Month: January 1986

Several Days At Keele For The SU AGM Plus Some Eating & Socialising, Late January 1986

Simulation of Keele SU AGM by Nano Banana 2.1 via Mark Ellicott

Friday 24 January 1986 … went up to Keele – arrived late & very tired. Petra [Wilson] cooked mussels (delicious) in evening – very nice.

This bit of the story has already been illustrated and writ:

My Beautiful Launderette & Saigon With Bobbie One Weekend; Then Petra Flexed Her Mussels At Keele The Next, January 1986

Saturday 25 January 1986 – Got up reasonably early – tried to do some work – went to Newcastle for tea + did some shopping, went round to L49 for a while + then went home. Had chicken in yellow bean sauce for dinner – (I cooked) + turned in reasonably early.

Sunday 26 January 1986 – Again got up fairly early + tried to get some work done + read paper. Went over to Kate [Fricker, now Susan] in afternoon – Petra followed, as Ruth [Miller] did a bunk. Went home + had gevikeltekraut for dinner but not too pleasant evening thereafter.

I can’t remember who was living in L49 that year. Hayward Burt and Pete Wild were still in L54 – my old flat, I’m pretty sure. Something tells me that Ali Dabbs might have moved to L-Block Barnes that year.

As for the cooking, I took credit for the chicken in yellow bean sauce (mine would have had fewer peppers in it). I’m guessing that Petra cooked the gevikeltekraut, although it might have been a Benita Wishart special, that dish. I don’t expect either of them to remember.

That weekend’s cooking illustrated with help from Nano Banana 2.1

Monday 27 January 1986 – Tired today – went to town for a while – did a little work etc. The afternoon was again rather strained but went to the AGM in evening + got rather drunk there. Fairly late night.

Tuesday 28 January 1986 – Again quite tired – did a little work – went to town at noon – met Ashley [Fletcher], came back to Petra’s etc. Went to Pinocchio’s for dinner in the evening – had trouble getting back but managed to do so. Very nice evening, lateish night.

Wednesday 29 January 1986 – Returned from Keele first thing – had a sedate day at work & got some work done. Very tired in evening – went to bed quite early.

Thank goodness Ashley got a mention in the diaries – he gets most upset if he is absent from Keele-related diary entries from that era.

I sense that the strain of the long distance relationship was starting to tell on both me and Petra, based on these diary notes. Perhaps more tellingly, I was starting to sense that student life was now for other people, not for me.

One thing I particularly remember was finding the prevailing chart music that season especially trite. While the students were no doubt digging A-ha, Dire Straits & Billy Ocean, all riding high in the charts…

…I found those tracks intensely irritating at that time and, strangely, returning to them, still do.

My music listening was orienting towards big, big, symphonies around that time. I mentioned Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony in an earlier piece about returning to Keele. I also especially remember the strains of Bruckner’s Fourth echoing around my head in those days, as I stood on those cold railway platforms and sat in those trains back and forth [did you see what I did there?] to Keele.

It’s not as far away from student-oriented rock music as some readers might think. The riff in Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes is surely based on the motif from Bruckner’s Fifth, which is almost too cool for school…or too much of a steal for Keele.

My Beautiful Launderette & Saigon With Bobbie One Weekend; Then Petra Flexed Her Mussels At Keele The Next, January 1986

Cooked Mussels by PookieFugglestein, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Saturday 18 January 1986 – Busy day – did quite a lot of shopping, got hair cut went to Brixton etc. Went up West in evening, met Bobbie, went to see My Beautiful Laundrette + then had a Vietnamese meal. Very nice evening.

In the absence of my diary, I’d have sworn that I saw My Beautiful Laundrette with John White, but clearly I saw it with Bobbie. I remember thinking it a truly excellent film.

The restaurant we ate in afterwards was almost without question Saigon in Frith Street, which was pretty much the only Vietnamese Restaurant up west in those days.

