Month: October 1983

Keele Rememberings: Confusion, Films, Adam Fairholme RIP & Elvis Costello Live, Late October 1983

I had returned to Keele in Autumn 1983 armed with my copy of Punch The Clock

At times I really didn’t write enough in my diaries. This last week of October 1983 is an example of that.

Put aside the fact that I went to see three films that week without noting any of the film titles. Anyone out there keep notes on Film Soc 1983/84? Where’s Keele Film Soc archivist Tony Sullivan when you need him? – I think Tony had left Keele by then, unfortunately.

Worse yet, I cannot recall what led to the Monday note:

…Busy day – classes etc. Const[itutional] Comm[itee] in eve – confusion in Union!…

I don’t think the confusion and the committee meeting were connected, but maybe they were.

Perhaps the confusion was connected with the other aspect of my memory which I am pretty sure was that week, which was news of the tragic, sudden death of Adam Fairholme.

As I remember it, Adam had gone into town with friends to see a movie and had succumbed to an epileptic fit. No-one in the party had known what to do to reduce the risk of serious injury or death in such circumstances and Adam had tragically choked on his own tongue.

I remember the news of the circumstances so clearly because several of us had gone to the flicks in town with Adam only 10 days or so before the tragedy – ironically to see The Meaning Of Life:

A Wild First Week Of The 1983/84 Year At Keele: Pete Wild, Amazulu, The Man Upstairs, Bobbie Scully, The Meaning Of Life & More

I remember in particular discussing with Ashley Fletcher the irony of our last evening with Adam, given the film’s title, together with the unquestionable fact that, had Adam had his fit while with us, we wouldn’t have known what to do in those circumstances either. Possibly we would have instinctively done something different and helped save him. More probably, we’d have been in the same helpless situation as his companions that night, who must have been in great distress.

My own sadness at the loss of Adam was accentuated by the fact that I had beaten him in the election for the Chair of Constitutional Committee the previous term…

Getting Elected To The Naffest Role In The Keele Students’ Union, But Did I Have The Constitution For It In May 1983?

…a role which I think Adam really wanted, whereas I ran for that election more than a little reluctantly. I vaguely remember Ashley making an off-colour joke about me now unquestionably being better qualified for the role than Adam…and then feeling badly about even thinking such a line, let alone speaking it.

Adam was a very decent fellow. His family, his friends, Keele and who-knows-what beyond was deprived of one of the good people when he died so young.

I am pretty sure the heavy drinking session and resulting hangover Friday/Saturday was in part a sorrows-drowning exercise with regard to Adam.

…went to party in Thorns – drank to[o] much

Saturday 29 October 1983 – Felt very ill when I rose – Hungover wasn’t the word. Recovered in time for Elvis Costello concert – brill.

Here I’m going to give myself a big gold star, as my memory sensed that this concert was at Victoria Hall Hanley, not in the Union. Checking in to the Elvis Costello wiki enabled me to confirm my memory and indeed to see more about that gig on a web page than I could possibly have imagined – click link below for all the details of the tracks played and even a link to the Evening Sentinel review that followed:

Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Victoria Hall Hanley, 29 October 1983

I cannot remember who came with me to that concert. Simon Jacobs, Keele’s one-man Elvis Costello Fan Club, had left Keele that summer and tells me that he is sure he did not return for that gig. Yet in my mind Simon was there. I cannot imagine having seen Elvis Costello perform without Simon being there.

Latterly, in the 1990s, as I report elsewhere, I got to know Elvis Costello surprisingly well, as we were both members of Lambton Place (now BodyWorksWest). I chatted with him idly for years before asking him what he did for a living and then, when he said he was in the music business, asking him his name.

Simon Jacobs is just about still talking to me after I told him about that. At least I hope Simon is, otherwise next week’s meal (I say, reporting 40 years after the Hanley concert) will be a rather quiet one.

Well, Elvis Costello does look different latterly and I had no TV in the 1990s… Photo by Shayne Kaye, CC BY 2.0

First Classes Of A New Keele Year, JoBoxers At The Ball & Plenty Of Socials, Mid October 1983

Chancellor’s Building, image “borrowed” from keele.ac.uk site

In my P3 (final undergraduate) year, I think all of my classes were in the Chancellor’s building. I was primarily taught by:

  • Don Thompson – Civil Liberties;
  • Michael Whincup – Consumer Law;
  • Keith Smith – Economics (lead);
  • Joe Nellis – Economics (special topic).

