Month: February 2020

SOUTH SHIELDS 1977 – THE KING, THE QUEEN & THE PUNK – film stories & soundbites.

/ Alikivi

1977 saw three big events happen in the small seaside town of South Shields in the North East of England. The boxer Muhammad Ali had his wedding blessed, the Queen visited on her Royal Silver Jubilee and three lads from a working-class housing estate formed a punk band – the Angelic Upstarts.

Why not put them together in a film ?

Some projects take a lot of digging around to get made but on this one each person contacted about contributing to the film lead to another and another – making the whole process easier. 

This blog features stories and soundbites from contributors to the documentary made in 2013. 

Start.

Narration: 1977 was an extraordinary year of royalty and revolution. It was the storm that followed the calm. We’d had the long hot summer of ’76 and the high-water mark of disco and glam rock.

Trevor Cajiao: The glam thing happened when I was 12/13 year old and I loved all that stuff Slade, Sweet and Mud.

Neil Newton: I remember Wizzard coming on and the bloke with the big hair his face all painted and being mesmerized by that.

Narration: Many 1970’s teenagers were enjoying their first live gigs from such established and diverse acts as Chuck Berry and Black Sabbath.

Richard Barber: My first gig was February 1977 I went to see Black Sabbath at Newcastle City Hall on the Technical Ecstasy tour. We were second row from the back and as soon as Ozzy came on he went ‘Everyone go fuckin’ wild’ and everyone piled down the front. One kid had a big wooden cross and that just got chucked somewhere.

Trevor Cajiao: When I heard rock n roll that’s what I realised that I wanted to get into. I saw Chuck Berry at the City Hall in 1976, it was fantastic, blew me away.

Narration: 1977 was a sad time for fans of Marc Bolan and Elvis Presley. Both stars died young.

Colin Smoult: The death of Elvis was a big impact on everybody, even if you were into Elvis or not because he was such an iconic figure.

Neil Newton: My mam was a big fan of Elvis I remember the day he died it didn’t really have much of an impact on us cos I wasn’t particularly a fan – but he had some canny tunes.

Narration: In the North East we saw a visit from the American president Jimmy Carter and in the same year the Queen came to South Shields on Friday 15th July as part of her Silver Jubilee. The very next day a King came to town.

Derek Cajiao: I’d been given a camera for my birthday I hadn’t had much experience using the camera, but I went down to take some photographs and I managed to catch Ali as he passed the fairground and the Sea Hotel. I got some great shots of him on the bus, and it was fairly apparent he was playing the crowd, pointing at people, threatening to jump out of the bus and chin somebody, really working the crowd.

Pat Robinson: (Her husband Sepp Robinson was Mayor). We were on the top of the bus and at one point it rained so at one of the pubs we passed I said to my husband go and get a bottle of whisky, we passed it round cos we were so cold and wet, at least it warmed us through for a few minutes. Muhammad Ali’s wedding was blessed, and we all went to the mosque and these incredibly beautiful people arrived, they were both stunning and dressed in white.

Afterwards we went to Gosforth Park for a fantastic lunch and right through the two days when the cameras were on Ali turned on the big lip but when he wasn’t doing that, he was a sensitive, pleasant, attentive man. He was absolutely charming.

Narration: But away from the glamour and celebrity a sense of frustration was taking hold. The soundtrack was one of anger, the future seemed bleak and the music was reflecting that.

Colin Smoult: I think the music change in 1977 was down to the blandness being presented in the charts, novelty singles, very middle of the road stuff. Bands appearing on Top of the Pops that were no better than a cabaret act. There was no wonder that the punk revolution came along.

Neil Newton: When punk came along I was much more aware of it because it was so direct.

Trevor Cajiao: A lot of people were saying the whole punk thing was like the rock n roll of the ‘50s as it was a rebellious type of thing but as a kid I didn’t understand that because I was just using my ears and The Clash don’t sound like the Johnny Burnett Trio, but in hindsight what they were getting at was the actual energy, the guitar music, rebelling against stuff.

Narration: In South Shields three friends from the Brockley Whins Estate started a punk band The Angelic Upstarts and little did they know where it would lead them.

Mensi: The nucleus of the band really was me, Decca and Mond.

Mond: We had known each other since we were kids, we used to hang around the shops at Brockley Whins.

Decca: They said here Decca we’re forming a band and you’re gonna be the drummer.

Mond: We found you can hire the Bolingbroke Hall and we used to get about 300 people in.

Decca: I think that’s when we started to take it serious, we all got our heads together. I mean Mensi was a prolific song writer.

Mensi: I just write about what’s happening around us.

Decca: He came out with Murder of Liddle Towers, the song that made us famous. Next you know you’re on Top of the Pops and the rest is history.

Narration: The end of the 1970’s saw people looking forward to a new decade. Would we ever see a year like 1977 again.

Closing music & credits.

The film was narrated by Alistair Robinson, music from The Panic Report and the Dipsomaniacs, with excellent photographs by South Shields photographer Freddie Mudditt (Fietscher Fotos) and Derek Cajiao.

The King, The Queen & The Punk (25 mins 2013)  watch the edited version on Alikivi You Tube channel.

Gary Alikivi   February 2020.

 

LADY IN RED – with author Paula Bartley talking about Ellen Wilkinson MP (1891-1947)

/ Alikivi
Ellen Wilkinson MP
Eileen O’Shaughnessy.
Dame Rosemary Cramp.

March 8th 2016 three of my short films were screened at an event celebrating International Women’s Day at The Customs House in South Shields.

They featured Dame Rosemary Cramp (Bedes World, Jarrow) Eileen O’Shaughnessy (‘Wildflower’ first film made about George Orwell’s South Shields born wife) and Ellen Wilkinson MP (Jarrow Crusade).

When the event was being put together I found a newly released book about Ellen’s political life, the author was Paula Bartley who I contacted and asked if she would like to come up to The Customs House and talk about her book….

The talk I enjoyed most was in South Shields. It was as if I had come home. People knew about Ellen, they knew why she was important, they loved her as much as I did.

In research did you find anything surprising about Ellen ?

I found out that Ellen had enjoyed a relationship with a communist spy, a man called Otto Katz. He was a Soviet agent who used at least 21 aliases.

If these photos below are all of the same man – two of them are of Arnold Deutsch – then he was very dangerous indeed. Arnold Deutsch, who was also known as Otto, recruited Kim Philby, Britain’s most notorious spy.

Certainly Katz – whoever he was – was a handsome man and willing to use his looks and natural magnetism to further his political cause. He even managed to charm Hollywood: Otto Katz and his wife Ilse were immortalized as Victor Lazlo and Ilse Lazlo in the film Casablanca.

M15 thought Katz the most important communist agent outside Russia and put him under surveillance. You can see a report of it below – it’s of Otto Katz staying overnight with Ellen.

It says, ‘he went with Miss Ellen Wilkinson to her flat at No 18, Guildford Street WC1 where he spent the night’. The two sometimes evaded the Secret Service by driving as fast as Ellen could in her car.

Otto Katz’s letters were opened. Below is a negative of a letter from Ellen to Otto that the Secret Services made. It says ‘WHAT a bombshell. Honestly, I am scared stiff. You simply must destroy the negatives or the worst, or send them to me, and any copies there are. PLEASE’.

I don’t know what these photographs illustrated or the result of Ellen’s plea, but Ellen and MI5 destroyed her papers.

What I do know is that Ellen became friendly with Otto Katz in the 1930s and remained so all her life – even when she became a Cabinet Minister.

He accompanied her on a number of trips to Spain during the Civil War and involved her in communist-led campaigns.

Sadly, Ellen died in 1947, and never knew that in 1952 Otto Katz was put on trial for conspiring against the Czechoslovakian communist state, was tortured, found guilty and hanged.

Spy stories are always interesting, Agent Zig Zag (Durham born Eddie Chapman) is a fascinating tale of traitor, villain and hero. Ben Macintyre made a BBC documentary about him and his exploits as a double agent during the Second World War.

On Tyneside was Russian born William Fisher and his son Heinrich, a KGB spy born in Newcastle, he worked for the British Socialist Party in South Shields.