Sunday 19 January 1986 – Rose fairly early + had large Chinese lunch with folks + lazyish afternoon & evening at home taping, reading etc.

Monday 20 January 1986 – At work in Sam Phillips factory this week – not too pleasant really. Had a lazy evening tonight.

Tuesday 21 January 1986 – Still at factory in Finsbury Park – working quite hard. Had a quiet evening at home.

Wednesday 22 January 1986 – Working at factory in Finsbury Park today. Went into town to meet John [White] after work – Andy [Crawford] was there too. Went to Punch & Judy – had a few drinks then on to Kowloon restaurant – got home quite late.

Thursday 23 January 1986 – Working in Finsbury Park today – which is OK if you like that sort of thing. Quite tired + had a lazyish evening in this evening – watched some TV etc.

I really didn’t like working in that Finsbury Park garment factory, did I? And who could blame me? It was cold and far from friendly.

Friday 24 January 1986 – Work or went to Finsbury Park in morning – rushed back met Caroline [Freeman, now Curtis] for lunch – worked in office in afternoon. Went to Euston – had a drink – went up to Keele – arrived late & very tired. Petra [Wilson] cooked mussels (delicious) in evening – very nice.

I had arranged a short break in Keele for the next few days, which included the AGM, which was one of those events that the previous committee was “expected” to attend, as this “order” from the Union attests:

An Order To Attend A University of Keele Students’ Union General Meeting, Letter From June Aitken, 13 December 1985

Monty’s Cosy Office, A Latke-fest Weekend In Keele & Hard Labour In A Finsbury Park Factory, January 1986

Latkes by Dall-E.

Monty Mendelson (forgive me if the surname is not spelt correctly) was a manager at Newman Harris who worked primarily for partner Lesley Cohen, whose office was in an office building in Wigmore Street, around the corner from the main Cavendish Square office. Monty at that time looked after one or two clients in Stanley Bloom’s portfolio too (Laurie Krieger’s “empire”, if I recall correctly), which might explain why I got to use his office in his absence.

The other possible reason is that the computer room was in the Wigmore Street office and I was the designated youngster who was supposed to try and sort out the problems that the departing “computer manager” had failed to sort out.

Monday 6 January 1986 – Work ok today – in office all day. Pretty uneventful day. Got to use Monty’s office which is cozy. Had a lazy evening at home reading mostly.

Tuesday 7 January 1986 – Uneventful day at work – still got Monty’s room – a cushy number. Spent the evening at home reading a book etc.

Clearly this role in Monty’s office felt cosier and cushier, to me, than real hard graft at clients’ sites doing actual accounting work. Who knew?

Wednesday 8 January 1986 – In office this morning (Monty’s) – met Kate [Fricker] for lunch – went to Cinecittà [see below]– pleasant enough lunch. Went to Laurence Corner in afternoon – ok. Lazy evening in – watched some TV + read etc.

In the 1970s and 1980s, London was home to a very famous, eccentric Italian restaurant called Cinecittà, located right behind the old Debenhams department store at 74 Welbeck Street, on the corner of Henrietta Place in Marylebone.
It was highly memorable for its unique setup:
The Concept: It was a theatrical, self-service Italian restaurant designed like a movie studio lot.
The Decor: Diners could choose to sit and eat their meals inside various novelty “movie sets,” most famously including a full-sized vintage train carriage booth.

Google’s AI mode

Thursday 9 January 1986 – Spent the day at Laurence Corner – ok. Had a quiet evening in – watched some TV etc + read books.

Friday 10 January 1986 – Went to office today – did budget for CAA [Concert Artiste’s Association]. Had a drink with Mike [King], Sandra [soon to be or just became King]+ Terry [errand “boy”] after work. Went up to Keele – pretty tired etc. Had dinner + earlyish night.

