Schoolday Memories

And half of the time
We'd broaden our minds
More in the pool hall than we did in the school hall

18 Feb 05: A few days ago while I was in the city I went back to look at my old school!

A visit to my old school made me think about my schooldays. I think that one of the reasons why these things are coming back now is because my daughter will soon be a teenager herself.

I took a look at the place – it has hardly changed at all. It was, after all, a new building when I went there, along with the surrounding residential development. I remember the classrooms where we sat, our lessons often disturbed by building noise as the Barbican development was still being finished back then. The dining hall was on the top floor. Downstairs, near the entrance, was the hall where I performed in our group ‘Jeopardy’ as drummer – pretending I was Roger!

When Queen first had a hit in 1974 with ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’, it wasn’t the first line of the lyrics which created the initial impression. It was, of course that stunning introduction. I was thinking, it’s while I was here that I would have heard all of Queen’s early hits – and remembered listening to the music from their early albums at home.

It’s here, at school, that Freddie’s black nail polish would first have been a talking point. I believe my mum thought it was just a gimmick – she had it right! In any case, she stayed up one night to watch a documentary about David Bowie. She probably felt she needed to find out about the stuff her daughter was into! I think she decided that David Bowie was completely weird – putting white make-up all over his face, for instance. After that, Freddie’s nail polish wasn’t at all daunting. Yes, after David Bowie, she took everything in her stride!

The music of your teens is your music – is the music you remember, the music that’s really special. Another great favourite of the time was Genesis. The friend with whom I used to listen to music, Susan, I knew from primary school. But she was also at school in the City of London, although it wasn’t the same school. She had a copy of their 1971 album Nursery Cryme – looking back, that was real ‘prog rock’ stuff, especially ‘The Musical Box’, over ten minutes long, with Peter Gabriel's sensational vocal. Other songs I remember fondly from that album are ‘For Absent Friends’ and ‘The Fountain of Samacis’.

Roger and Brian with Phil Collins of Genesis fame at the Songwriters' Hall of Fame, 2003

Normally, we would enter school via the roof. But after mum’s passing, my headmistress had allowed me to come in late for a couple of mornings, missing PE, to give me more of a chance of coping. Then I had to go in at the main entrance and sign a late slip with the words ‘as arranged’ before going to lessons. At the end of that academic year, I took my O levels, and left the City to attend another school for Sixth Form.

With regard to other music around at that time – I was not so fond of some groups! But interestingly, there’s

another less high profile tour involving three seventies groups in the UK at the moment:

 Glitz, Blitz and Hitz

In the mid-seventies, ‘glam rock’ acts dominated the charts. It’s a term that came to be

used to describe a number of groups, including Queen. The musical connection between

them was often tenuous, but they were united by the display of some flamboyant attire.

The first part of this year will see a nationwide concert tour featuring three of them

together – namely The Sweet, The Rubettes and Sailor.

Clearly, none of these groups is as they were. The current Sweet line-up is otherwise known as Andy Scott’s Sweet, and, indeed, the lead guitarist is the only one who can boast original membership of the group. The Sweet sustained success for a number of years, starting with their era of ‘bubble gum’ fun songs such as ‘Co-Co’ and ‘Wig-Wam Bam’, and later on moving on to raunchier numbers such as ‘Blockbuster’ and ‘Ballroom Blitz’, which both had memorable introductions. Sweet did not lose their comical element, however, most memorable of which was the ‘camp’ act of bass guitarist Steve Priest, which was always incorporated into the songs somehow and became a great trademark of the group. Priest is, in fact, living in California, and will not be part of Scott’s group for this tour. The other two original members of the group both died soon after reaching fifty – lead singer Brian Connolly from a heart attack in 1997 and drummer Mick Tucker from leukaemia in 2002.

Sweet in 1975: left to right: Steve Priest, Andy Scott, Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker.

The smartly-suited Rubettes, who turned out in flat Gatsby-style hats, presented themselves quite differently from the long-haired Sweet set. Musically, as well, they were more akin to traditional rock ‘n’ roll, even later on moving on to a country style. Their first hit single, ‘Sugar Baby Love’, with its memorable high-pitched hook, hit the number one spot in May 1974. Other successes included ‘Juke Box Jive’ and ‘I Can Do It’. The Rubettes, originally six-strong, return here as a four-piece with three of their original members; frontman Alan Williams, Mick Clarke and John Richardson.

