The Nest Club Robertson Street Hastings – membership card 1964/1965

Supplied by John Busbridge

John Busbridge… Now who went here?

Mick Knights.. Was at the one at the end of Robertson street? If so I don’t think I’d have forked out six pence to join!

Pete Millington… The Confederates played there (downstairs) several times in 1964

Lloyd Johnson…  I was there a few of times but it was very small.

John Busbridge… I played there with Jimmy Beadle and Keith Attwood, very small from what I remember!

This is how upstairs looked in the 80’s and still looks pretty much like this today.

Stuart Tanner… I went there many times

Die Laughing, Johnny Mason – Speakeasy Club Hastings 1970’s

295644_10151368368363710_2088117910_n

supplied by Mick Mepham

photos supplied by Clive Richardson

Yvonne Cleland….Nice shirt, Mick.

Ken Copsey…Great picture. What year is this? I think Mick is playing the AC30 I later bought off him and used in the Teenbeats.

img509

Andre Martin talking on the whereabouts of The Speakeasy….Back in the 1970s, if you walked on the pavement side from White Rock Pavilion going west, you would have passed the old Veruum Building, information centre/students centre – built in the 1930s in the same style as the WRP. The temporary car park was on the site of the Grand Hotel, that was demolished in1965 – to clear up the site because the Queen would be coming down in 1966. Next to this was Beachcomber Café and then a few doors further The Saraceno Italian Restaurant – where we took GG after his Carnival Show in the Park – Paul and I often used this for meals, next door was the Casablanca Club.

Peter Pursglove…..I worked at the other Speakeasy in Kings Road Alan, and Tramps Disco under the Malborough Hotel,both were packed with students during the summer.

Mick Mepham….. I used to wash dishes in the Saraceno Andre! Next door to that was the Lido, used to go in there quite a bit too…. We (Die Laughing) had some great gigs in the Speakeasy and I’ve still got some pix somewhere …..

Martin Richter… speakeasy – those were the days ! joe (wossisname?)

The Story Of The Blues – Green River Blues Band – The Printworks Hastings 21st March 2019

THE STORY OF THE BLUES – is a multimedia event featuring a narrator, archive film footage and photographs accompanied by live music from the Green River Blues Band. The story is told chronologically from the early 1800s, through slave field work songs, emancipation from slavery, segregation in the deep south, poverty and hardship, the Wall Street Crash followed by the Great Depression and later migration north from the delta towards Chicago and Detroit. How Chess Records sustained the Chicago blues scene and eventually spawned the London blues revival of the 1960s. Artists represented include Bessie Smith, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House, Robert Johnson, Leadbelly, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Mayall, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and many more.
THE AVANTI THERAPY CENTRE FOR ACQUIRED BRAIN INJURIES is a unit run in St Leonards offering therapy, support and counselling to patients who have suffered severe head injuries and their carers. Any profit made from our Story of the Blues night at the Printworks will be donated to the Avanti Centre. If you want to find out more about Avanti, check out https://www.avanti-abi.co.uk. Please support this worthwhile fundraiser event.
Doors open 19:00
Performance begins: 20:00
Ticket prices are £5
To buy in advance, please call: 07918 526082

Pete Fairless… Not, Wah!, then?

The Hi-Fi Club High Street Hastings – Membership cards from John Busbridge

supplied by John Busbridge

John Busbridge… The Hi Fi club membership cards from the late sixties and early seventies. Somewhere I used to frequent in my younger days!

Alan Esdaile… Great days. Members must be over 18! I think I was probably 14 when I first went to the HIFI.

Chris Meachen… Same here, if not a little younger..

Dave Nattress… Used to get in there as I was 18 by then, just, but don’t remember the card membership but that’s it, I don’t remember. Alan you say, “Great Days”, and for sure they were, however, almost always returning to Bexhill from a night out in Hastings – anywhere in Hastings, it was a Great Daze!

Folk At The Black Horse – Plum Duff, Brian Boru, Telham Tinkers, 1976

black horse lp

13450803_1213666562011741_4875345215815364448_n

388209_508591335852604_1615995498_n

all supplied by Tony Davies

Plum Duff photo…. Tony Davies, Colin Baldwin, John Towner, Reg Marchant, Phil Ratcliffe.

Dawn Leaney….Hey Tony davies on the left! I think thats one of the line ups of Plum Duff!  Yep.. my husband was Andy Leaney and he also played in Plum Duff with Tony at around this time!

