supplied by Cris Kennard
Day: 7 May 2023
Mott The Hoople – The Boots Story by Philip John
supplied by Carol Ann Bolton
supplied by Philip John
Philip John… Back in the day we experienced great problems zipping Pete into his boots. They were an extremely tight fit and he had to lay on his back whilst we pulled the zips up over his jeans. This was made even more difficult because the small tags on the zips were really difficult to grip. Finally i came up with the brilliant idea to fit split rings to the tags,much easier to pull on. This worked well for the first few gigs then one night i was in my usual position behind the drums when i spotted Pete gesticulating furiously to me and pointing to his crotch area then I noticed he was moving round the stage with tiny steps like some kind of bizarre geisha girl. Oh shit I thought his boots were stuck together with the split rings. I dashed over to him ,dropped to my knees and with a small torch clamped in my teeth began to wrestle with the rings as he wriggled furiously to get his legs apart. Well you can imagine what this looked like from the audience’s point of view. Finally I tore the rings apart and staggered to my feet torch still firmly gripped between my teeth then to a huge round of applause I returned to my position behind the drum riser.
Pete Prescott… Great story ! Please tell the one about the spray paint !
Judy Atkinson… Ian Hunter was a guest on Johnny Walker’s Sounds of the 70s a couple of weeks ago
Joe Knight… Brilliant band
Andy Qunta… That should have been in This Is Spinal Tap!
SMART coffee meet report 66
The sun was shining and a packed turn out for our 66th meet. Among the newbies this time were Dave Reece, Peter Ellingworth, Lynn Williams, Joan Moody and Alan Thwaites. Dave had with him a photo album of the many groups he has played with, including Cyril Stapleton Band, Daybreak and Love Together who hit the front of the newspapers in 1975, about Opportunity Knocks. Peter had a photo of Pulpit Gate house at the bottom of All Saints Street and his father did the woodwork on the building. He was in deep conversation with others on his interest in Hastings transport. Lynn and Joan had happy memories of The Pam Dor and Witch Doctor and had a photo of Chris Upton outside The Clarence pub in the town centre with his car. Alan was remembering seeing The Kinks, Curved Air and others on Hastings Pier. Cris Kennard arrived with an original Fisher Price Music Box record player and it still works! Also a huge collection of Beano and Dandy comics. Mo Elms had a whole array of Capital Radio merchandise, including a tie, bag, sweater, hoodie and a fun book, which her and Terry got when they entered a competition at the studios in London around 1976/77. Laurie Cooksey had photos of his first nursery drum kit, which he used in the group ‘Rael’ and had transfers of teddy bears and pandas on!. The group consisted of him on drums and vocals, Dave Austin on bass and Frank Isted on guitar and vocals. Ian Marketis had with him a very rare David Bowie 7” picture disc singles collection. Colin Tapp had a photo from an early 60’s dance at Ore Secondary School (Hillcrest) and a Humperdinks photo from Maidstone. Phil John had a photo album of him when he was working with Queen, David Bowie and Mott The Hoople and many interesting stories to tell. Anthony ‘Nan’ Morland tried to take a photo of the demolition of Ashdown House but wasn’t allowed. So he went on a double decker bus and took a photo from their! Cliff Wootton was talking about how much his group ‘All Their Kings Fall’ enjoyed playing Beatles Day and have lots more gigs and recordings coming up. Geoff Peckham (Jaffa) was talking about how well the rehearsals of ‘Factory’ are going and looking forward to their gig at The Piper in August. This is just a small bit of what I remember and sorry was unable to chat to everyone. If you had anything interesting you were talking about or anything I missed out or got wrong! then please feel free to add or correct.
Mick O’Dowd… Really enjoyed the Meet. Met up with some very nice people including Jaffa, Lol, Jim, Clair & Andre. Good Meet as usual Alan. Well done!
Merv & Cris Kennard… As always, good to see everyone. Thanks for organising Alan
Stephen Moran… I’m really sorry I wasn’t able to make it yesterday Alan. I look forward to the next one.
David Jenkins… Absolutely brilliant afternoon , as always, Alan
Jaffa Peckham… Another enjoyable afternoon, Alan. Thanks for making it possible again!
Peter Ellingworth… Excellent & enjoyable day yesterday at the White Rock Hotel thanks Alan, hope to make the next one or the one after. I took the 18.46 train from Hastings to London Bridge, this connected nicely with a Horsham to Peterborough service, itself connecting with a King’s Cross to Cambridge train at Finsbury Park, arriving home at 21.30.
Claire Lonsdale… Thank you Alan for another enjoyable afternoon x
Monica Bane… Alan, So very interesting the latest news, Thanks again, Monica x
Jim Breeds… Thanks Alan. Really enjoyed it. If only we all knew what the other tables were talking about or brought with them at the time
Joe Knight… Thank you for sharing this!
Tony Davis… Sorry to have missed it
Paul Huggett… Dammit forgot it was on, again !
Tony Qunta… Shame I couldn’t be at what sounds like a fabulous SMART meeting.
Eric Upton… I’m reliably informed by my wife who went there that Hillcrest was formerly named Hastings Secondary School for Girls.