Alan Esdaile

Better known as international disc jockey Johnny Mason. Currently re-living his mis-spent youth through this web-site.

The Abysmal Sisters – 1980

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supplied by Martin Stringer

Phil Thornton, Kevin Hoad, Tony Bird and Martin Stringer.

Phil Thornton… Well thanks for digging this out Martin ! (I don’t remember ever seeing this before) didn’t we have a bass player ?

Alan Esdaile… It would be interesting to know the story behind the props.

Tony May… A definite touch of The Bonzo’s by the look of this pic! (lol)

Martin Stringer… Hi Phil, hope all well with you and yours.  Can’t remember a bass player.

Tony Bird… the fifth member of the band was Mick Ingram and the photo was taken at my studio called Wing at Ninfield circa 1980 and the props what part of the studio decoration. Now that’s recycling.

Julian Richards… cannot forget the Abysmal Sisters , great music , lots of humour ! I went back to Bexhill in September 2014 for 3 weeks , live in Perth , Australia , my best mate Richard Crawley took me in to see Tony Bird , he even gave me a copy of the A/sisters on CD , what a great surprise , still sounds bloody good even after such a long time . Great to see Tony is still in business , you bloody Legend !!
regards , Julian Richards ( Formerly of Bexhill )

You can hear Tony talking about The Abysmal Sisters on my recent radio show… https://www.mixcloud.com/alan-esdaile-johnny-mason/johnny-mason-60s-and-70s-show-on-chr-with-special-guest-tony-bird-180719/

Clap for our carers – Thursday 8.00pm

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Mick O’Dowd… I’ll be there! Heroes everyone from the cleaners & porters right to the top docs/surgeons.

Nigel Ford… Response along our road and vicinity has been great since it started 3 weeks ago, we were surprised just how many we could hear.

Tony Court-holmes… and lets have fireworks

Last one tonight Thursday 28th May 2020…

Image… https://www.facebook.com/RosieJohnsonIllustration/

Rosie Johnson says… the 10th and final clapforcarers.co.uk, clap for the nhs, for key workers, for every single worker who has done their job in such difficult circumstances in order to keep us all going. Let’s make sure we make it the loudest and most grateful yet!! And even when we no longer come out into our doorsteps, let’s never ever take for granted the people who have done so much for us.

 

Moveable Feast – 1990’s

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supplied by Phil Little Hastings Music Files.

Who remembers seeing them at Pissarros in the 1990’s?

Mary Lipscombe… Yes! We had one of their songs at our wedding! They went to Pissarros after they played at the Stag

Mick Bolton… Saw them a couple of times…brilliant band.

Geoff Peckham… Never saw them, but I played a lot from the late nineties onwards with the man on the right. He’s a very good piano accordionist called Will Southcote-Want.

Who still has Fray Bentos Pies?

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Peter Fairless… Haven’t had one in ages

Alan Esdaile… likewise haven’t had one in years, used to love the pastry.

Peter Checksfield… occasionally buy one for the pastry – the filling nowadays tends to lack any solidity (more like gravy with bits in it)

Jane Cranfield… Brings back childhood memories i used to love these pies and the puddings,still do when i remember to buy them lol

John Scaife… Still got a some in the Cupboard (Different Flavours)

Paul Huggett… Back in my bedsit days a Fray Bentos steak and kidney pudding boiled in the tin, a can of processed peas and a packet of Smash constituted a hearty meal

Alan King… luxury

Paul Huggett… sometimes I made gravy, but mostly just huge dollops of tomato sauce.

Steve Fox… They were revolting, as a child I thought I didn’t like pie but it was just them!

Graham Bradley… Always had a couple of these in the cupboard always tasted great after leaving the Astral or Prinnys etc at 2am in the morning

Alan Wood… Had a vegan one last week ,bloody lovely, wife had steak and kidney ,she normal !!

Chris Garrod… YUK! Horse meat.

Alan King… these days I eat the pastry and leave the meat for the cat (what meat ? I should say leave the gravy for the cat). have you got any fingers left after removing the lid ? always keep some superglue and plasters handy before attempting to open (especially at 2:00 am after a drink). I always thought it was a town in Argentina, but it’s actually in Uruguay.