My great uncle Alexander Allikivi, born Russia 1888, was living in South Shields at the same time. How many more Soviets were living in the town and was Allikivi a member of the party?

(‘The Kremlin’s Geordie Spy’ by Vin Arthey is a great source for research. Interview with Vin on the blog 30th July 2019).

Paula continues….

Like a lot of young people, Ellen was excited by the 1917 Russian revolution. She joined the Communist Party and planned for socialism in Britain.

The Soviet Union gave her and Harry Pollitt (later General Secretary of the British Communist Party) £500 to travel first class to Russia so that they could attend the Red Trade Union Conference in Moscow. Here she met leading revolutionaries like Leon Trotsky and Alexandra Kollontai.

Back in Britain, she helped found the Red International of Labour Unions, known as the Profintern. But there was a problem. She was also a member of the Labour Party.

In 1924 communists were banned from belonging to the Labour Party and Ellen had to make a choice. In 1924 she left the Communist Party but its ideas influenced her.

What inspired you to write about Ellen ?

I was intrigued by her, her name kept coming up in lots of books about women’s history: a photo; a mention of the Jarrow March; a bit on the first women Labour MPs. I wanted to know more.

I did an internet search, read a book about her by Betty Vernon and was gripped. Why was this 4ft 11’ bundle of dynamite not better known?

The more I read, the more I fell in love. I became a little bit obsessed – and two years later, after a lot of research I finished an introductory book about her: Ellen Wilkinson – from Red Suffragist to Government Minister.

Author, Paula Bartley.

It was challenging researching Ellen’s life as she had destroyed all her papers and I had to rely on Hansard, newspapers, archives and people who had known and written about her.

I visited lots of archives: Hull, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford and Warwick to try and find more about her.

Why did I like her so much?  I admired her energy, her passion, her warmth, her charm and her sheer doggedness to make life better for the less well-off.

Where was Ellen born and what kind of upbringing did she have ?

She was born in Manchester to parents who didn’t have much money. Ellen, her parents, her two brothers and her sister all lived together in a tiny two-bedroomed terraced house with no bathroom or inside lavatory.

The family struggled: her father worked in a very low paid job while her mother was too ill to work outside the home.

Ellen’s future didn’t look particularly bright, yet she went to Manchester University, became a Labour MP and then first-ever female Minister of Education.

Do you think it would have been difficult being one of the first women MP’s ?

In 1924 Ellen was elected Labour MP for Middlesbrough East. She walked into a space that was both masculine and upper-class.

The Palace of Westminster was a grand building with its panelled walls, high ceilings, crystal chandeliers, vast halls and chambers, heraldic symbols and statues of dead white men.

Intimidating for those, like Ellen, who had not grown up in a big house, been to public school or Oxbridge.

The benches in the House of Commons were made for men. Ellen was so short and the benches so high that she had to sit with her feet dangling inches from the floor. In fact, she used her briefcase to rest her feet.

On her second day in Parliament Ellen made her debut speech. She looked confident but was scared stiff. Ellen had to stand up alone in the House of Commons while over 600 MPs, mostly men, looked at her.

But Ellen was a streetfighter, she had learnt how to deal with difficult crowds when she was campaigning for votes for women, had rotten fruit thrown at her and had to think of quick witty replies to hecklers.

And she knew that what she had to say was more important than her fears: she told MPs that she was determined to improve the lives of women and poor people.

28 Female candidates for parliament.
Ellen third from the right.

Since women had not been expected to be members of Parliament there were no facilities for them in the House of Commons. It was a male space.

The first women MPs had to squash into one small dressing room which contained a washstand, a tin basin, a jug of cold water and a bucket – a situation they naturally found intolerable.

Ellen called it ‘The Tomb’. Even so they rarely complained, partly because they were just glad to be in the building.

These women soon found that they were not welcome in certain areas of the House namely the bars, the smoking rooms and the members’ cloakroom.

Either because they feared giving offence or were intimidated, they tended to stay away from these places. Ellen broke this by striding into areas that the men thought exclusive to them.

Did you come across anything unusual when researching Ellen ?

These early women MPs tended to stick together and give each other support. Ellen became friends with someone who was very different from herself: the American, Conservative and very rich Nancy Astor.

The two women worked closely together to improve women’s lives, getting better pensions for women, changing the Nationality Laws (British women lost their nationality if they married a foreigner), allowing more women to join the police force, helping to gain votes for women on the same terms as men, and trying (unsuccessfully) to improve the laws on prostitution.

Ellen feeding the Jarrow Marchers on route to London October 1936.

Where have you publicized your book and have you any projects planned ?

I wanted to share my research about this remarkable woman, so I spoke at lots of different places, from the Ellen Wilkinson School in Ealing to Labour Party groups, to women’s groups and even at the House of Commons.

You can see one of my talks ‘The Mighty Atom’: Ellen Wilkinson and parliamentary politics on the parliamentary you tube channel (https://youtube/2bi409l621l).

My work on Ellen Wilkinson encouraged me to find out about other Cabinet Ministers and last year my book, Labour Women in Power: Cabinet Ministers in the 20th Century was published. But no-one captured my heart more than Ellen Wilkinson.

Interview by Alikivi   February 2020.

ALL MY ROCK STARS WERE POLITICIANS in conversation with South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck

/ Alikivi / 1 Comment

I never had a musical awakening, all my rock stars were politicians (laughs). I was a weird kid, I was always into politics, sitting in front of the telly watching the news, my nana once said to my mam ‘There’s something not right about that bairn, you need to keep an eye on her’. Yeah I think I was destined to do this.

Former political prisoner Terry Waite speaking at a conference in South Shields.

I met Terry Waite a few years ago, I remember watching on telly his situation as a prisoner years ago, he is Patron of a national homeless charity with a place in South Shields so he came and done a talk, I was sitting listening, fascinated, My god it’s Terry Waite (whispers). I was stuck to his side all night (laughs).

I’d watch documentaries where they had discovered new communities in far flung places of the world, always fascinated by the world around me, the planet and people – I just love people.

I always had a dream from when I was young to be in politics but shelved it because I never thought it could happen to kids like me.

My Great Uncle Richard Ewart was MP for Sunderland after the Second World War, before that he was Union Organiser and local councillor in South Shields, when he left school he worked in Whitburn Pit, this was a time of working class politicians. I looked to find a similar voice so dropped in to Emma’s office on Westoe Road, South Shields….

I originally got involved in local politics, became a local councillor and thought I’d never get to be an MP, so I will work to change my little part of the world. It came from there because I don’t come from a political family at all, I’m the only one in the family that’s interested in politics.

I believe in public service, that you can change things. Every single day people are in and out of this office and my amazing team here change things for them purely because I have two letters after my name.

People can come in here and be rock bottom about being evicted, all kinds of mess and we can sort them out within hours or quicker, and that’s good isn’t it.

A lot of people get into modern politics because they like being on telly or they like being famous. I just want to be a really good public servant, give something back and do some good for the people that I’ve grown up with, my neighbours, friends, family, the town.

David Ducasse (Eurovision 2007 UK entrants Scooch)
Joe McElderry.
Little Mix.

Within the last 10 years or so pop music entertainers from South Shields like David Ducasse, Joe McElderry and Little Mix have been successful, is there any reason behind this ?

Firstly, representing your country at anything is a big deal, like David in Eurovision. Shields has talented people, it’s a creative place we have lots of artists and musicians.

I think that is because of the environment here, you look out to the River Tyne and North Sea with their wide-open spaces and you can just relax and think. That outward looking creativity and the impact of the people which makes the culture unique, that gets translated into art and music.

But I think in the past opportunities to get your stuff out there, get known or make a name for yourself have been limited and hard, but now with social media, 24/7 outlets and new avenues they are making it easier.

You can put a song on twitter or you tube and there is constant exposure if you do it right.

In the past singers or bands could of spent years going from club to club looking to get noticed, now with the resurgence of talent shows it gives people the opportunity to go on X Factor and the whole country could see you.

What music did you listen to when you were young ? (Emma was born in 1978)

I listened to my dad’s music mainly, my ma used to work nights in the pub, so I used to sit with my dad listening to Jethro Tull, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, I’d also like some Eurythmics and Madness. I never really followed any musical trends or fashion.

