Month: September 1992

The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett, Lyttelton Theatre, 30 September 1992

I believe we did a date swap for this one. It is in my diary for Saturday 17 October, but I ended up going to see Death And The Maiden with Janie, John and Mandy that night.

I think Bobbie had a problem with that October weekend and we arranged to swap with a friend of hers to see this production midweek, on 30 September.

My production log says:

Went with Bobbie. Very good.

So what else is there to say? I remember it being a very big, busy play, with an enormous cast of courtiers attending to the protagonists. I remember laughing quite a lot. I suspect I would find it a bit cheesy if I saw it again now.

Nigel Hawthorne was very impressive and I suppose it is “quite a thing” that I saw him perform live.

The Wikipedia entry links to rave reviews on both sides of the channel. The subject matter very naturally had appeal for the USA so it is no surprise that it was also a hit there and also made into a film.

I was probably quite tired that evening, as the diary shows I spent a long day flying up to West Lothian the day before on business – that will have been Sky with Michael – a memorable working day.

I suspect that this was the last time I went to the theatre with Bobbie. We probably had a post theatre meal, perhaps at the RNT itself or perhaps somewhere like RSJs or the Archduke.

Here is the Theatricalia entry for this production.

Below is Michael Coveney’s review from the Observer:

Madness of George III, Michael CoveneyMadness of George III, Michael Coveney Sun, Nov 24, 1991 – 59 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

Below is Michael Billington’s review from The Guardian:

Madness of George III, BillingtonMadness of George III, Billington Sat, Nov 30, 1991 – 25 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com

We’re A Member As Well, NewsRevue Lyric, 27 September 1992

Twenty five years ago to the day (as I write) the EU was problematic for many of its members. Denmark had voted no to the Maastricht Treaty. France had voted yes by a whisker. The pound had bundled out of the exchange rate mechanism the week before and the French Franc looked vulnerable.

More importantly (from my point of view), I wrote this little “pseudo-reminiscence piece” for NewsRevue,which ran for a good few weeks:

WE’RE A MEMBER AS WELL

(A Duet to the Tune of “I Remember it Well”)

(HIM:I can remember 1992 as if it were yesterday;

Le Maastricht treaty, les trucker strikes, la political infighting, le virtual collapse of the French Franc……..)

VERSE 1

HIM:I voted oui,HER:You voted non,

HER:To set us free,From Mitterand;

HIM:Ah yes, I remember it well.

HIM:You voted non,HER:I voted oui,

HER:To harmonise,The EEC;

HIM:Ah yes, we’re a member as well.

HIM:French truckers blocked the rails,

HER:And they blocked the road,

HIM:Francois Mitterand had to dump his load;

HER:I am so glad that he said “non” to that old bag Edith Cresson,

HIM:Ah yes, I remember her well.

MIDDLE BIT

HIM:How often I’ve thought of that Sunday night,

When France agreed to put up with Maastricht;

But several days later we caught a fright,

When we learned that the Franc is now worth…..

HER:…..nicht.

VERSE 2

HIM:The Franc went up,HER:The Franc went down,

HER:You bought the Mark,And sold the pound;

HIM:Ah yes, I remember it well.

HIM:We had to plead,HER:With begging bowl,

HER:The Bundesbank,And Helmut Kohl;

HIM:Francois tasted his member as well.

HIM:It’s a partnership,HER:One man’s in control,

HIM:Francois Mitterand?HER:Uh, uh, Helmut Kohl.

HER:You’re back in bed with Germany,

Just like Petain in 43,

HIM:Ah yes, this surrender is hell.

Here is a vid of Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold singing “I Remember IT Well” from the film Gigi:

The lyrics to “I Remember It Well” can be found here.

Maastricht Voice Over, NewsRevue Submission, 13 September 1992

This one didn’t even make my print out file, but is there in the electronic file.

It is about the 20 September French Referendum on the Maastricht treaty…

…you know the one…

…when the French said “oui”…by a whisker…after the Danes had already voted “nej”.

Jokes that need to be explained are not usually the very best jokes. This isn’t a great voiceover and I don’t think it got used.

MAASTRICHT VOICE OVER

(This quickie is a mock French commercial for the Maastricht referendum)

The music Je t’aime plays while the following voice over is read in a cross between mock Frenchman and mock commercial voice over:

The Maastricht Treaty……

Vote oui to Maastricht on September 20th…..

and get shafted by the rest of Europe.

Snowbush, NewsRevue Lyric, 13 September 1992

The 1992 US Presidential Election provided a rich source of material for satirists.

Bill Clinton’s flaws as a candidate and an individual were well known before the election. It all feels a bit familiar writing 25 years later, except not quite so awful as the Trump election last year and the prevailing shower in  its aftermath.

Anyway, this lyric did well in NewsRevue, running for many weeks over that election period.

I recall one duo reprising the first line through gritted teeth as an additional last line – excellent idea:

SNOWBUSH

(A Duet for Bill and Hilary Clinton to the Tune of “Snowbird”)

VERSE 1 – BILL AND HILARY GAZE LOVINGLY INTO EACH OTHERS EYES

We Clintons live in harmony and sing,

While George and Barbara Bush have both mislaid the vision thing;

George sells war planes to Saudi Araby,

But still the dollar falls deep in our slump economy.

CHORUS 1 – GOSH, BILL AND HILARY MUST REALLY LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Dump your running mate or you will fail,

Cos we’ve got beefy Albert Gore and George Bush has Dan Quayle;

When George says “no more taxes” it’s untrue,

Cos if he could we know that he would try to raise a few.