All excellent teachers – all made a lasting impression on me as people and with the learning I achieved with their help.

Monday 17 October 1983 – First classes of term – not too bad – went for drink in eve

Tuesday 18 October 1983 – Lots [of things] to do today – did some of them – stayed in eve

I didn’t realise that I was already a “do-lister” by 1983, but the Tuesday entry suggests that I was…and that I was already failing to clear my daily do list!

Wednesday 19 October 1983 – Busyish day – shopped etc. – kept busy. Went ball in evening – Jo Boxers [sic] – quite good ball – stayed Bobby’s [Bobbie Scully]

I apologise unequivocally to JoBoxers for spelling the name of the band incorrectly back then. Capitalising letters in the middle of words wasn’t yet “a thing” in 1983 and I clearly was unaware of that thing. I have even less excuse for spelling Bobbie’s name incorrectly, which I did for quite some time in my diaries. I think she’s still talking to me, despite my juvenile sloppiness, 40 years later – she was still talking to me in September 2023, anyway.

JoBoxers looked a bit like the video below when performing live:

JoBoxers looked and sounded like the one below when making a promo video – such videos being fashionable around that time, as video jukeboxes were gaining some popularity:

I remember very little about that Freshers Ball, apart from JoBoxers, but “quite good ball” suggests that there was more too it than that. Others might remember more.

What I do remember about the start of that term was that the musical earworm that affected many of us was Karma Chameleon by Culture Club, which was number one for weeks and weeks and weeks. Dig this promo video – a bit weird.

The focus of the rest of that week, for me, was Wendy Robbins’s visit for a few days. Wendy had visited me a few times at Keele before – e.g. June 1983.

Thursday 20 October 1983 – v tired today – classes etc. Dozed in afternoon – Wendy phoned etc. – went Union – earlyish night.

Friday 21 October 1983 – went to classes etc. – shopped – Wendy arrived early eve – cooked – stayed in chatted etc.

Saturday 22 October 1983 – Rose quite early – did little. Went to town – messed about. Went to Michelle’s [Epstein] party in eve – back to Union – late night

Sunday 23 October 1983 – Rose too early! Cooked etc. Andy [Shindler, presumably, as he knew me and Wendy from BBYO, pre-Keele] came over – Wendy left early eve – went Union in eve – v tired.

“Wendy phoned” will sound like an everyday thing to younger readers, but people who were at Keele decades ago will realise that receiving a phone call from someone was a logistical exercise back then which needed to be done by prior arrangement so that the Keele student who was receiving the call was in the Union at the appointed hour to take the call. Given Wendy’s irregular relationship with time and space (certainly not quite as calibrated as most people’s) it is a minor miracle that we got those telephone call logistics to work – but clearly we did!

I also enjoyed reading my reference on the Sunday “rose too early” – I sense that I wrote up the diary that evening when I was “v tired”.

My several references to cooking, at that time, almost certainly comprised oriental food cooked in my wok and the rice cooker I “inherited” from my departing flatmate Hamzah at the end of the preceding summer.

Cooking in a wok. Source: Jan van der Crabben (Photographer) cc-by-sa-2.0

I was (and I’d humbly argue remain) pretty decent at cooking oriental food. In those days, a wok needed to be cleaned very thoroughly and then seasoned after each use. That is effort I might struggle to muster 40 years later, especially at the end of the day when “v tired”.

A Wild First Week Of The 1983/84 Year At Keele: Pete Wild, Amazulu, The Man Upstairs, Bobbie Scully, The Meaning Of Life & More

Pete & Me, c1985, photo thanks to Mark Ellicott

A hyperactive week to say the least, from Monday onwards, following my “Union – quite dull” diary comment on the preceding Sunday.

The diary page for that week will need some unpicking, forty years on. Stuck together with ancient, yellowing Sellotape, some aspects might best be left unpicked.

Monday 10 October 1983 – Busy sorting things out today – went to town etc. Ashley [Fletcher] came for dinner -> Union – saw loads of people.