Did you play a musical instrument ?

Once as a kid I tried to teach myself how to play flute. I went to Woolworths in Jarrow with my pocket money and bought a little plastic flute. I’ve a lot of friends who are musical, but not me (laughs).

The Customs House in the past 20 years has been very successful with Ray Spencer at the wheel, is there still a place for it with all the changes happening in South Shields ?

Ray has been great nurturing the talent like we’ve talked about earlier. Arts and culture are an escape for people and we’ll always need it from the stresses of our daily life, so there’ll always be something like it in the town.

Going back to an earlier point the world is so in your face now, people get overwhelmed and there’s a rise in mental health problems. That’s because everything is at you all the time, the world just doesn’t seem as big as it used to because you’re getting stuff thrown at you all the time.

You need something comforting and nice like music and arts as opposed to being exposed to the horrors of the world. Listening or watching some things can move you in ways that some things just can’t.

With the austerity and cuts, arts and culture are the first to be hit because they are not seen as an essential service. People getting care is an essential service, do you cut money from a service which has a care package that people need to live, or do you cut it from arts and culture ?

That’s the problem austerity has brought, people have had to make those decisions, which can lead to the enrichment of the area suffering.

Have you had to make those decisions ?

When I was on the council I did because I had a budget but not now as I’m an MP in opposition. (Emma was lead member for social care) I have a lot more clout to help people but in terms of getting funding for things I have to fight twice as hard being in opposition.

Like the money for the new Metro cars, I fought for that for three years in opposition, if we were in Government and I asked it probably would have been just given – that’s the difference.

What is the difference between being an MP living in the North East compared to living closer to the capital ? 

First time I set foot in parliament was the day I was MP for Shields, never set foot in it before in my life. There are other people who were in and out of there every day looking for work, and one day they become an MP.

It depends how you’ve grown up, if you’ve spent your whole life working in places and networking to become an MP it’s not that big of a deal, if you’ve come from a normal job like me it is a big deal.

I imagine politics to be a hard profession, why do it ?

I’ve had hard jobs before, this is hard but not harder than any other jobs I’ve done before. I’ve just grew up wanting to make a difference and politics is the way you can do that.

I would look around and see my mam and dad, hard-working members of the family not being treated the same as others, they didn’t have much, just trying to get by and that massive level of inequality – it all used to make me angry.

How some people are treated wrongly and have all the chances in the world but others don’t, there should be a level playing field.

 Interview by Alikivi   January 2020.

 

EURO GOES POP in conversation with David Ducasse from pop band Scooch

/ Alikivi

A previous blog made a link from South Shields born jazz musician Kathy Stobart to Radiohead. This time trying a bigger stretch from South Shields to Swedish Kings and Queens of goth pop ABBA….

Well there was two boys and two girls (laughs). We were more like STEPS than ABBA….tho’ I wish we’d won like Abba !

What happened after Scooch had been selected to represent the UK ?

Well it was just mad, I wouldn’t say it was scary, just full on. When we were chosen things were never the same. The last UK entrant to win was Katrina and the Waves in 1997 and she was brilliant. It’s almost like a Eurovision family once you’ve done it.

We’ve done quite a few gigs around the Eurovision night and you all perform on the same shows, your paths cross. It’s because you have achieved something, a milestone in your career, it was a moment in time for us or you can get unbelievable success like ABBA.

1

In 2007 Eurovision was held in Helsinki and the UK representatives were pop band Scooch including South Shields born David Ducasse. The song Flying the Flag reached number 5 in the UK charts, unfortunately didn’t do as well in the competition….

We came second to last, but the experience was the closest we got to huge exposure. It was something we never imagined, just to have that opportunity. Sometimes it feels like five minutes ago and other times it’s like Did that really happen ?

Not many people get to represent their country at anything…

Yeah, that was the lovely thing about it, almost having a second life with Scooch because we had done stuff in the ‘90s and the demise of the band then felt like the rug was pulled under our feet.

Our lead singer Nat got pregnant and of course needed time off, and sadly Russ and Caroline just went separate ways and we all chased very different dreams.

We thought why get back together and pursue something which was really hard work and we were at that point where it was make or break. Coming back for Eurovision ? We just didn’t see that coming.

How did the Eurovision entry first come about ?

Russ had been in the audience of Eurovision with his friend James Fox (UK representative 2004) and at the end of it they were talking to the producer Dominic who he had met years before when he was a runner on a show called Liquid TV.

Dominic told Russ he can remember Scooch and asked him what are you doing now sort of thing, well Russ being a chancer just said, ‘How do you think we’ll go down on this show ?’

Scooch still gigged now and then, within a few months of that conversation we got a call saying ‘Would you like to give it a go ?

We never thought it would happen but I remember it was on a Valentines Day 2007 and we were in ! An old Scooch song which we demoed but never done anything with, was submitted but Dominic said it was too good.

Too good ? What did he mean ?

The entrants for that year were all blasts from the past, remember we hadn’t got to the actual Eurovision yet this was the selection process to find who was going to represent the UK.

It was all people who had done something before like Liz McClarnon from Atomic Kitten, you had Brian Harvey from East 17, Justin Hawkins from The Darkness was thrown in as the wild card at the end.

So you had your own niche like R&B, a ballad type of thing, rock, and for want of a better description we were the cheesy act. This was a new label for us although we had been around in the ‘90s as a pop group.

Dominic asked if we had anything else. Russ was doing some work in film at the time and he was working with two songwriters, Morton from Sweden and Paul Tarrie, they were writing a song for an animation movie featuring aeroplanes.

One idea was around the inflight announcements, they went with that, and Russ had the bap de da bap chorus, they asked for more, but it didn’t exist then !

Meanwhile we got to a studio in London where Morton and Paul were writing the rest of the song, we put it down and then left them to craft it all together for what became Flying the Flag.

Originally, how did you join Scooch ?

The manager Steve Crosby was a former DJ, he put STEP’S together and wrote their big hit 5,6,7,8 with Pete Waterman. But he was ousted from there so put together Scooch as a big two fingers up to Waterman, that’s why he went to Watermans former partner in the record business Mike Stock.

What happened was Scooch had just lost one of their members so put an advert in The Stage newspaper and I sent my cv and demo in.

Natalie, Caroline and Russ liked me so I went down and hung out with them in Surrey where they were based, just got to know each other, and got on really well. Steve said go back to Newcastle have a think about it and so will we and we’ll speak soon.

Next day the call came… ‘You’re in’. I was already in development with a boy band called Northern Line but they didn’t seem as settled, a few members came and went, so I jumped ship to Scooch.

When was this and did you move to London ?

Around late 1997 cos it wasn’t another 18 months until we got the deal. No I didn’t move straight away, every so often I would go down rehearse, record a vocal , learn a routine. I used to clean Kirkpatricks pub in South Shields to pay for my train ticket.

Then Mike Stock got involved and re-recorded one of our songs, he put his magic on it and Steve started knocking on doors of record companies or they would come round to a rehearsal.

On one day you’d have a couple of A&R from a company coming at 1 till 2pm, then another like Polydor at 2 till 3pm.

We’d sing When My Baby, Syncopated Rhythm, a cover of You to Me are Everything then When My Baby acapella to prove we could sing.

Then we’d sit down, and they’d ask a few questions, they always asked would I move to London. Which I did eventually in May 1998.

Where did you live ?

Our manager Steve had a record shop in Stoneleigh and he lived in the flat upstairs, then he moved out and Russ and I moved in. I think it’s an Italian restaurant now.

Thing was then, I was 22 years old, but I always had to remember my Scooch age in interviews. We played it a few years younger than we really were.

Who were the songwriters for Scooch ?

The majority of the songs were Mike Stock and Matt Aitkin, Morton a songwriter from Sweden also wrote some.

We had a development deal with Mike Stock and part of that agreement was that we were to write some of our own songs and Morton was the guy to help us develop those skills. It was a nice team we all knew and trusted each other.

What studio did you record in ?

For Flying the Flag it was Mortons house in Fulham but back in the day it was 100 House, the home of Love This records run by Mike Stock. It was an incredible place to be, it had the recording and dance studios, with amazing choreographers working there.