Shortly before ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ took the country by storm, an original and distinctive sound hit the charts in the form of another neatly-presented group, Sailor, singing ‘A Glass of Champagne’, which, together with the subsequent ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ was a big success both in the UK and Europe. Fronted by Norwegian-born Georg Kajanus, looking a little like a marine version of Bryan Ferry, the proponent of the group’s nickolodean sound was Phil Pickett, who, with the only other original band member, drummer Grant Serpell, continues to play in the band, Kajanus and Henry Marsh having long since left the group.

Bearing in mind the recent fuss about the continued use of the name 'Queen', it's worth noting that The Rubettes are also having their share of name problems – after the 1999 split from another original band member, Bill Hurd, it was agreed that the name would bear the addition ‘featuring Alan Williams’ or ‘featuring Bill Hurd’. Williams recently announced he was suing Hurd for use of the ‘Rubettes’ name against this agreement. The action is being refuted by Hurd, whose lawyers say he is counter-claiming.

Any outbreak of tetchiness over the name 'Queen' could never have been foreseen when the name was first conceived by Freddie Mercury. It was accompanied by a regal self-belief on the part of the four band members which was almost tangible. The group’s second album featured both a ‘White Queen’ and a ‘Black Queen’, and the group continued to ply their ‘royal’ connections with a guitar version of the National Anthem included on their 1975 album ‘A Night At The Opera’. This was played at the end of Queen concerts, eventually accompanied by a red-robed Mercury carrying a crown aloft in triumph. Despite all this, no member of Queen could actually claim to have the credentials of the lead singer of Sailor, as Kajanus (seen on the right of the picture below) had real royal blood, being the son of Russian Prince Pavel Tjegodieff of Russia. However, the royal ‘Pretenders’ stayed on top of the chart throne, ‘A Glass of Champagne’ being kept off the UK number one spot over the Christmas period of 1975 by – you guessed it – that other great offering from ‘A Night At The Opera’ - ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

What, then of our candy crew? There’s a Bohemian Rhapsody connection here too.. In 1992, when Sweet’s Brian Connolly was already suffering from a muscular disorder, ‘Ballroom Blitz’ featured in the Hollywood film ‘Wayne’s World’, which also contained that famous head-banging section of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. In both cases, the inclusion of the songs revived American interest in the respective groups. Queen had lost popularity there considerably by dressing as women in the 1984 ‘I Want To Break Free’ video, and it is also true to say that up until then, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ had never been readily digested in the USA.

The current Sweet line-up: left to right: Andy Scott, Steve Grant (at back), Bruce Bisland, Tony O'Hora.

Sweet: www.thesweet.com Many thanks to Stewart Roney who replied to my queries from this site.

Sailor: www.sailor-music.com Many thanks to Katrin Wagner to replied to my queries from this site.

They were always different to everybody else that was around at the time. They always projected this image of being the big huge rock stars, even when they hadn't got two halfpennies to rub together...

Of course, as a teenager back then, it couldn't be seen that Queen would be such enduring megastars. From a personal point of view though, it was their music that came closest to me, and their music that I later tried to throw and keep out of my life because of its associations. I'm so glad now that I didn't manage to do that completely, and that it's now so much a part of my life again.

As mentioned above, apart from Queen, I also listened to Genesis, and this song, released on the Wind and Wuthering album in 1977, came to have special significance for me because of the lyrics. It was written by Tony Banks:

Like the dust that settles all around me
I must find a new home
The ways and holes that used to give me shelter
Are all as one to me now
But I, I would search everywhere
Just to hear your call
And walk upon stranger roads than this one
In a world I used to know before
I miss you more
Than the sun reflecting off my pillow
Bringing the warmth of new life
And the sounds that echoed all around me
I caught a glimpse of in the night
But now, now I've lost everything
I give to you my soul
The meaning of all that I believed before
Escapes me in this world of none, no thing, no one
And I would search everywhere
Just to hear your call
And walk upon stranger roads than this one
I a world I used to know before
For now I've lost everything
I give to you my soul
The meaning of all that I believed before
Escapes me in this world of none
I miss you more

A few more memories from my schooldays – (if I think of any more as time goes on, they will appear here):

- The Moorgate Tube Disaster of 1975. Moorgate was the station where I got off to get to school, but this disaster happened on a different line to the one I travelled on.