Tuesday 11 October 1983 – Lots to do today – did a little work – etc. Went to Union in eve – saw more people.

Hello people! I’m sure you all know who you are…who you were…whoever you are/were. Sometimes I really wish I’d written more down.

Wednesday 12 October 1983 Busy day – did a little work – went to [New] ‘Castle [Under-Lyme]. Showed Pete [Wild] around – went to Freshers Union do in eve.

Pete Wild was a fresher, allocated to us in Barnes L54 quite by chance. Aficionados of this Ogblog series might recall that Alan Gorman was such an allocated fresher the previous year, when my former flatmate Ahmed Mohd Isa was not invited to return for the 1982/83.

Enter Stage Left, My New Neighbours & Flatmates At Keele In Barnes L54, 4 to 7 October 1982

For 1983/84, the Barnes L54 line up was supposed to be me, Alan Gorman, Chris Spencer and “A. N. Other-Person”, the name of whom escapes me. Indeed I cannot recall anything about that fourth person other than the fact that they, like Ahmed before them, failed to make the cut for the 83/84 academic year and we had a vacancy. Chris Spencer might remember and I am now in touch with him again. Alan is sadly no longer with us, although I have made contact with his family in the USA.

One might be forgiven for wondering whether Barnes L54 was cursed, as a 25% drop out rate was way above the Keele norm at that time. But certainly those of us who remained were blessed rather than cursed, as these happenstance thrown together flatmate groupings somehow worked and thrived. Chris, Alan and Pete stuck with it the following year, when Hayward Burt signed up for the fourth place in Barnes L54 and **SPOILER ALERT** all of them actually took up residence as planned!

My immediate take on Pete was that he was fun and would fit in, which he did. The rest of us already had flat nicknames and his emerged pretty quickly and obviously:

  • Alan Gorman – The Great Yorkshire Pudding…or just “Pudding”;
  • Chris Spencer – “Farmer” – from Devon, you understand;
  • Me – “Bagel Boy” – I could probably have them all arrested for that now;
  • Pete – “Hippy” – see hair in headline photo.

Thursday 13 October 1983 – Busyish day – Exam in afternoon etc. Union in evening – drank a little went to see Amazulu.

I cannot recall what the exam might have been right at the start of term. The only thing I can imagine was that it was an econometrics exam, as that discipline was meant to test our ability to analyse numbers from our instinctive/unconscious competency in economics rather than from swatting.

Amazulu were great live, I recall. A good choice for Freshers week. They were little known at that time, but certainly lit up the ballroom that night. Here’s a clip of Amazulu live in London a few months later:

Friday 14 October 1983 – sorted things out departments etc. – went to town in afternoon. Went to Michelle’s [Epstein]. Went to see [Monty Python’s The] Meaning Of Life in evening -> Lindsay – The Man Upstairs – Ros came back

Saturday 15 October 1983 – Got up late. Liza [O’Connor] came around – stayed until early evening – went to Union in eve – Bobby [sic – ie Bobbie Scully][ came back stayed till late

Sunday 16 October 1983 – Easyish Sunday – rose v late- did some things – went union in eve with Ash [Ashley Fletcher]

I’m not blooming surprised I “rose v late” on the Sunday.

Sometimes I’m really glad that I didn’t write more down. To my shame I cannot even recall who Ros was in this context.

Ashley Fletcher might remember, at least in terms of who came with us to see The Meaning Of Life – I know it was a reasonably sized group of us and for the saddest of reasons, which I’ll write about in a couple of week’s time, I recall at least one of the people who was with us that night.

Anyway, the upshot of my metaphorical revolving door weekend was that I settled in to a relationship with Bobbie, who forty years later, is still talking to me…at least she was a month ago when she came along to Hampton Court…

Gresham Society Visit To The Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court, 14 September 2023

I guess “forty years on” history pales into insignificance when you lose yourself in “400+ years on” material.

I also want to write a bit about The Man Upstairs, which was a band comprising Keele students hat did many gigs around the campus in the early 1980s. They were a good bunch and were able to get the Keele students going with their fashionable live sound. Warmly remembered by many of us.