One day was Diana Ross rehearsing for Top of the Pops next day Atomic Kitten and Christmas parties with everyone turning up. Basically it was pop heaven seeing all the artists in the canteen and their records on the wall, people I had grew up listening to. Yeah it was a great experience.

What was your experience of dealing with the record company ?

Basically, the record label are like a big bank so you get a budget for whatever deal they give you. We were at EMI on their pop division label Accolade records, and they just liked us.

Our first deal was a single and they gave us x amount of thousands of pounds to promote the single. They said ‘Let’s see how it charts and then we’ll see where we go’.

We got a second single out with an option to a third and our second release More Than I Needed to Know hit number 5, a great success. The record company said ‘ok let’s do an album’.

But being four naïve youngsters we never made any money from ‘90s Scooch. Every hotel you were staying in you were spending your money, you had to make money back before seeing a penny.

I spent a lot of time with the management and asked them ‘Why are we staying in the Malmaison with four separate rooms? Why do we have four separate cars ? I cottoned on.

I went to the band and said we need to get clever here, get some endorsements, we only got an advance of around £2,000 between us. So how do you pay your rent in London ? We had to wise up a bit and find ways to cut costs.

I loved our manager Steve as a friend, but as I was spokesman for the band we would also have business conversations. One day he said he was putting his expenses in and I asked him what expenses ? He said ‘When we’ve went for a meal or I’ve paid for your train ticket to Newcastle’.

I needed to investigate further, we were learning as we were thrown into it, because with the record deal came lawyers and who was paying them ?

When we done the two singles and looked to the album we were potentially going to do more work, that was another expense, so we needed to look after our side of things.

David Ducasse (Eurovision 2007 UK entrants Scooch)

How did you survive in the business ?

Just things like when we done Top of the Pops, this was our third time, I told Steve we had to wear something different from the music video we had filmed for the single.

Top of the Pops wanted us to film three versions for different episodes of the show, so we borrowed outfits from the All Saints girl band, then Steve got £50 off the record company to buy new outfits.

Russ and I were due to sign on the dole in Epsom on the afternoon when we were supposed to record the show. So I rang up the dole and explained why we couldn’t make the signing on time…

’Cos we’re doing Top of the Pops’. He didn’t believe us at first ‘Can you prove it and are you actually seeking work ?

I said, ‘Of course I can prove it our faces are on cd’s, it just doesn’t pay well that’s why we’re signing on’ (laughs).

They agreed we could sign early, so when we went there we signed autographs and had our pictures taken, then made our way to the TV studio. We still got our Job Seekers Allowance because we really needed the money for our rent in London.

Our biggest earners where sponsorship deals, we were paid ambassadors for the Children’s Health Authority and the Rugrats DVD things like that. Touring is the best way to make money that’s why Little Mix go out twice a year.

Looking back to your time in Scooch where there any moments that stand out ?

You can’t get better than the live Eurovision audience, knowing that for three minutes everyone will hear something you’ve worked really hard at.

Although I did have two nearly pinch myself moments. One was meeting the Prime Minister Tony Blair in the corridor at GMTV and he shouted ‘Look it’s Scooch!’ and getting to press the button on the National Lottery draw ! Yes easily pleased (laughs).

Was there a moment when you thought this is it I’ve made it ?

I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way as a performer because I’ve always viewed each job as a role or a stepping stone to where I always wanted to be – an actor. My dream job would be a six month stint on Emmerdale – so I can get home on a weekend!

What’s next David ? We have something planned but can’t tell you just yet. Watch this space.

Interview by Alikivi  January 2020.

TALKING PICTURES in conversation with actress Lesley Saint John

/ Alikivi

1983 I was glued to the telly on a Friday night when the first season of Auf Wiedersehen Pet hit the screen. The show proved to be popular around the UK and confirmed the programme a TV classic.

Written by Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais who already had a hit show starring North East characters in The Likely Lads.

Summer ‘85 I was upstairs in Newcastle Airport sweating it – my first time flying. I was about to go on a lad’s holiday to Ibiza when suddenly there was a commotion from the check-in area downstairs.

We ran over to the balcony to look down and see a couple of actors we recognised from the show waiting in line. I noticed the red streaks in Wayne’s (Gary Holton) black hair. The area was being roped off and they started filming a scene.

It wasn’t until season two in 1986 when I saw this episode being broadcast and there was a bit of a buzz remembering it been filmed.

So, for this blog, I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to interview one of the stars of that memorable series.

Lesley with Jill Halfpenny.
Lesley with cast members Tim Healy and Kevin Whately

Good interviews have honesty and laughter and there was plenty of that when I met up with Lesley Saint-John who played Vicky in the second season…

Vicky was a Manicurist from South Shields. You wouldn’t believe how much attention the show attracts. I did five years on Byker Grove, a Catherine Cookson film, but Auf Wiedersehen is the one that’s talked about the most.

There is an AWP fan club, and because the show is constantly repeated on tv, people often come up to me and say Vicky’s lines, they know them off by heart. Its great people remember it.

How did the job on Auf Wiedersehen come about ?

I was just a normal jobbing actor in the North East, the majority of work I had done was up here, including tv shows, commercials and corporate training videos, as well as stage work.

I’d heard of the show because the first season had been on telly but to be honest, I didn’t really watch it. My mother rang me up one night and said, ‘Have you seen that Auf Wiedersehen Pet on the telly, you’ve gotta watch it’.

I said, ‘I’ve flicked over it, but it just seems to be men sitting in a hut’. She said it was brilliant and I should start watching it.

Then my agent sent me for the audition held in Newcastle, which was great because normally a lot of auditions I would have to get on a coach or train travelling hours down to London.

How did the audition go?

It went fine there was a big panel of people, normally there is one or two with the casting director, but this was different. Sometimes auditions seem to go well but you don’t get the job, others you’re not sure of but you’re called back.

I knew the part was for someone called Vicky but didn’t know if it was for just one or two episodes, it ended up 10 out of the 13 episodes in series two.

Then I got a call again from my agent saying that they wanted me back to test with the rest of the cast in London and play a scene out with one of the characters. That turned out to be Gary Holton who played Wayne, who sadly is no longer with us.

Did you like Vicky, your character in the show?

Yeah, I think she was quite honest, maybe people thought she was a money grabber because she was with an older man with money, but she really did care for Ally.

It was Ally Fraser who was interested in money and how he could make more, Vicky was almost like the asset on his arm. It was a good relationship at the beginning but by the end it went sour.

The famous green bikini scene.
Lesley with various members of the AWP cast.

Looking back what are your memories of the show?

The scenes in Spain were filmed around Marbella in about six weeks, I remember having a nanny out there for my daughter who was nearly four at the time.

Ally’s villa was up in the hills near Puerto Banus, and at the time we were filming it was actually a concrete shell being built, so after the guys had filmed their scenes real Spanish builders would come in the evenings, to do more work on it.

The next day it looked like the lads had put the brick and extra tiles on the pool. Now you can rent the villa and I’ve been told by fans of the show that they clubbed together for a holiday there.

People remind me of this ‘green bikini’ scene we filmed in the Costa Del Sol, which really if I hadn’t had photographic evidence, I would never have believed I was ever that slim! (laughs).

But to let you know how scenes are filmed out of order with what you see on the programme, that scene outside the villa on the terrace was filmed around August then the next scene, which continues an argument with Ally, is when we walk into the villa, and is actually January in a studio in Nottingham.

So that 20 second walk was actually four or five months apart, it was a very cold studio and I had to have false tan on (laughs).

There was a line in one of the shows where I said I was going to Annabels club, well apparently there was a problem with that because there actually was a club called Annabels in Sunderland.

So, months later I had to go down to Central Television in Nottingham where we used to film all the indoor scenes and go into a recording booth and record the line saying I was going to Cannibals because we couldn’t use the name Annabels.

It had to be something similar because we couldn’t reshoot the whole scene because it was with Gary Holton who had passed away during the production.

The whole thing was very eery because I was by myself in the recording booth, but what they didn’t tell me was the line Gary had filmed would come through my headphones first.

I was never warned and when his distinctive cockney voice came through, I was silent. It completely threw me, it was if he was in the room.

The North East has a pedigree of strong women, do you think you fit into that ?

