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Post by fordcapri on Dec 19, 2021 22:38:31 GMT
I voted for Jackie Wright as I loved him in Benny Hill. Only joking I meant the Melissa Wilks character who I thought was very nice watching the show as a young fellow in the 80s. She also played one of the young kids in The Professionals episode " You ll Be Alright " . Ah yes, the 'Grand Prix' girl from Why Don't You? A legend. Always envied Zammo.
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Post by fordcapri on Dec 18, 2021 19:22:08 GMT
Talent? What talent are you referring to? A cover of Fog On The Tyne is surely next... Dog on the Tyne, more like. (In keeping with the spirit of this thread)
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Post by fordcapri on Dec 10, 2021 9:23:38 GMT
Very sorry to see that artist Chris Achilleos has died. His early Doctor Who Target book covers were just as important as the books themselves!
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Post by fordcapri on Dec 6, 2021 12:28:59 GMT
We were only talking about him on here a couple of weeks ago. 72 is very young. R.I.P.
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Post by fordcapri on Dec 5, 2021 13:15:27 GMT
I remember him from Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii. He was a favourite of a friend of mine, also a drummer, and one of his main influences.
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Post by fordcapri on Nov 20, 2021 15:12:37 GMT
I think Paul and Linda McCartney should be added to that list.
First of all, with the utmost respect, Linda just struck me as being someone who had got very, very lucky and had absolutely no talent. She also came across as very self-righteous and holier than thou. I would doubt that she really contributed much to those songs she supposedly wrote with Paul... a few words here and there probably. And she was the prime reason that I simply couldn't take Wings seriously... you had Macca, some bl**dy great musos and then Linda, standing there shaking a tambourine or, at best, playing single notes on a keyboard. OK, she's dead now, so sorry for speaking ill of her, but, again, she just got lucky and that was it.
Paul likes to push this 'cheeky chappy' persona, but we all know that he's a ruthless control freak who is very good at manipulating the press, media and people. I think this became apparent when he decided to reorder the song-writing credits on those Lennon/McCartney songs and thus, on a live album at least, they became McCartney/Lennon. A bit crass, eh Paul? And then there was the time he told everyone, on the Jonathan Ross Show, that the reason Linda only used one finger when she was playing was because she used a 'monophonic' synthesizer. All I'll say is, polyphonic synths were also available! And by allowing Linda to join the band, he did himself (and the rest of the band) a serious disservice.
In closing, I've got nothing personally against Macca, his Beatles stuff is brilliant, but as a couple, I thought Paul and Linda were tiresome. I'll also speculate that Lennon and McCartney were probably in competition with each other to see who could have the most talentless and embarrassing wife. I wouldn't like to say who won.
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Post by fordcapri on Nov 16, 2021 13:20:32 GMT
I am so sorry and sad to hear this. I interviewed Roy (on stage) about ten years ago and - chatting to him both before and after - found him to be a truly delightful and down to earth bloke. Indeed, I'm tempted to say that his was one of the best interviews I've ever done. An incredibly nice bloke. I can't speak highly enough of him. R.I.P. Roy. Nice one FC - over on Robin Askwith's Twitter (which is always entertaining 👍🏻) he tells a good anecdote on Roy , who as you say , really did come across as a decent chap. Without naming names... I have just received this... "Most of us weren’t really aware of how ill Roy was and how rapidly he had deteriorated in consequence. I’m out at the moment but will try and forward to you a very nice and fond tribute that another of our Stage GS members wrote about Roy yesterday."
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Post by fordcapri on Nov 16, 2021 10:43:56 GMT
I am so sorry and sad to hear this.
I interviewed Roy (on stage) about ten years ago and - chatting to him both before and after - found him to be a truly delightful and down to earth bloke. Indeed, I'm tempted to say that his was one of the best interviews I've ever done. An incredibly nice bloke. I can't speak highly enough of him. R.I.P. Roy.