Michael Mepham….The late and excellent John Towner in centre.

Tony Davies…. L to R, Myself, Colin Baldwin, John Towner, Reg Marchant, Phil Ratcliffe,, Reg and Phil came over to France in June to play in our village Musique Fest. It was 35 years ago the last time we played together. Good times.

Kev Towner….How fab – thanks guys. Still got a copy of this btw.

Matt Thomas….my old teacher Mr Dobson was in the Telham Tinkers…., i still call all of my old teachers Mr or Mrs – a habit i cant break and at 44 i still hide my cigarette if i ever see any of them lol

Nicolas Laruelle…..I found this record (Folk at the Black Horse) today at my parents home near Paris, France. I suppose my father bought it in 1978, while attending an English summer course in Hastings. With the record there was a couple of pink sheets of paper with the hand-typed lyrics of two songs from the album. I was happy to be able to recognize the pub on the picture (I had dinner there with my wife and children in may 2007 while staying at the nearby Brakes Coppice Park campsite !), and to hear new versions of songs I have loved for years (Jock Stewart,Carrickfergus..).
I have read on this website that Tony Davies from Plum Duff now lives in France and takes part in his village music festival. Anyone knows which village it is ? Thank you for the website and all the great information. This email has now been passed to Tony Davies.

Jim Breeds……Oh wow, haven’t seen this post before. That brings back the memories; I was there so many times …

Pete Fisher… this is where I played and sang live for the first time, would have been 1969, as a duo with my mate Tim Hodge, who had built a transistor amp/fuzz box into his acoustic, which incensed the finger in the ear crowd…drinking half pints illegally and catching the 10:30 bus home…rock’n roll!!

Wendy Weaver… I Saw the Yetties here in 1979.

Len Smith… Remember seeing some great ‘folk’ bands their, one in particular that comes to mind was Mr Gladstones Bag.

Philip Ratcliffe… The village in France (for Tony Davies) is Carquebout, near St Mere Eglise in Normandy. We will play there again someday. I am still playing and in contact with Reg Marchant, Colin Baldwin and others from the old days. I miss that old rascal Towner more than a bit. Rock on and never stop live music! Philip Ratcliffe (the guy with the stick-on black moustache on the right).

Jeanette Jones… Inspired my boy to learn the violin 🙂

No Home Jerome… What a fabulous photo. I remember John Towner and ‘Jumbo’ Davies so well from my days as a telegram boy. I was only thinking about playing cricket with John at Westfield just the other day. The last time I saw Jumbo he was driving an ambulance! Wasn’t Pete Sedgewick in Brian Boru?

Jim Breeds… Spent most Saturday nights there for a period in early 70s. Superb.

Petrol/fuel filling stations. Anyone recall when their car was last filled by an attendant and where? asks Dave Nattress

Dave Nattress… We all used to have our vehicles filled by attendants, then increasingly fuel stations became serve yourself, but can you, and SMART readers recall when they were last “attended to” in this way, and if so, when and where was the filling station.  I’ve used a mass of filling stations for a long, long time, but I actually can’t recall the answer to my own question.

Alan Esdaile… I remember some used to clean your front windows as well and always polite.

Dave Nattress… Indeed, the fuel station attendants used to wipe your windscreen even ask about checking tyre pressures and oil.  But, “progress” has stopped all of that.  Also, there are very few petrol stations compared with years ago.  Take the A21 for instance – a good few have gone.

Dave Weeks… Gran Canaria last March

Tim Moose Bruce… Smith and Humpheries in Sidley still do attended fuel.

Lyn Humphrey… I might be wrong here, but I believe the last time my car was filled up and had all the checks done, was in the States, sometime in the 1980s. An attendant rushed out and began cleaning my windscreen almost before I’d stopped! Never had that happen before.

Pat Sleet… Western Road St Leonard’s circa 1990

David Edwards… Certainly common in Spain but Guestling Garage up till 20 odd years ago by a really helpful Welsh fella.

Mike Vawdrey… A filling station on the outskirts of Alsager, South Cheshire just a month or two ago. Still there and still attended service when I drove past the other week having (shame on me ) filled up at Asda…

Dave Nattress… Dave Weeks…are you “The Dave Weeks” used to work in the Cont. a million years ago? Used to play guitar? u used to be in there a lot with various mates and girlfriends – well only one at any one time I mean! If so, good to meet you again, if not apologies….