For people living in London or the south auditions can be ten a penny, easy to get to, but for me coming down from the North East sometimes it felt like an expensive ordeal. I am strong…ish, but could definitely do with toughening up.

But when I went to London for an audition, I met someone also going for the same part, funnily enough she ended up becoming my London agent. We talked about it and me getting the part and not her, I asked how she felt, and she just said it wasn’t to be.

I want to be that philosophical about it, but I still take it personal, I still need to toughen up.

How did you get into acting?

When I was around 12 I wanted to go to stage school in London, but my parents couldn’t afford it. Today you can get a degree in performing arts there was nothing like that up here when I was growing up.

I was brought up on the stage because my parents were in Amateur Dramatics and playing the lead roles, they met at a choir in Gateshead.

They used to put on shows and concert parties in old people’s homes and I would go with them, sing a couple of songs and do my ballet or tap dancing. I’d just always knew I wanted to be on stage as some sort of performer.

I was listening to music then and when I was about eight, the first album I bought was Chopin, I can’t remember why, but I loved it.

Then as a teenager I listened to T.Rex, Status Quo, Roxy Music and Alice Cooper. I saw all of them at Newcastle City Hall except Alice Cooper who I loved.

But the way I got into acting as a profession was singing on stage in a band to get my Equity card. You had to have 40 weeks on stage and be nominated by somebody.

So, I joined a band at 19-year-old where I did two or three solos and the rest backing vocals in workingmen’s clubs all around the North East. My songs were like Blondie and Dionne Warwick ‘If you see me walking down the street, just walk on by’ (sings).

I never thought of myself as a strong singer but that’s how I got in because you had to be in Equity in those days before you could work in tv. This is all I ever wanted to do I just never got as far as I wanted to get.

When was the time you thought you had missed an opportunity?

After Auf Wiedersehen Pet came out, my London agent asked if I was going to move to London, but I didn’t because my personal circumstances of being a single parent after my husband left made it difficult.

The practicalities of buying a house and not having my parents to support looking after my daughter might have been too much. A lot of women go away from the scene and have their kids so when they come back, if they do, people have forgotten them or moved on.

I think there is a massive amount of untapped talent here, but to get really established like, some of my colleagues from Byker Grove, Jill Halfpenny, Ant and Dec, you have to make the move down South or you will be making the journey up and down the motorway for auditions and shows.

A good thing is today there are more chances to get out there with all the social media and magazines.

So, looking back it was sort of missing a trick there, it might not have worked, but if I had my way I would have been in London when I was 12 (laughs).

The Dobson family, Byker Grove.
The Dobson family, Byker Grove.

How did working on Byker Grove come about?

Straight off the back of an audition I done, in the show my character Kath (Dobson) had three daughters, Jill Halfpenny was the eldest one.

What also helped was that we looked similar, we had dark hair, and I have freckles like the youngest, plus it was in the curly perm days (laughs). The guy who played my husband was Tony Hodge who was in a big North Eastern band, The Piranha Brothers.

Kath was very different from Vicky who was glamorous with the clothes and great locations. In nearly all my scenes as Kath, wardrobe gave me navy blue fuddy duddy skirts and button upped blouses to wear, and not much make up, just housewife scenes of making the meals, getting the kids to school, it was great playing a totally different role.

The Dobson’s used a real house in Newcastle where we filmed their scenes and our internal shots were set in The Mitre building in Benwell, Newcastle.

Lesley playing Nancy Boyle in 1996 Catherine Cookson film The Girl.
Lesley playing Nancy Boyle in 1996 Catherine Cookson film The Girl.

After leaving Byker Grove Lesley had a role in the tv series ‘Harry’ starring Michael Elphick, then took on another part…

In 1996 I was in the Catherine Cookson film The Girl, I played Nancy Boyle who has a daughter, wears raggy clothes and I’m dying of T.B. I go to the big house and tell the master that this is his daughter, and as I’m dying he’s got to look after her.

Typical Cookson film but I love all these different looks that I’ve done.

What’s next Lesley?

It can be 10 or 20 years when you find yourself working with people again and it’s like you’ve never been apart because I’m in a show called Moreland’s Firm, a criminal family from Newcastle where Michael Moreland is trying to become a businessman and go straight.

I play the mother Rose Moreland, and my son Michael is played by Craig Conway who in real life was married to Jill Halfpenny.

So, it’s weird to have played both their mothers. Tony Hodge, who was also in Byker Grove plays opposite me, in fact he was one of Roses clients as she starts the show as an alcoholic prostitute (laughs).

Rose Moreland swears, and I never swear in real life, I had to slap Michael’s face and tell him to f..off, his face was going really red it was like ‘We’ll just do one more’.

He said just go for it but I could see the shock on his face after I slapped him. But Rose comes good in the end (laughs).

Craig Conway who is producing it, is looking to get the programme commissioned, we shot a lot of footage, so he has got something to show rather than just an idea or bit of script.

What would be your favourite role ?

My favourite job would be one of the co-hosts on Loose Women because I love talking, and I love debating or be a character in Emmerdale. But yeah, Loose Women I’d do that in a heartbeat.

I will be performing at Newcastle Arena this weekend in ‘Sunday for Sammy’ (23 Feb) I love it as I get to catch up with loads of old friends and it’s all for Charity. I am really looking forward to that. Can’t wait!!

Lesley with Craig Conway and Stephen Tomkinson on the set of Morelands Firm.

Interview by Gary Alikivi    February 2020.

COUNTRY MAN with ex-BBC Radio presenter Stan Laundon

/ Alikivi

Magic times don’t come around too often but David Bowie had a few with ‘Life on Mars’, ‘Starman’ and ‘Ashes to Ashes’ where he could be wagging his finger singing the brilliant nursery rhyme lyric ‘My mama said, to get things done, You’d better not mess with Major Tom’. 

After watching the TV series Life on the Road with Brian Johnson his guest was Dolly Parton telling him that her two biggest hits, ‘Jolene’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’ were written in the same night – not just a magic time, that’s a magic hour. With ‘I Will Always Love You’ Whitney Houston banked millions for DP in song writing credits while ‘Jolene’ has been covered by many artists including dark goth rock band The Sisters of Mercy.

Johnny Cash and Stan in London, 1966. Photograph © Billy Crallan.
Stan with Jerry Reed – Douglasville, Georgia in 1982.

Dolly features in this interview with former Radio presenter Stan Laundon who throughout his career has interviewed and worked for many stars…

In 1974 I made my first ever visit to Nashville, Tennessee, and because of my BBC connections I met up with a host of country stars including Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Conway Twitty and one of my own idols, Jerry Reed. Jerry wrote US Male and Guitar Man both tracks eventually recorded by Elvis Presley.

During my time in Nashville, I was looked after by a public relations man who asked me where I was from and I told him Hartlepool and gave him the story of the Hartlepool Monkey.

Legend has it that during the Napoleonic Wars a shipwrecked monkey was hung by the people of Hartlepool, who believed him to be a French spy. To this day, people from Hartlepool are affectionately known as ‘monkey hangers’.

Unknown to me he relayed the story to Dolly Parton, who I met three times in the week I was there. On my third meeting Dolly smiled and held her hands to her throat!

When I asked her what all that was about she replied ‘You’re a Monkey hanger!’ So I’m proud to have been called that by such a huge star (laughs).

Dolly Parton

Stan with Dolly Parton in Nashville, Tennessee June 1974. Photograph © Shay Brogan.

Are you from a musical family Stan ?

No, my parents rarely listened to the radio when I was young. I got interested in music when I was at school. There were one or two lads who played guitar at break times, and I thought, maybe I’d like to play the guitar one day.

I remember I was introduced to the music of Gilbert & Sullivan for the first time when one of the teachers arranged for the schoolboys and girls to stage HMS Pinafore.

However, it was my time away from school when, like many teenagers I listened every night to Radio Luxembourg, early pop music and especially Lonnie Donegan.

It was a few years later when the British pop scene took hold and I got into the music of Joe Brown, Billy Fury, Johnny Kidd and The Pirates and so on.

It was round this time when I was introduced to country music and enjoyed the early recordings of Johnny Cash, George Jones and Buck Owens.

After leaving school what was your first job ?

