I'm off for a long weekend later this morning. Most of it will be spent visiting pals in Southport but I'm making a little detour to take in the delights of Blackpool.
I originally set out to feature musicians from Southport in this post but with one exception, which we'll come to, it was slim pickings. You can't really lead off a post with 4/5ths of Gomez, can you? So I decided to make it about Blackpool instead, where there is no shortage of local talent.
We have a couple of bands that kicked off their careers there, Jethro Tull and The Nolans - inexplicably the two have never teamed up. There are a bunch of performers who were all born there but moved away at a young age - Graham Nash, Maddy Prior and Robert Smith.
And then there is Dave Ball, who went off to Leeds Poly where he met a lad from - you guessed it - Southport and formed a band that did quite well. One day I'll tell you the story of how a near encounter with that son of Southport led to me appearing on Russian television. But for now you will have to make do with a video.
"Military Madness" - Graham Nash
"Lovely On The Water" - Steeleye Span
"Up The 'Pool" - Jethro Tull
Looking forward to the Russian TV story Ernie Gogginski
ReplyDeleteIs there still that arcade on Southport pier where you have to buy pre-decimal coins to use the play the games?
ReplyDeleteDidn't make it down the pier this time but it was still there a couple of years ago
DeleteWhat a great triptych (OK that's Art I know) of songs there. It's rare to hear that JT track but so representative of their Stand Up/Benefit days. Can't recall hearing the Steeleye before but a fine version it is. I think Dave Mason added the guitar wig out to Military Madness
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