Leigh Wieland-Boys… We had a chicken one last night….🤢 it was disgusting! Ended up binning it & ordering a Dominos pizza

Pauline Richards… You can still get them in the pound shop Peter

Nicola Dobson… Not much meat in them now

Robert Coe… I thought I liked them back in the day, but tried one recently and it was gross. No meat just gristle, yuk

Ricky Adelaide… Oh yes and the steak kidney pudding

Jim Quinn Mcg… Offfft ..minging ….

Paavali Mears… I liked em but knew someone who used them as door wedges

Roland Clarke… Bit of a guilty pleasure. I avoid them a little these days as I’m not sure that they are good for you.

Mick O’Dowd… One of the worst tins ever to open safely but the wait is worth it. Have often resorted to a screwdriver and other tools!

Peter Fortsch… Oh Yes !

Lance Collins… Diet of campers !!!!

Genny Marsh… Love them , it is the pastry top. Steak and Kidney is the best

Nicola Barfield… Oh yes steak and kidney

Florence Foster… Got one in my cupboard

Pete Houghton… Yes love themand still eat them now got a couple of tins in the cupboard

Andrew Moodie… Just the pastry, not the mystery meat within.

John Sydes… Love em, just make sure you follow the instructions.

Jeff Pardan… There is not as much meat as there used to be Most of it is gravy .I won’t be buying any more .!!!

Colin Gibson… Oxymoron there I think, or is it a tautology?

Alan King… who cares about Frey Bentos ? Soylent Gregg’s will be opening soon ! Hip Hip Hoorah

Tim Moose Bruce… There was a restoration of a lightweight Villiers powered bike in Classic Bike back in the 80s. The owner used a Fray Bentos steak n kidney pudding tin for the rear light assembly. These bikes were made to a price and they probably got the tins from the Metal Box Company who made them.

Pete Fisher… Was with two German mates on the west coast of Ireland in ’93 and their VW hippy van broke down in the middle of nowhere. They fixed it by making a washer out of the lid of the tin of vegetable soup we ate for supper…got them back to Germany…

Freeway – and the pier zooquarium triodome talk 1970

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photos supplied by Andy Knight, cuttings supplied by Andre Palfrey-Martin Collection

John Kingdon (Voc), Dave Shaw (Voc), Jime Beadle (Bass), Colin Pierce (Gtr), Joe Milligan (Tenor Sax), Ron Milligan (Baritone Sax), Clive Pearson (Trumpet), Andy Knight (Drums).

some great pictures of Freeway. Taken around 1970 on Hastings Pier.

Yvonne Cleland…..Bonitas! That was the name I forgot.

Philip Meston….. I remember Bonita’s, but not the Freeway Show Band

Andy Qunta….Great band! Freeway were great, and very ambitious with the brass section! 

Ralph Towns… I remember the zoo that was in there .I think a copy of the Bayeux tapestry was in there for a while and I remember seeing a Dalek in there but what the hell that was doing there,I don,t know.

Len Smith… Freeway with Dave Shaw singing. Bonitas gig was 1971.

Ian Plater… Is that the same john kingdom, that had J K’s burger world in Eastbourne.

Tony May… Aside from the musical history side of things this picture is a rare shot of the old Hastings Pier and an attraction I was too small at the time to remember? If anyone knows more about it I would be interested to hear more. Any chance the photo owner would allow me to use it for an article in ‘Hastings Town’ perhaps?

Mick O’Dowd… This was the old Triodome that graced the Pier for a while. It was used for various events including the Zooquarium and a skating rink (can’t recall if it was ice or roller). I believe it was moved to Warrior Square Gardens after The Pier.

Jim Breeds… The Triodome was originally built to house the Hastings Tapestry to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1966. It features on several postcards that I have too.

Natasha Kaschevsky… Later used for Amusements around ’76 – ’78, I used to work in there in the summer holidays

Alan Esdaile… I’m sure at one stage it was suggested that The Triodome be rehoused on the Ladies Parlour West Hill with The Tapestry.

Andy Knight… Tony, you are welcome to use it.

Tony May… Thanks for the info Jim and for the use of the photo Andy. If any of the band have any memories of playing the Pier or can give me more info please e mail it to unseated.tony@gmail.com. Thanks!