As my father had been at sea for most of his early life, I thought it might be a good idea to try to follow in his footsteps. My father agreed but my mother said an abrupt ‘No!’ she said I’d be better off serving an apprenticeship. So, it was off to Richardsons and Westgarth to serve my time as a turner.

Also round this time I persuaded my mother to buy me a guitar. I bought a copy of Bert Weedon’s tutor book Play in a Day and a friend of mine also gave me lessons.

My time in the factory also introduced me to another musician, Alan Lindridge. He used to laugh at me singing songs by Lonnie Donegan.

The laughter turned to friendship and both me and my neighbour, Billy Crallan, joined up with Alan in his pop group The Trakkers about 1959/60.

Joe Brown and Stan at The Forum, Billingham in 2009.
The Trakkers – Stan Laundon, Billy Crallan, Les Marine, Charle McKie and Alan Lindridge. Hartlepool Town Hall, November 1961.

You ran Joe Brown’s Fan Club, how did that come about ?

When I was about 18 I was a member of Joe’s Fan Club and was told that the young lady who ran the club was about to give it up to go and train as a nurse. The idea of running Joe’s fan club appealed to me so I tried to arrange a meeting with him at a theatre in Sunderland.

Thankfully, the management passed on my request, and I managed to meet up with him after the show.

Coincidentally, I met Billy Fury in the hotel car park who took me into a reception area when he called Joe to come down to meet me. After some discussion Joe said he’d like me to run the fan club and I had to write to his manager in London about our conversation.

After the paperwork was completed the Official Joe Brown Fan Club was run by me from my mother’s house in Dyke Street, West Hartlepool.

What were your duties in running the fan club ?

When Joe had his number one hit with A Picture of You in 1962 the number of fan letters he was receiving went from just a couple of dozen a week to hundreds!

I was a busy young man at this time – playing with The Trakkers, working in the factory and running Joe’s fan club. This was long before the days of computers – so all fan mail replies had to be written on a typewriter.

I couldn’t do it all so I telephoned Joe and said I can’t continue. He said, ‘Then pack it in’ I said I was sorry it had come to this, and he said ‘No, you don’t understand, I mean pack your job in and come and work for me in London!’

I didn’t think twice, so at the tender age of 19, I did as he said and moved to London and spent four happy years with him down there from ‘62 until ‘66.

On my arrival in London, I was fortunate enough to be staying with Joe’s mother in Wanstead and, after six or seven months, things were about to change again. Joe called round one day and said, ‘I want you to pack it in!’.

I thought what have I done wrong. ‘I’m sorry’ I said. He then replied ‘No, get someone else to run the fan club because I want you on the road with me!’ 

So, I became his road manager – even though I couldn’t drive at the time – and I travelled all over the country with him doing shows with Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, Johnny Kidd and others. I even met The Beatles and Roy Orbison at The Empire Pool, Wembley in March 1963.

Eventually Joe stopped touring as he went into the West End to appear in a musical called Charley Girl with Dame Anna Neagle. I was beginning to get a little bored and decided to find another job and say my goodbyes to Joe which I did in October ‘66 and moved back home to Hartlepool.

For the next few years, I did some freelance work as a journalist writing a country music column in Hartlepool Mail as ‘Country Boy’ and following motor sport at Croft, near Darlington, and reporting on that too.

Stan with Joe Brown on stage at Trencher’s Wine Bar, Middlesbrough in 1984.
Stan Laundon at BBC Radio Cleveland in the 1970’s.

How did you get involved in radio Stan ?

In 1970 I read in my local paper that a BBC radio station was planned for Teesside. With my musical background I applied for a job and was fortunate enough to be given a position as a technical operator at BBC Radio Teesside in September 1970.

The radio station went on air for the first time on New Year’s Eve 1970 and because of my interest in country music, the management allowed me to present a programme called ‘Country Time’ which was broadcast for 25 minutes.

This proved to be popular and in February ‘71 they increased the programme running time from 45 minutes. Then in 1972 it went to an hour before eventually running live for two hours every Sunday afternoon. The programme ran for 21 years!

Looking back how would you sum up your career in radio ?

I had 23 very enjoyable years at the BBC, starting as it was as BBC Radio Teesside, becoming BBC Radio Cleveland in 1974 and now BBC Tees.

Needless to say I was a very happy man and they invited me back in April 2011 to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of local radio on Teesside when I presented another two hour show on Easter Sunday!

To contact Stan check his official website: 

www.stanlaundon.com 

 Interview by  Alikivi  February 2020.

THE STORY OF GEORDIE PANTSMAN – with Gary Craig

/ Alikivi / 2 Comments

I was watching TV one night and saw this guy on Rude Tube setting a world record for putting on the most t-shirts and thought ’I could do something like that’…said Whitburn resident Gary Craig.

However, t-shirts seemed boring and potentially expensive so I came up with the idea of underpants and an alter ego ‘Geordie Pantsman’. Not to be confused with the Australian slang, Gary explains…

At school I was always second best at sport, the unused substitute on the football team standing in the freezing cold for two hours. At the age of 51 I decided I wanted to be number one at something.

I investigated whether there was a world record for putting on the most pants but couldn’t find one. Great I thought, I’ll just bang on 50 pairs or so, and establish a new Guinness record with ease.

But in 2009 I was informed that there was a record of someone putting on 170 pairs of underpants so I set out to put on 190.

What happened when you contacted Guinness ?

The Guinness rules were actually quite strict. You had to wear ‘y’ fronts, not boxer shorts, you had to do it in a relatively public place, film and photograph it, and obtain witness statements otherwise you had to pay thousands of pounds to have a Guinness adjudicator present.

I began buying the cheapest underpants available in a variety of sizes including the biggest pants available in the UK  – 60 inch waist, and I decided to attempt the record on April Fools Day 2010 so no one would know if it was a joke or not.

I had a friend with a t-shirt printing company who allowed me to get a name, a photo, or a message printed on the pants so basically sold advertising space on my backside.

Encouraging friends, family, and local business people to sponsor me, with the highest amounts earning a space on the biggest, record-breaking pants.

In the end I raised £3000 which was split between two local charities – Cancer Connections and a drop in centre for the unemployed and underprivileged in South Tyneside.

Did you rehearse your record attempt ?

Yes, but in truth, practise went very badly. I found that I didn’t have enough big pants. I wasn’t that slim, and it became painful trying to squeeze into large numbers of underpants.

My wife got the job of arranging pants in the correct order and would sit for ages putting pants over her knees ready to slip on.

Where did you hold the event ?

I agreed to attempt the record in Dusk Nightclub, South Shields with around 150 friends and family as witnesses – there was no turning back.

The way it works with Guinness is that there may be other people attempting the record elsewhere in the world so you get updated on any new record that has been set shortly before your attempt.

Literally a week before my attempt I was informed that a new record had just been set in Australia and I was now going to need to beat 190 pairs! I only had 190 pairs of pants in total and it was too late to order any of the really big ones so I had to go out and buy whatever I could.

April 1st came around very quickly. Dusk opened the bar early and DJ Wayne whipped the crowd into a frenzy. He thought it would be fun for me to come on to the tune Eye of the Tiger in true ‘Rocky’ style.

Once the attempt started everyone had to count the pairs as I put them on with the DJ announcing who was sponsoring each pair. There was fantastic support in the room as I reached 211 pairs – every pair of underpants I owned!

There was a nervous wait over many weeks whilst all the evidence was collected, submitted to Guinness and scrutinised. Finally I received the e-mail I was waiting for – a Guinness world record and I was finally number one at something.

How long did you hold the record ?

In truth it didn’t even last long enough to make that year’s Guinness Records book. Within a few months an American woman had taken the record to 249.

I had a problem with that as she was stick thin and appeared to have used woman’s knickers which don’t have the same thickness or elastication, but you can’t really call for a steward’s enquiry with Guinness.

In any case I had other distractions. My film crew had a few TV connections and next thing I knew footage of the record was being used as a question on Have I Got News For You!

More importantly for me, I was contacted by Rude Tube and appeared on the Ultimate Champions top 50 internet clips of the year, and the Rude Tube film crew came to my house to do a special feature for the Rude Tube Xmas DVD.