Saturday 11 January 1986 – Got up reasonably early – had breakfast at [the] SU. Went out in afternoon – saw Ali [Dabbs], Pitty [Graham Pitt], L54 [Alan Gorman, Pete Wild, Hayward Burt] etc – went on to Hanley. Saw “Plenty” at cinema + then went for drink – decided impulsively to eat at Hanley Garden + get cab home.

Sunday 12 January 1986 – Rose quite late – after getting papers etc. Ben [Benita Wishart] came over for latke “lunch” etc – went for walk in woods in the dark. Lazed some more – had dinner watched a lot of TV + turned in.

Monday 13 January 1986 – Returned to London from Keele. Work OK – in office all day doing bits of this + that. Pretty tired though – had a quiet evening in + early night.

Tuesday 14 January 1986 – In office today – pretty uneventful day all told. Stayed in this evening – got a few odds & ends done.

Wednesday 15 January 1986 – Work OK – nothing very exciting happened. Stayed in evening.

Thursday 16 January 1986 – Went to Sam Phillip’s factory today – fairly hard work. Went on to Andrea [Dean]’s in evening – for booze, fondue etc. Very pleasant evening with that crowd. Stayed over there.

Friday 17 January 1986 – Set off to Finsbury Park (Sam Phillip’s) – worked in factory all day – pretty tiring – had a quiet evening at home + earlyish night.

The First Weekend Of 1986, Including Noises Off by Michael Frayn, Savoy Theatre

From The Daily Telegraph 13 January 1986, via my Newspapers.com subscription

Here’s the diary extract for that weekend starting with Friday:

Friday 3 January 1986 – Went in to the office this morning – finished Ashley’s files. Met Caroline for lunch – went to Effes [meaning Efes] – v pleasant. Had a lazy evening at home + a fairly early night.

I’d forgotten that I sometimes treated Efes in Great Titchfield Street as a lunch place in the Newman Harris Cavendish Square days. My recollection was as a “soak up the beer after work” place, as I said in my write up of the Z/Yen Seasonal Party there, many years after the 1986 visit:

Z/Yen Christmas Do At Efes Restaurant In Great Titchfield Street, 15 December 2000
Update: Caroline remembers Efes as a lunch place more comprehensively than I do – even recalling that her luncheon of choice was No 13- chicken shish. Extraordinary powers of recall, that.

Saturday 4 January 1986 – Lazyish day – went to the high road in afternoon to library etc after lazing for most of the morning. Petra came over late afternoon – went up to town – saw Noises Off – very funny evening, went for late Italian meal. Came back to stay + late night.

Despite having been going for best part of four years, Noises Off was still filling houses and still had an excellent cast: Christopher Godwin, Stephanie Cole, Hugh Paddick, Michael Cochrane, Colette Gleeson, Timothy Carlton, and others too numerous to make it onto the newspaper classifieds at the time. Probably my first sighting of those people and probably my first sight of a Michael Blakemore directed piece too.

I do recall finding the play very funny – especially the middle act. I am really glad to have seen the original production of Noises Off, albeit not the very first cast.

Sunday 5 January 1986 – Saw Petra off this morning – had a big Italian lunch with folks – watched an old movie in the afternoon and had a generally lazy time at home reading etc.

The old movie was The Four Feathers.

Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey Fierstein, Albery Theatre, 2 January 1986

This image of Antony Sher from newspapers.com, click here or Observer embed below.

I went to see this one with Marianne Gilmour. Unfortunately I didn’t get/keep a programme, but I do remember it being a long, but very entertaining, evening of theatre.

My first sighting of Antony Sher live, no doubt. I vaguely recall that the idea of going to see this show was entirely predicated on the notion that both Marianne and I wanted to see Anthony Sher on stage.

Here’s my diary entry for that day:

Thursday 2 January 1986 – Went to Finsbury Park to do stocktake at Sam Phillips – ok – spent most of day there + then went back to office. Met Marianne – went round shops -> Chinese food meal -> Torch Song Trilogy (Antony Sher) – V. good indeed. Went back to Stanmore with Marianne & stayed there.