Flanko Fin Barr… The Good times

 

Jim Penfold & The Hollywood Killers – TV Photo at The Box 1978

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A great picture from Jim Penfold & The Hollywood Killers from the website

www.hollywoodkillers.com

I remember doing some dates with them including Guildford Civic Hall. Should have been chart stars ‘The Arrows’ headlining but they cancelled and were replaced by new boy band ‘Stevenson’s Rocket’.

Jim wrote: “Great memory!! Yes I remember it well…..

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Jim Penfold…..The tv photo was taken at the Box in 1978…..we (the Hollywood Killers) are all posing behind a TV set with no screen! Me, Neil ‘Chilli Willi’ Aplin,Berni Schmirnoff, Alexander Moylegrove lll and Pete Poodle…..we first rehearsed and recorded demos Goodbye Suicide….here’s the original 7″ single remastered

Yvonne Cleland…. Min x

Chris Baker…Min… Simon P Medhurst! Lovely bloke, excellent musician. Genius gold and silversmith, wonderfully creative electronics engineer. Much missed.

Yvonne Cleland…. Quite hard being in a band with him though. He’d often turn up 2 hours late or not at all, depending on what he was doing at the time and who with! 😀 Enjoyed playing with him and had fantastic fun making weird and wonderful sounds. Happy days.

Conan Howard… Bernie you look so young there. Conan (Len)…Samisen

Bernard Goffredo… I loved Min knew him since I was fourteen and me and Pete Fisher would go and jam at his country cottage. Playing with him in the Hollywood Killers was fun but challenging as you never knew what he would do especially when he would use his homemade electronics on his miked up sax.

Pete Fisher… I’ve been trying to remember where and when that was Bernard – your memory’s better than mine in this case! I remembered spending a weekend at a country cottage and as well as jamming, attempting to record something. I seem to remember us being upstairs while Min was downstairs manning the tape deck. There were no headphones as I recall and Min had rigged up a monitor speaker that he also used as a foldback to talk to us. I don’t think anything came of it due to technical challenges…

Meaux Meaux Polymorphous… Very fond memories of Min! Is that Robin Heggie?

Bernard Goffredo… Yes that’s Robin

Geoff Peckham… Min’s cottage was at the top of a field near Rolvenden. I used to spend weekends with him there during the winter of ’69/’70. We played a lot of ‘free jazz’, indulged in Bob Luck cider and others and planned to form a band. We did actually do a handful of gigs, but they were rather loose affairs! I really liked Min. After a quite ‘closed’ upbringing, meeting him when I was 17 really opened my eyes/mind!

Tony Qunta… Great character! I remember some very long free jams at Min’s place. One which Min recorded had at the time we were playing seemed to sound the best thing I had ever heard! Listening back a few days later with ‘things back to normal’ 😁 it didn’t sound anything like we remembered it!

Geoff Peckham… Tony, are you referring to those jams we had during all night gatherings at Vaughan’s place in Burwash? I remember Min recording some. Would love to hear them now but, as you say, I’m sure they’re not as thrilling as they were at the time!

The Ballroom All Stars DJ’s – Hastings Pier 21st May 2016

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photo by Allyson Breeds

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                  photos by Kevin Burchett                            quotes photo Jim Breeds

Chris Gentry, Johnny Mason, Colin Bell and Mick O’Dowd.

Allyson Breeds… I don’t know why Mick looks like he is wearing a yellow wig?

Leigh Wieland Boys… DJs were excellent!

Chris Giles… Brilliant photo Allyson

Andre Martin… It was always Johnny M who had the Goldern Wig!! Great time with the “old hands” almost 200 years experience between us over the years!

Kevin Burchett… The Golden Oldies at Hastings Pier second session.

Archie Lauchlan… Poptastic

Sarah Harvey… I just think they all look so cute 🙂 xx

Jim Breeds… Old Skool Still Rules

Andre Martin… Brill – that sums up the Ballroom All Stars !!

Andy Qunta… Ha ha – love it! Those are some rock-star, legendary DJs!

Andy Gunton… I’m still wondering who that rogue hand, under the desk, belongs to?

Caz Simpson… The rogue hand definitely belongs to a female.

Andy Gunton… Where’s her other hand?!!!!

Chris Giles… I didn’t notice until Andy pointed it out..Ha ha

Alan Esdaile…Thanks Jim. I see what you mean about the hand Andy, it looks like its far too low to be Andre’s and It looks like its on my knee!