In 2011 I was approached by Britain’s Got Talent production team and devised a comedy routine that involved plastering the judges faces over my crouch! The audition was so funny the cameraman couldn’t keep the camera still for laughing.

I appeared in front of the judges at that time – Amanda Holden, Michael McIntyre, and David Hasselhoff. I was buzzed off, but they filmed the Geordie Pantsman for hours backstage.

Without any prior notice they gave my details to The Sun newspaper and the Geordie Pantsman became the main feature of a two page spread billed as potentially the craziest person ever to appear on BGT!

I was advertised for a few seconds in trailers for the show, but Geordie Pantsman ended up ‘on the cutting room floor’! With my new back story further TV opportunities followed.

I appeared on Britains Best Dish, presenting Mary Nightingale with a pair of underpants bearing the BBD logo, and on a little known program called The Great British Taste Tour where I won £1000, the only money I ever got from my ‘career’ as the Pantsman.

The Media seemed to have caught the Pantsman bug….

I’m convinced that had I appeared on BGT as promised I would have become world famous. In 2012 I was asked to appear on a world records based show for NIPPON TV in Japan. Their programs typically have around 20,000,000 viewers so I knew that world domination was again beckoning Geordie Pantsman, only for it to be called off days before I was due to be flown out for filming.

Similar situations arose for a number of new and existing TV shows including Russell Howards Good News where I was lined up to appear then discarded at the last minute like a pair of used pants!

Was that the end for Pantsman ?

No, I decided to give the record one last go. I was going to smash it – set a record that would be almost impossible to beat and get it out of my system once and for all!

I contacted Guinness again and through a friend was given permission to make another attempt at the record in the Great North Run Finishers Marquee in front of 1000+ people.

I got a personal trainer to help lose weight and I bought the largest pants available in such large quantities that the manufacturers were virtually giving them to me.

Guinness had made the rules even more complicated – they basically expected you to get the Local Mayor to witness your attempt, with an independent ‘expert’ witness. How do you find an expert at putting on underpants ?

I ended up using an Accountant who was taking part in the Great North Run. This record attempt was pure craziness!

In the marquee we had a small stage roped off and as the tent started to fill up I had to wait to see whether my independent adjudicator was going to finish the run. He duly arrived while local band The Gaslighters and that bloke off Emmerdale who also sang in a band kept the crowd entertained. They would stop at regular intervals to let the crowd know how I was doing.

But a Gazette reporter interrupted the cameraman when he was supposed to be counting the pants, one or two pairs got twisted and had to come off then be put back on again so by the time I’d finished no one knew how many pants I’d put on.

I always tried to pull up as many of the underpants as possible until they became impossible to reach, at which point my wife would help to pull them past my knees. In bending over some slipped down and I ended looking like a Subbuteo player.

I had to pile the slightly warm, sweaty pants in a corner for my accountant friend to count and finally came up with the official figure of 302. I submitted the usual evidence to Guinness in full confidence that I had totally smashed the world record.

Weeks later I received my reply. Even though there was no rule about how far you had to pull the pants up Guinness had decided that I hadn’t met ‘the spirit of the record’ as I hadn’t pulled the pants up far enough.

To say I was gutted was an understatement – the pants were just under my knees, well clear of the floor, and there’s a limit to how far up they can go.

Did you appeal against the decision ?

I thought about an appeal, but Guinness are a law to themselves. In the end I decided to be happy in the knowledge that I had put on more pairs of underpants than anyone else on the planet.

Even though the original record was set in 2010 people still bring it up when I meet them and the TV Companies have kept my details as they know I’m game for a laugh.

In 2017 I appeared on the one and only series of Cannonball, a Saturday evening ITV show hosted by ex-England cricketer Freddie Flintoff. I made the final, even though I didn’t win I became the hero of my episode and star of Cannonball’s compilation show in December that year.

What next for Geordie Pantsman ?

Who knows? I still have the pants. I’d love to take ‘Geordie’ to the Edinburgh Fringe or somewhere just as silly. Never say never.

Alikivi  January 2020

TRADING PLACES – 250 years of South Shields Market

/ Alikivi

In September 2018 I made a short documentary about South Shields market with former Shields Gazette award winning journalist Janis Blower.

Janis has a wide knowledge of local history through producing the Cookson Country feature in The Shields Gazette and working on the books ‘Aall T’githor Like Folk O’ Shields’. An interview with Janis talking about her work featured in the blog ‘Have You Heard the News’  (27th January 2020).

We had previously worked together in 2016 on a film about South Shields Photographer and Historian Amy Flagg. Janis added the voice of Amy in the short film ‘Westoe Rose’.

Included here is the full script that Janis wrote about the 250 year old South Shields market, a link to the film is at the end.

Trading Places

Author Joseph Conrad is said to have refreshed himself in its ample public houses on his voyage from life before the mast to The Heart of Darkness. It has rung to the strident tones of politics and religion. Marked the coronations and deaths of monarchs; been a centre of commerce and conviviality.

A public forum one day, a fairground the next. War almost did for it. Peace would prove no less transformative.

Over the 250 years of its existence, the fortunes of South Shields’s historic Market Place have fluctuated with those of the wider town. Both have had to adjust to social and economic change. Within the lifetime of many townsfolk, that has included the decline of the market itself.

The rise of the discount retailer has seen a corresponding fall in the numbers of bargain hunters. Gone too is the tradition for Shields folk to put on their glad rags on a Saturday afternoon and go ‘down-street,’ to stroll up one side of King Street to the Market, and down the other.

For a post-war generation, this was the era of stalls piled high with crockery, pans and nylons – to be sifted through to find a matching pair, of reconditioned boiler suits and other stalls selling goldfish and rabbits. In winter the lamps would flare in the chilly dusk.

By then, the market was no longer open until 10 o’ clock at night, as it had been before the war when, the later the hour, the more the cost of Sunday’s joint fell.

In those days visitors would also have found Harry Randall’s toffee stand where homemade toffee, with a free bag of horehound candy, could be bought for sixpence.

Also, the stall piled high with assorted tripe into which the stall holder would shove his hands, shouting: “Come on, get amongst it!”

And there was the painless dentist, who guaranteed to pull a tooth with his finger and thumb for a shilling: This was the market as part-public service, part-spectacle, like the stocks that a century earlier had once stood opposite St Hilda’s Church.

Or the fairs that would visit, in spring and autumn, with their prancing horses and shuggy boat rides or, likewise, the travelling menageries that would also descend at regular intervals.

The Friday flea market has in recent years returned the square to aspects of what it was then, at least commercially, though the old clothes stalls are no longer confined to the side nearest the church. South Shields-born poet James Kirkup immortalised these in a poem, writing:

“The old jackets rub shoulders on the rack of life and death, the crumpled trousers all undone swing in a driving wind, a boneless abandon, soft-shoe shuffle in the sands of time. Laid away, the painter’s dungarees are dingy white, stained with forgotten schemes for houses decorated out of sight…”

Gone, though, is the fresh fish market: also, the groups of men who, hands cupped round their Woodbines or Capstan Full Strength, would gather around the Old Town Hall in the hope of being tapped for work on the river.

An old Shieldsman, writing of his Victorian childhood, remembered each trade having its own beat. “While the Church side was common to most parties”.

Men milled in this way, albeit in ever-decreasing numbers, until as late as the 1960s, before the skyline increasingly ceased to be criss-crossed by cranes.

The Market Place pulsed with life, not only in the numerous pubs – of which there were at least six before the First World War and as many again in the surrounding streets – but also in the shops.

Marks and Spencer started out in the town with a Penny Bazaar here. Barbour’s with a shop on the west side of the square, specialised in weatherproof clothes that would evolve into the garb of aristocrats.

Crofton’s, the legendary department store on the corner of King Street, would survive one disastrous fire early in its existence but not a second.

That catastrophe was visited one autumn night in 1941 when the town suffered the biggest air raid of the war. In a matter of hours two sides of the square had been reduced to smoking ruins.

The then-170-year-old Town Hall – miraculously stood firm, albeit not undamaged. The ‘Old Cross,’ as it was affectionately known was left looking out over a sea of devastation.