I think they had left Keele by the autumn of 1983, so were returning as a touring band that happened to comprise Keele alums. Here are links to some of their stuff…

…and here’s a link to an interview with Nigel, whom, I always thought of as their leader. (If that link has gone, click this scrape).

A Two Week Break After Summer Job, Then Return To Keele, Late September To Early October 1983

Keele Beckoning

After finishing my 1983 summer job with a swathe of nights out…

Keele Student’s Summer Working In London 1983, Part Four: Twixt Kenton, Centre Point, West End, Streatham, Friends & Family, September 1983

…the diary suggests that I spent a couple of weeks seeing friends, buying records and making tapes – the perfect preparation for the 1983/84 academic year that would be my P3 year (i.e. fourth year at Keele, third and final year of undergraduate studies).

It seems I was enjoying myself so much I even got my days mixed up in the diary:

Monday 26 September 1983 – …Paul [Deacon] came over for dinner _> Radio Kings in evening – click here for article on that event.

Wednesday 28 September 1983 – …went out for dinner with Jilly – came back here [Woodfield Avenue] after – late night

Thursday 29 September 1983 – Went to Brixton with Jilly in morning – lazyish afternoon – Andrew [Andy Levinson] came over late afternoon – dinner – wine bar

Frankly I wouldn’t have remembered that Streatham Hill had such a thing as a wine bar in those days. Perhaps it was new and we wanted to try it. I vaguely remember one in the 1980s on Sternhold Avenue – perhaps that was the one.

Saturday 1 October 1983 – went to visit Marianne [Gilmour] – pleasant lazy evening

Sunday 2 October 1983 – went to Makro with Dad in morning. Wendy [Robbins] came over in afternoon

My “business ” at Makro on that occasion was probably limited to a few record albums at discounted prices (see link to my October 1983 album purchase list) and some stationery for the forthcoming academic year. Goodness only knows what Dad wanted there.

Monday 3 October 1983 …went up West & to R&T today…

R&T meant “Record & Tape Exchange” as it was then named.

I bought lots of albums on that visit – the use of a different colour of ink listing them on my log tells me exactly which ones, so I have listed them in a separate article – click here or below.

Albums I Bought In Early October 1983 Ahead Of My Return To Keele

6 October 1983 – went to shop with Dad in morning – went to office – met Caroline for lunch

I suspect I helped Dad prepare his books that morning, hence stopping at the office (Newman Harris) on my way to lunch. Efficient, I was, even back then.

7 October 1983 – …went to G Jenny’s in afternoon. Paul came over in evening.

8 October 1983 – Busy day packing etc. taping too – getting ready to come back to keele

9 October 1983 – Left early – came to Keele lunched at Post House – unpacked some – went to Union – quite dull

I can only imagine that this meant that Dad drove me up on this occasion, as I cannot imagine why else I’d have eaten at a roadside convenience place such as The Post House. Of course nothing much up at Keele would have been open on a Sunday. In the circumstances, The Sneyd would not have been a diplomatic choice.

I love my comment that the Union was quite dull – yet again, in my enthusiasm, I had come back to Keele ahead of the excitement. But there was plenty of fun, as well as hard work, to come in that Autumn 1983 term. watch this space.

Keele Students’ Union – only dull when there is no-one around.

Albums I Bought In Early October 1983 Ahead Of My Return To Keele

“Exchange” – in my case, was almost always buying, very rarely selling

The diary says that I went to Makro (Woolwich) with my Dad on Sunday 2 October and then to Record & Tape Exchange (in Notting Hill) on Monday 3 October.

Unusually, I can work out from the ink colour in my logs the purchases I made on those occasions. Forty years on, this will enable musicologists, Keele historians, friends, members of the Dull Men’s Club and others to analyse my purchases at will. Indeed, in excruciating detail if they wish.

Here is the batch of eleven albums I bought at Makro, each with a Discogs link:

Here is the extract from my R&T log for that October 1983 visit:

Allow me to translate and link to Discogs:

No wonder I had a frenzied bout of taping for the next few days, before returning to Keele 9 October. I put several of these albums onto cassette in their entirety and made up a couple of none-too-shabby mix tapes too.

Keen to know what readers think of these records, forty years on.