Jim Breeds… Done with the greatest of respect and affection 🙂

Mick O’Dowd… That’s awesome  Jim. Actually the yellow on my head was not a result of me rubbing on Colin’s T-shirt but is in fact my halo slipping after I mentioned a certain gentleman that appeared on the Pier in silver suits who I was not allowed to mention!  Nice to see you there on Saturday. Great to see you back.

Jim Breeds… One year ago today.

Chris Giles… What a fantastic time we all had x

Mick O’Dowd… A year ago! How time flies! Had a great time.

Alan Esdaile… They let us out on day release, as long as we had our name tags on.

Jeanette Jones… Nice photo, guys 🙂 We’ve all come a long way !

Madness – Hastings Pier 21st May 2016.

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Hastings-born musician Suggs, from Madness, will fix the last plank to complete the 50 miles of new decking on the Victorian structure on Tuesday 22nd March 2016.

Phil Gill… It’s the first sign of Madness.

Stuart Huggett… I saw Suggs do the opening ceremony for a temporary Fishermen’s Arch down on the Stade once.

Peter Fairless… I’m filled with gladness but my 10 year old is going to be gutted at the age restriction! My Girl’s Mad At Me!

Alan Knipmeyer… it must be love ! thats just one step beyond…

Jamie Butler… Looks cool not into Madness the Ist time round but know loads of people in Hastings are should be a great turn out.

Anthony G Hart… Do you know when and where the tickets go on sale please.

Paul Roper… how do i get tickets to see madness on hastings pier.. 21st may 2016?

Lauren Gower… Where will they be on sale does anyone know please?

Neil Mather… Shareholders in the pier charity got a link to buy tickets from 9am today, general public sale starts on 24th. I assume there will be a link from the pier charity website.

Sandra Bryant… Hope all the doubters eat their words now.

Jim Breeds… Booked our tickets – who else is going?

Suggs on Hastings Pier screwing in the final plank. http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/local/video-madness-suggs-screws-final-plank-into-hastings-pier-1-7290225

Mick O’Dowd… Never thought in a million years that we would see top-notch bands appearing on The Pier ever again! Just goes to show that nothing is impossible.

TICKETS  INFO… http://musicglue.com/hastingspier/

NOW SOLD OUT. According to Hasting Pier, Music Glue had 30,000 plus visits today which  caused the website to crash and left a number of people unhappy.

Virginia Davis… Anyone else have a problem with Madness tickets. I had tickets in my basket and was told they were secure and then suddenly emptied my basket?

Lisa Lucas… yep,got both of us sat trying and we both keep getting system error!!! totally disappointed,but will be listening for free from the beach.

Susan Marketis… It’s when you are watching the minutes tick down.

Andy Clarke… What a joke…. got up early to book tickets for Madness, secured them and then saw message saying you have 8 minutes to pay for them…. what happened to first come first served…. yeah you guessed it i didn’t get them due to “browser time expired” after 8 minutes. so unfair for those who actually got there first… It’s all i can do not to write a string of obscenities here now…..

Chris Giles… I didn’t get there first I couldn’t get there at all kept saying try again later.. It took about 40 mins to get through then I put all my bank details in and it all froze up I just waited as was worried if I went back I wouldn’t get them …then it all came back put in my details again and got them …about 9.40 9.50 ish I guess… I was worried I’d been charges twice but I haven’t… Was a bit stressful though I agree… I think local people should have had a day after the shareholders then the rest on another day… Very unfair.. I think went back on at 10:15 and got the afternoon ones with no problem..

Graham Belchamber… Sounds like the system overloaded with the heavy demand.

Elaine Stock… Yes I tried and it says try later system error!!

Andy Clarke… tickets are sold out or reserved. absolute crap

Andy Pilkington… dunno how people are finding the sold out when website is down !

Jaylea Martin… It took me about 5 times, I almost had a heart attack as the minutes went down, so tried from my phone as well and they were sold out within minutes I think.

Els Wilcox… BOO HOO couldn’t get through and now they’ve ALL SOLD OUT! !!!!!!!!

Janette Clare Morfey… And there was a thunderstorm just as they started. Spectacular.

Matt Thomas… I was there, great night and the storm had finished by the time they came on stage