Dave Weeks… Yes Dave Natress . 1600E too. Still around and still enjoying playing. I trust all is well with you.

Wendy Weaver… In Wareham about 3 years ago.

Barry Newton… Just outside Barcelona about five months ago

Ernest Ballard…  Near St Austell Cornwall 4 years ago by an old man owning an independent garage. His sweet counter stank of parafin too inside and was like going back in timeif you didn’t let him fill the tank up full he wouldn’t serve you at all for wasting his time ha ha

Dave Nattress… Well Mr Weeks – delayed reaction from me as usual, great to make your acquaintance again – sort of – via this website…how did you remember the 1600E!! I was some mug to flog it. I got a company car and my old man was moaning on about me having the 2 cars so I bowed to pressure and sold it.  Duh!!!!   And the company car was a Fiat 131 Mirafiori that Graham Hill used to advertise on TV.  Anyway, I hope you are well and maybe bump into you some time.  The Cont. – a long, long time ago!!

Freddie Mills autograph from Brentwood Essex 1961

Supplied by Barry French

Who remembers the boxer Freddie Mills?

Joe Knight… Do you remember the boxing gloves and the Freddie Mills punch bag . The ones that when you hit it would bounce back up. It was about 4ft a blow up figure and in the bottom of the Base was sand so when you hit the figure, it would always upright it self He was found out side a night club in London in a car, shot.

Keith Blizard… Think I had a Freddie Mills boxing annual!

Lyn Humphrey… I had a Freddie Mills punch-ball. It was sprung, and fixed to a sort of plank that you stood on to keep the punch-ball rooted. Brown boxing gloves. The whole set lasted for years.

Mick Carlisle Savage… A true legend

Mike Wright… He was on 6-5 Special and if I recall ok, died in his car behind his night club,very dodgy.My Dad who did a bit of pro boxing loved him,thought he always did his best a real slugger, old skool.

The Clash – Hastings Pier 12th January 1980

402178_262367667169755_1334399689_n1898158_427423707403092_1106345131_n

10730149_10203081617703822_1035128072395161346_n

1613974_1399206483683795_177741261_n

Clash_21051980_12_800

ticket supplied by Robert Wren,  ad supplied by Sarah Harvey, backstage pass supplied by Pete Fairless badge supplied by Phil Meston, photo: The Clash in Chateau Neuf, Oslo, Norway Helge Øverås, 21 May 1980 http://www.helgeoveras.com/concertphoto.shtml

Mark Gilham… This show was put on by our old manager John Curd

Andy Baldock…..saw the gig in 1980. Also saw them at Brighton Top Rank either the next night or night after that.Saw some fab bands at the old Top Rank……..

Phil Meston… I saw the Clash on the pier in 1980. Another souvenir from the Clash’s 1980 gig on The Pier, the badge above.

Cheryl White… This must have been one of the first outings for ‘London Calling’. Anyone remember the set list?

David Stevens… The first outings for songs from London Calling were three gigs in London during July 1979, followed by a festival appearance in Finland and a North American tour in the Autumn. On the 12th Jan 1980 my memory has them opening with London Calling, but looking at the available set lists from around that date they all go Clash City Rockers, Brand New Cadillac, Safe European Home, Jimmy Jazz, London Calling and then some variation.

Peter Fairless… Sadly, too many of those brain cells are long departed. I can tell you they played it but I couldnt tell you where in the set it was!

Chris Giles… Missed all of these …too busy being a mum.

Mark Parsons… I was at this gig and still have my ticket stub which Topper autographed for me. I have this memory of Joe Strummer announcing that this was the first live performance of London Calling but the album came out in 1979 and they must of played it before. However it was a great gig and if memory serves they kicked the set of with Clash City Rockers.

review…

Ian Wilson… Mark, did The Bodysnatchers play that night?

Mark Parsons… Hi Ian. I don’t remember the Bodysnatchers but definitely remember the Slits playing.

Ken Copsey… Before starting at the 77 gig Joe Strummer announced ” this ones a seaside special… Hastings is burning!” Bang we was off! Didn’t stay at the front for very long as complete pogoing mayhem ensued and thought 15 year old me might get trampled.This was one of the most memorable gigs I’ve attended. Definitely the right place to be for a 15 year old in 1977. Funny how history is revised but I can remember London Calling not being that highly regarded when it came out, being redolent of the Clashes slide towards American stadium sell out status.