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Post by fordcapri on Nov 12, 2021 21:06:31 GMT
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Post by fordcapri on Nov 5, 2021 10:33:04 GMT
I knew I'd seen him in something recently... and it was Maroc 7. A mainstay of TV for longer than I can remember, even popping up in an episode of The Persuaders! He always seemed like a laugh and I bet there are many people mourning him today. RIP.
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Post by fordcapri on Oct 26, 2021 8:06:42 GMT
Typical Guardian ignorance! Sorry... couldn't resist that.
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Post by fordcapri on Oct 21, 2021 18:42:32 GMT
And finally...
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Post by fordcapri on Oct 21, 2021 10:23:21 GMT
Radcliffe and Maconie show featured his arrangement of The Sweeney theme on their show of the 17th, and were mightily impressed by it. Has a mad prog-funk middle section that you don't expect if you're only familiar with the TV version. Great stuff. Don't know that one... but then he recorded so many. The last LP I bought, off ebay, was one of his! His version of The Persuaders theme, albeit part of a medley, is one of the best versions I have heard. I don't think Alan ever made a bad recording!
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Post by fordcapri on Oct 17, 2021 15:21:28 GMT
Quite a CV of catchy and iconic tunes. The Dave Allen tune always sounded cool and fitted the show perfectly. I see from Wikipedia that his daughter sang the Opus III number 'It's a fine day' which will be on TOTP soon as an early 1992 hit. Here she is, together with her dad, talking to me in 2012. As you can see, I had my hair cut in an appropriate fashion to meet the leader of the Mohawks! Here she is again, with Brian Bennett this time. And finally, Big Al in an appropriate pose...
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Post by fordcapri on Oct 17, 2021 0:26:42 GMT
Very, very, very sad to have heard this. When your phone rings at 1 a.m. with a text, you know it's unlikely to be good news. Met Alan several times and this laptop was actually paid for by him so that I could view and log hi-def video footage. He was a great bloke and a true legend of the genre. I know a great many people are going to be deeply saddened today. Thanks Al.
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Post by fordcapri on Sept 11, 2021 9:50:33 GMT
I always, genuinely, saw myself as Tucker. A bit of a clown, a bit unkempt, cheeky to the teachers, a small group of misfit friends, a couple of enemies, occasionally successful with girls but usually seen as a dreamer who hated sports and not taken seriously by most people. One or two people learned to their cost that it had been a mistake to underestimate me. I suppose I was a 'safe' rebel. I didn't want to cause any 'real' trouble, just push my luck as far as I could. Having said all this, since this had been my modus operandi since before I saw Grange Hill, I'll guess that Tucker was probably based on me. In the 1980s I became more of an Alan... F@t b@astard who ate too much... but now I'm more of a Bullet Baxter... miserable old sod with a beard and not enough hair. The wheel turns.
(I've got a picture of myself somewhere from about 1976. If I can find it I'll post it... then you can see what I mean...)
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Post by fordcapri on Sept 10, 2021 14:46:38 GMT
As someone who started Secondary School in autumn 1976, I was roughly the same sort of age as the first onscreen intake of Grange Hill. So, inevitably, I had to vote for Tucker, Trisha and Cathy. There were some others that I almost voted for (a couple for all the wrong reasons!), but, for me, the originals were the best. Wanted to be Tucker; wanted to, er, 'go out with' Trisha and Cathy... preferably at the same time.
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 26, 2021 17:08:30 GMT
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 24, 2021 21:15:36 GMT
The best Rolling Stones story I ever heard (well, my favourite), was the time Charlie punched Jagger so hard that he flew across a table and almost out of an open window... they were several floors up at the time too! I'd have loved to have seen that! They'll have to call it a day (as the Stones) after they do this short US tour. I'm not suggesting that they all retire, but since Charlie was with them for about 58 years (every tour and album) and with Jagger and Richard the only ones left, it would, perhaps, be unfair and disrespectful to carry on as the Stones.
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 14, 2021 21:09:12 GMT
A shame that people still can't get his name right...
