer!
Well
no it wasn't exactly like that; it might have been the year when I
had my picture – in full colour – on the front of one of the
local newspapers in fact it was, I just looked it up.
There
it is, above, and the others in it are my brother (left), a pal
called Dave, and the one on the side of the pool was a workmate of my
brudder. You've probably seen it before.
I
am the one with my mouth open – I had just got in to the pool and
the water was cold, hence the grimace which the photographer caught
at the right moment which is why it was promoted to the front page.
Scene stealing even at that age!
The
girl that I ended up with, for a short while anyway, was the one on
the left, of the 3 but unfortunately I have forgotten her name. We
only went out together for a very short time in any case.
The
photo was taken in Wales and we didn't know the girls till this photo
was taken but found out that they lived in the same city as we did –
Birmingham so dated them there.
Now
that was a big digression as it's nothing to do with the party I
opened with but I would like to say no I haven't saved the
newspaper for all these years, Dave (from the photo) gave me a copy
when he came with a few friends to see one of my shows when I came
over from Los Angeles to London about 10 years, or so, ago.
So
back to the party: as we were living at home we had the party when
les
parents
went
out for the
night.
Booze
was bought, plenty of finger food, the lights were low and various
guests sat around in the salubrious surroundings of our sitting room.
Music played, not loud rock, but mood music and maybe that was even
by Glenn Miller and maybe it was Moonlight
Serenade as
I had seen all Jack Lemmon's movies in which he was invariably in a
bachelor pad in New York, bringing girls back to seduce to the sweet
strains of Moonlight
Serenade
or similar music.
It
was in the days when smoking was fashionable and the room was full of
smoke and a great ambiance was created.
Saxophones
played, trombones augmented and there was a great trumpet solo but
out of the corner of my eye I noticed the door opening and a hand
moving to the light switch – YES!!!!
THE
BIG LIGHT!!
The
ambiance disappeared as quickly as Sunderland supporters exiting from
the football stadium whenever their team was losing.
Mam
and Dad stood in the door frame; their evening out had been cancelled
and my dad would always have to have the big light on – I don't
know why he put it on at that moment but he probably thought that
teenagers and their parents were supposed to annoy each other and THE
BIG LIGHT would do the trick.
It
certainly did.
The
party broke up and everybody went home; they started to troop off as
soon as the television went on and I think we went to the pub.
Now
at this lofty age I empathize a bit more as the older you get the
harder it is to see in the dark; salubrious lighting is good to watch
TV but not to read.
Many
years have gone by since then but at that precise moment, the moment
when my dad touched the light switch, he was in charge; he was the
main man and the man of the house and all that the 1960s stood for;
he wanted to come home and be comfortable and get everybody out. He
liked a party, a drink and a sing song but not our kind of party.
Since
then he saw the big light in the sky and drifted towards it and so
did my mother when they both shuffled off their mortal coils.
I
often wonder what they would have made of the Internet and the
Intranet and the iPads and tablets and all the other paraphernalia
that has made nearly all GPs in this country prescribe Vitamin 'D'
tablets to most of their patients due to the lack of sunshine and
fresh air.
What'll
be next? Rickets?
2016
has been a year of the BIG LIGHT for a lot of famous people. A lot of
pop singers, actors and other notorious personalities but have you
ever asked yourself why?
Well
in the 50s right up to the mid 70s in the UK there were only a few
channels on television. And up until 1967 there were no network pop
music stations. Pirate radio existed, of course, but you needed to
live near the coast to hear them, as most of the stations were on
ships surrounding the British Isles.
The
other source of music came from squeaky Radio Luxembourg.
Popular
at the time was music by artists born around the 1930s; that was 86
years ago. Those artists became more famous than any of the artists
before or since. These days there are so many outlets on TV and radio
that you can become really famous in Wales, or Yorkshire or even
Scotland and Ireland and nobody outside those areas will have heard
of you. I mean who is the most popular deejay in any of those places?
Before
the 50s and people like James Dean, teenagers were insignificant, in
fact it was said that James Dean was the first teenager – even
though he was in his 20s.
There
was a sudden change when teenagers had more disposable income than in
the past. In the UK their parents had no disposable income – get
up, go to work, come home, cook and sleep. Then the same the next day
– I repeat NO disposable income. The average Joe Bloggs would put
everything on the never never; hire purchase, terms – you
name it. It is all described in the excellent novel Live Now Pay
Later by Jack Trevor Story. I got to know Jack very well in the
70s and later played his father in a TV series called Jack on the
Box – he was a chancer and a bankrupt and just the kind of person I
like.
Jack Trevor Story.
So
for the next so many years we are going to say goodbye to all our
heroes if they were born in the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s – sad but
true. One or two will last longer and one or two will die younger
than average.
I
mean Chuck Berry is 90, Jerry Lee Lewis around 85 and so is Little
Richard!
The
first baby boomers were born around 1945 and even though we are
living longer and crashing into prostate cancer and/or dementia we
will all be gone by the time Halley's Comet comes around again.
Which
Reminds me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zju6KbP_1xY
and
the guitar solo at 40 seconds is great.
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