Over the next 20 years, new buildings would grow-up around it. There would be no attempt to reconstruct a square which had once been likened to the marketplace at Bruges.

Post-war modernity won the day, in keeping with a town which, under Borough Engineer John Reid, was sweeping away much of its Victorian housing and redrawing its commercial heart.

Concrete took the place of brick, with new pubs going up on the site of the old and the building of a new tax office, Wouldhave House, with shops adjacent.

Small thoroughfares which had run in and out of the square for much of its existence, like Thrift Street and little West Street, disappeared. East Street and Union Alley, became backwaters.

Today the square continues to evolve. Words remain its currency, – not those of the fairground barker, or the radical anymore, but as the home of the town’s main library, housed within an award-winning building dedicated to writing and creativity.

The Market Place own story, meanwhile, continues to unfold….

Alikivi   January 2020

ACTING IS A TOUGH BUSINESS – in conversation with author & actor Steve Wraith

/ Alikivi

My ambition is to play a villain in Coronation Street, I want to be walking in Newcastle city centre where a granny with a purple rinse comes up to me and hits us with her handbag cos I’ve killed her favourite character.

Some people say to me why not be a Bond villain ? But I can’t see there being a Geordie Bond villain can you’.…laughs Steve as we sat down for a chat in The Centurion bar in Newcastle Central Station.

Do you think people watching is a great tool for actors ?

Yes that’s how you get the best out of your characterisations is by watching other people.  When I wasn’t acting I was working with the general public, we ran a Post Office and I’ve worked as a bouncer on the doors of nightclubs.

I’ve seen the best and worst of people from your solicitor who can’t handle his drink to your charver who can’t get in cos he’s got tracksuit bottoms on.

I’ve met and talked to all the major criminals, the Kray Twins in prison, the train robbers, all the hard men up here in Newcastle. So I’ve got a fair knowledge about those people and as an actor I am one of the few who love being typecast.

I’ve got two agents, Sam Claypole in Darlington and in London, Shirley Lewis, both of them laugh when I get cast but I’m happy to play a gangster. Can you really see me where I’m the vicar or the loving dad ? (laughs).

‘Can you really see me playing a vicar or a loving Dad ?’

You are involved in a number of films, The Krays, To Be Someone, The Middle Men, where are they at ?

They’re all at different stages, I’m involved in The Sayers project in Newcastle which is great because I wrote the book Tried and Tested at the Highest Level. An autobiography of Stephen Sayers a former criminal in the West End of Newcastle, he and his two brothers Michael and John became quite notorious.

The book has done fantastically well, and the next step is try and get a film made but we didn’t expect it to come as quickly.

We were focusing on doing another book, maybe a documentary but then we were approached by Garry Fraser from Edinburgh. He picked up a copy of the book from a friend of his who is in Stephens former line of business shall we say. He read the book in two days, loved it, so we met up.

I had done research on Garry’s background and found he had a degree of success with getting work from book to screen, he had also won two BAFTA’s, he didn’t mention that when we first sat down and talked.

One of his BAFTA’s was for a documentary he had made basically about his hard upbringing in the housing schemes of Edinburgh, getting into drugs, becoming a drug dealer then ultimately sent to prison.

In Everybody’s Child he revisited places that were very painful to him, hence it won an award in Best Documentary category. He caught interest from author Irvine Welsh, he introduced him to Danny Boyle who involved him in Trainspotting 2.

Also, the BBC have just commissioned a short series that he has written called The Grey Area, so he’s gradually turned his life around in the last six or seven years making short films and perfecting a particular genre.

With all this background and living the life and most importantly understanding it, we were interested in getting him on board with Stephen’s film, so it was great news that he liked the book and wanted to get involved.

Over the last 12 months we have met and got on well, another good thing that came from meeting up was he asked if I was interested in working behind the camera.

Now my main focus is being an actor and I’ve got a little experience of production when I worked on the Freddie Foreman documentary for Salon Pictures, so I said yeah anything to learn from that side of the camera will be beneficial.

How did the film come together ?

We held open auditions at The Tyneside Irish Club in Newcastle where 130 people turned up in this big concert room. Garry set up a few scenes, a kitchen over here, a police interview there, there was a bar and we roughly done about 3-4 hours worth of improvisation. A unique way of doing it, improv is not unique but done on a big scale was, and it worked.

He got it down to 25 people of which I was one, we got a call back with some scripts and I was cast as Stephen Sayers. I thought I was going to play the younger brother Michael but Garry saw something and asked me to play the lead role. I’ve known Stephen 20 years so it was an honour to be asked.

Do you feel any pressure to get it right ?

I don’t feel pressure from Stephen that comes from myself, always wanting to learn the craft. I’ve just come off the back of the new Quadrophenia film To Be Someone which comes out this year. Ray Burdis was directing and I was playing a villain alongside my friend from Glasgow, Scott Peden.

He was doing things on set which I loved, really playing with his villain character putting things in, taking stuff out, I learnt so much and I told him. Some things I took into the Sayers rehearsals with Garry and he said ‘Great, you made it real’.

Some writers are very precious about their words in the script….

I have worked on things where that has been the case and it has to be said because it leads to the next scene or pops up six scenes later so I can see why people work like that.

With this, Garry tends to work with non-actors, his BBC series The Grey Area includes mostly reformed drug addicts, some years ago I watched and really liked a film called  ‘Shooters’ where bouncers played bouncers, drug dealers played drug dealers you know like that, reaching for realism.

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Steve with Melly Barnes and Alfie Dobson playing the Sayers brothers.

What can we expect in the film ?

Stephen is a humorous character so there is room for Northern humour in there but when you read the book it’s very graphic as regards the trauma he suffered as a child, his hard upbringing and schooling in criminal ways.

The film is a journey from Stephens early life where his Dad was a heavy drinker, had a day job and being a criminal. All fascinating stories but there is humour in there it’s not like the films The Rise of the Footsoldier, I acted in the third film of the franchise working with Shaun Ryder (The Happy Mondays).

That’s just about beating people up really but Garry’s film comes at the story from a different angle. The aim is not to glorify criminality it doesn’t make Stephen a hero.

When we received feedback from the book people felt sorry for Stephen, especially women who wanted to mother him. Some people will detest it because he was a criminal, but it doesn’t shy away from telling his story, his start in life and what he decided to do.

I’d love to do the wider story of 120 years of the Sayers family in Newcastle. It’s like Catherine Cookson meets the Goodfellas, if the film was picked up it would be like Peaky Blinders in Newcastle.

You talk about humour being in the book….

Yeah one time the Mam got a tip off that the police were coming round to the house, well the kids were well trained in what they had to do. Run around the house looking for stuff and get rid of anything that would incriminate their Dad.

Well this one day they found a suitcase and their mam told them to hide it outside. They buried it underneath a loose tombstone in Elswick Cemetery just across the way from their home.

Michael, Stephen and John hid with the suitcase and looked over to the house where they saw police leave empty handed. They looked in the suitcase and seen it absolutely stacked with cash (laughs).

Another story is about the time Stephen would be hanging outside the pub waiting for his Dad, there was always a woman there called Big Jean.

She would chat blokes up in the pub, when they were half cut get them outside and bash them over the head with her handbag, then rob them and off she’d go. Turns out she had a big brick in it (laughs).

There is little stories like that and depending on budget those scenes would be great to see in the film.

Lately I’ve watched the Italian crime drama Gomorrah and the addition of a great soundtrack help lift the story on screen. Is that something you’re looking to do ?

We’d love to be able to use music from the times we’re telling the story in, but budget restraints don’t make that possible.

There has already been North East based musicians asking about the project and putting themselves forward, we’d love to use them if it fits the text. The aim is to showcase North East talent and we’re really excited about the whole thing.

You can see the stories being dramatized and it’s exciting for me cos the stories can be put together on screen with the music and it could do the North East proud.

What next Steve ?

We’re filming a trailer for the Sayers film in March and I’m going down to London soon where I’ve been cast in the new Krays film, then working on a second draft of the new Freddie Foreman script which is close to my heart as I am very good friends with him.

To buy the book ‘Tried and Tested at the Highest Level’ go to   WWW.THESAYERS.CO.UK

Part two of this interview will be posted soon.

Interview by Alikivi  January 2020.