Tributes for Fife actor Ken Hutchinson, star of Straw Dogs and The Sweeney, who has passed away
It's Hutchison.
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Post by fordcapri on Aug 12, 2021 20:26:09 GMT
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Post by fordcapri on Jun 30, 2021 12:32:15 GMT
I think The Adventurer would have been more successful if they had fired Gene Barry and kept Stuart Damon.
He was also good in the 'Mindbender' episode of UFO, as an egotistical actor with a swelling between the ears! These kind of sequences (and the more surreal ones that followed) helped to remind us that SHADO HQ was beneath a fully functioning film studio. I recently bought a DVD containing four episodes of Space: 1999 Year 2 (The Seance Spectre, The Lamda Factor and Bringers of Wonder pts. 1 and 2). I shall watch Bringers of Wonder tonight. I was planning on watching Thriller again this summer - last watched it in 2006 - so I might have a look for his episode this weekend too.
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Post by fordcapri on May 29, 2021 8:55:29 GMT
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Post by fordcapri on May 8, 2021 16:34:04 GMT
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Post by fordcapri on Apr 28, 2021 19:38:29 GMT
Sorry to hear this.
As some of you may remember, I read his book, 'Carrying the Fire', a couple of years ago. I'm glad he lived to see the 50th anniversary. These guys were proper heroes.
R.I.P.
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Post by fordcapri on Apr 9, 2021 12:13:40 GMT
A shame he didn't quite make his century. Not a Royalist as such, but I'm sure that a great many young people benefited from his Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme. Indeed, I know for a fact that they did. OK, he was a bit old fashioned and had some forthright views, but I guess, in the long run, he did more good than harm. Just waiting for the tactless outpouring of both glee and hate from the usual suspects. R.I.P. www.BBC.co.uk/news/uk-50589065
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Post by fordcapri on Mar 6, 2021 14:01:22 GMT
I think I'll watch 'Stoppo Driver' this weekend; got it on my season one DVD box set (the only Sweeney DVD I have). And I see that they are showing Upstairs Downstairs on Talking Pictures on Sundays - although they seem to be between Nicola Pagett episodes this week.
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Post by fordcapri on Mar 5, 2021 12:40:12 GMT
Very sad and sorry to hear this.
I read her book, Diamonds Behind My Eyes, a couple of years ago, which catalogued her mental breakdown and it was a harrowing read. She obviously battled demons. I'll hope that she is at peace now.
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Post by fordcapri on Feb 25, 2021 18:20:27 GMT
I remember him as George Orwell in a play about him... must have been well before 1984, but covered the period during which he wrote it.
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Post by fordcapri on Feb 10, 2021 15:28:01 GMT
Just finished reading Wolfcurse, To be really honest... I thought it was bl**dy good! Ray Tyler was explored, as a person, in a fair amount of detail and we were privy to his innermost thoughts on almost every page. It also played a good game in keeping us guessing as to whether or not he was a werewolf or just believed himself to be. With a lot of POV shots, this could make a really good film. Interesting that it came out at about the same time as An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. Yeah, I enjoyed it. Some good writing in this one, some nice turns of phrase and intelligent descriptions. The Guy could write! I'd give it 9 out of 10. Maybe even the full 10. IIRC doesn’t Ray end up with some hippy artist chick near the coast somewhere? And you just know things are most likely going to turn out badly for her. Meanwhile the manhunt is on... I don’t actually recall Ray being painted as a complete b*****d, coz in-spite of his volcanic temper and animalistic urges, he appears like an okay guy that’s mostly surrounded by tossers. Bizarrely, I’d never even thought to put two and two together and compare it to American Werewolf. Yeah. He ends up with a hippy artist named Mandy. I'm not sure if she's randy... as she never really gets the chance. There's a line near the beginning of Wolfcurse where Ray says, or thinks, that he's going to give someone 'a piece of my mind'. Funnily enough, the werewolf in The Howling says the same thing. This NEL version came out in June 1981. I wonder when it was written and whether it was just a coincidence that '81 was a good year for werewolves.
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