There was more to it than Anthony Sher. My sense is that the whole cast and production was very good, although I found the musical element of it a bit camp and shmaltzy. But you can hardly complain about that if you go to see a show named Torch Song Trilogy, can you?

Here is a link to the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Here’s what the experts said. Step forth, Michael Radcliffe in the Observer:

Torch Radcliffe Observer Torch Radcliffe Observer 6 Oct 1985 The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

My friend Michael Billington was not convinced by the play but was convinced by Anthony Sher:

Torch Billington Guardian Torch Billington Guardian 3 Oct 1985 The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Milton Shulman in the Standard hated the play and also derides Sher’s performance as being:

…like a harassed Jewish accountant in need of large doses of chicken soup.

Torch Shulman Standard Torch Shulman Standard 2 Oct 1985 Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

That’s horribly near the bone, Shulman.

Seeing In 1986 From A Traditional Thames Vantage Point – Waterloo Bridge I Think

Nano Banana 2.1 has reimagined the scene for me based on my instruction, although I placed us, from memory, on Waterloo Bridge, but Nano Banana wanted us on Westminster Bridge

Tuesday 31 December 1985 – Had lazy day taping and lounging around – met Petra in afternoon – > John’s -> Poons -> bridge

“John’s” in those days was the flat in Bow that he shared with Mandy, Rachel and I think one or two others.

I don’t list the people who joined us for that meal in Poons and for the celebrations on the bridge afterwards, but it is just possible that either John or Petra will remember.

I’m pretty sure that John’s number one choice of Chinese in those days would have been Joy King Lau. I am guessing that Joy King Lau was full and/or had a longer waiting time than Poons, which I remembered (correctly) was immediately next door in Leicester Street.

Here is a link to my Joy King Lau/Poons proximity question.

My profound love of The Original Poons restaurant in Lisle Street came a little later – other Ogblog pieces might oblige with details of that ultra low key but very high grade Cantonese food place.

As for the bridge in question, my vague memory suggests it was Waterloo Bridge, not Westminster Bridge. I took up this matter with Nano Banana, which responded with the following image, which strikes me as a scene with a view of the Palace Of Westminster that suggests it is roughly where Waterloo Bridge might be:

I’m sure we were all better looking than the youngsters depicted, but maybe we weren’t.

Anyway, here is what I said about the hours following the tolling of the bell:

Wednesday 1 January 1986 – Wandered round the south bankside – took cab – Petra + I hitched back to Bow – bedded down at John’s – hung around at John’s a while in afternoon. Went & had something to eat in Covent Garden – saw Petra off – went home & had lazy evening + early night.

I can’t quite reconcile “took cab” and “Petra & I hitched back to Bow”. Something’s missing in that statement. Perhaps we took a cab to one place, where we dropped some people off, then we hitched the rest of the way.

JOHN! Can you disambiguate this memory?

Update: John White Writes…

My diary entry for 1.1.86 reads. TODAY FOLLOWING THE NYE REVELRY, WE SLEPT LATE. CHATTED TO IAN AND PETRA AND WATCHED TV. Exciting hey?


My thoughts on Poons was that it was posher than Joy King Lau so maybe we decided to spend a bit extra. I can’t remember the evening at all other than in the mistiest of tones. I am sure we stumbled around had a few drinks and as Big Ben struck kissed each other before getting home. Probs the night bus then.

I wrote back to John, suggesting that his 31 December 1985 diary entry might contain the vital missing information.

John writes:

No entry for 31.12.85 as we were out partying.

Big help, John. Thanks.

I asked Nano Banana to add John’s “canoodling notion” to the scene and provided it with Mark Ellicott’s famous picture of John canoodling from earlier in the 1985 year.

Thanks, Mark Ellicott.

And thanks, Nano Banana. Once you can fake authenticity, you’ve really got it made.