- The constant threat of terrorism on London underground stations from the IRA, who were bombing such targets at the time.

- The punk ‘revolution’. I remember that we couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. A few punk musicians – the Sex Pistols - appeared on a TV programme (when Queen pulled out!), swear their heads off and adults suddenly get paranoid. However, we could see that these shambolic safety-pinned ‘upstarts’ were never likely to upset the established order!

- Being able to view the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 from a special vantage point in a building overlooking St Paul’s cathedral where a few places had been reserved for girls from my school. My lingering memory apart from the good view? Among the journalists who shared the area with us was one from the Soviet Union, as we could see from his Russian texts.

- In my last year at the City, 1978, the release of Kate Bush’s first hit, ‘Wuthering Heights’. Very much promoted by Capital Radio, which my friends and I listened a lot to, as well as visited, during those years!

Here’s a picture that was taken during the academic year 1975-76 in a photo booth in Moorgate Station. It used to be colour but those booth pictures weren’t very good quality in those days and it’s now faded! Imagine the maroon uniforms! On the left is Lindsay, who left the school not long after the picture was taken. In the middle is Jane, who was also in the band Jeopardy for which I was the drummer; she played guitar. We were in touch for a few years after I left the school. She lived in Loughton, a little bit further out on the London Underground’s Central Line than me, where Roberta Moore, daughter of the great England footballer Bobby Moore, also lived. Roberta was at our school as well but was a couple of years younger than us – we all used to go home on the underground train together! I saw her dad once when he came to the school. I’ve noticed that Roberta’s mum has now written a biography, presumably to mark the forty years – as of next year - since he captained England in the World Cup Victory.

Some more music from the era: I noticed that Justin Hawkins from the Darkness has re-made the 1974 Sparks hit ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us’. I had the Sparks album ‘Kimono My House’ in my collection. I think that Ron Mael looks uncannily like Lord Lucan (who disappeared mysteriously after his nanny was murdered in 1974 but was never found). Brian was once asked to join Sparks. Ron and his brother Russell both turn up in Justin’s video!

The other morning on Breakfast TV, I saw another face from the past – Suzi Quatro! She’s been doing a series about Rock ‘n’ Roll greats – those who were the vanguard – and she’s bringing out a new album produced by Andy Scott and Steve Grant of the Sweet! (See ‘Glitz, Blitz and Hitz’ above). Of course, Suzi was herself a pioneer in the seventies by virtue of being a female rocker – but she described her great self-belief over playing bass – that’s no doubt what it took! Here’s a seventies picture of her in action:

One other group from that time that I have been listening to recently is Be Bop De Luxe; I got hold of their album ‘Postcards from the Future’; the two songs I especially remember are ‘Ships in the Night’ and ‘Maid in Heaven’. The lead singer, Bill Nelson, wrote, for the sleeve, in 2003:

‘Postcards from the Future’ isn’t simply a cute title…The music, forever slightly faster than your clock of dreams, is always waiting for you…’

This year, which marks the 30^th anniversary of the release of ‘A Night at the Opera’ is also the 30^th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen’s album ‘Born to Run’. In 1972, Springsteen also wrote the song ‘Blinded By the Light’ which was later a hit for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, which included Chris Thompson. Let’s take a look at this interesting line from the song about Freddie’s birthplace, which was in Springsteen’s original but not in the Manfred Mann version:

And now in Zanzibar a shootin’ star was ridin’ in a side car hummin’ a lunar tune…

Chris Thompson is featured in an article about Queen collaborations* which I found in an old Record Collector. He continues to perform with the SAS Band. The same article also features Eddie Howell, whose 1976 hit ‘Man from Manhattan’, which, I remember, was a favourite of mine, was produced by Freddie.