VERSE 2 – SOME FRICTION MAY BE CREEPING IN TO THE SONG

BILL:Old George believes abortion is a sin,

And no-one’s homosexual in his 4,000 kin;

HILARY:But George and Bill’s morality concur,

When they both take a shine to chicks who are named Jennifer.

CHORUS 2 – HILARY SINGS ALONE

(While Hilary sings the final chorus, Bill slopes off into the audience to chat up any pretty females he can find there)

Girls like men with presidential powers,

But Bill don’t send me Gennifer when I ask for some flowers;

The man that I’m supporting is untrue,

And if he could I know that he would try a casual screw;

Yes, if he could I know that he would try-ay-ay-ay-ay a casual screw.

In October 1996 I wrote an update of this lyric, re-titled “Snowbill”:

SNOWBILL 1996 ELECTION REMIX
(To the Tune of “Snowbird”)

VERSE 1 – BILL AND HILARY GAZE LOVINGLY INTO EACH OTHERS EYES

BOTH We Clintons live in harmony and sing,
While Bob Dole cannot raise a vote and sure can’t raise his ding;
HILARY: We’re gonna get elected one more term,
BILL: Which gives me four more years to jog around and dump my sperm.

CHORUS 1 – GOSH, BILL AND HILARY MUST REALLY LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Spread your tidy lead and grow apace,
Bob Dole and Ross Perot are nowhere in this one horse race;
Republicans have near thrown in the towel,
Cos if they could you know that they’d have run with Colin Powell.

VERSE 2 – SOME FRICTION MAY BE CREEPING IN TO THE SONG

BILL: Bob Dole has many accidents and falls,
HILARY: At least the voters know that he don’t play much with his balls;
BILL: We all can make mistakes, just see our daughter,
HILARY: And please don’t ask to much about our profits from Whitewater.

CHORUS 2 – HILARY SINGS ALONE

(While Hilary sings the final chorus, Bill slopes off into the audience to chat up any pretty females he can find there)

Spread your tidy lead and stuff Bob Dole,
And try to keep your golf balls out of eighteen different holes;
The man that I’m supporting is untrue,
And if he could I know that he would try a casual screw;
Yes, if he could I know that he would try-ay-ay-ay-ay a casual screw.

[BOTH: (with irony) We Clintons live in harmony and sing]

Below is a YouTube link to Anne Murray singing Snowbird, with the lyrics on the video screen along with some sweet pictures of birds…the flighted variety:

An Evening With Janie, Anthea And Others, 12 September 1992

Janie and I don’t remember enough about this evening.

I had played bridge at Andrea’s place with the gang (probably Daniel and Maz back then) the night before.

Janie had taken patients on the Saturday morning, as she did in those days.

I know it was the first time I met Anthea. I know we went out to Bethnal Green – down Anthea’s way. I wrote down Anthea’s address for the purpose.

We went to an ethnic restaurant quite near to Anthea’s place in Bethnal Green.

Janie and I both think there were other people there that evening; not just we three, but for the life of us we cannot figure it out. Anthea just might.

We have no photos of the evening. We’re with a hotshot photographer, but OUR London style clearly wasn’t worth snapping. Oh well. Click the link below to see what might have been.

Anthea Does Street Style PhotographyAnthea Does Street Style Photography March 19, 2015 · Flare – Canada’s Fashion Magazine · Flare.com

We ended up back at Janie’s place that night; that much Janie and I both certainly remember.

We’re not sure how long I stayed, but I do have an electronic record of lyrics written onthe Sunday time stamped bbetween 17:00 and 18:00. So I’ll guess I stayed for some brunch.

Stand By Your Bank, NewsRevue Lyric, 6 September 1992

This is not one of my greatest lyrics but it is 25 years old on the day I am writing this Ogblog piece.

I wrote the lyric in response to some banking cartel activity (allegedly) long since forgotten, upping bank charges for everyone.

Actually, rereading mine yesterday reminded me of one of Ivan Shakespeare’s great lyrics, written not long after. The opening line of Ivan’s piece:

Sometimes it’s hard to be a new man…

…building to the cracking initial chorus line/title…

Stand by your flan…

Mine seems pale in comparison, but here it is:

STAND BY YOUR BANK

(To the Tune of “Stand by Your Man”)

 

VERSES – PAUPER

 

(Perhaps the chorus, offstage during the verses, could harmonise by making “slide guitar wowing sounds” during the verses.  The pauper should probably be “music hall cockney”)

 

Sometimes it’s hard to stay in credit,

When the wolves are knocking at your door;

The banks all tried to impress,

By paying me some interest,

And 5p made me feel less poor.

 

Then thoroughbreds lost on the bourses,

The better off dumped third world debt;

Those banks need easy action,

We’ll pay for each transaction,

They’ll charge whatever they can get.

 

CHORUSES – A WUNCH OF BANKERS

 

Stand by your bank,

We listen and we say yes,

This wunch of bankers largesse,

Extends to all our charges.

 

Stand by your bank,

We shall recoup our losses,

We’ve banked so much our assets shrank,

Stand by your bank.

 

Stand by your bank,

Don’t bother looking elsewhere,

Our charges all went up in rank,

Stand by your bank.

Here’s Tammy Wynette singing Stand By Your Man:

…and here is a link to the Stand By Your Man lyrics.

An Evening With Janie & Kim & Micky & Tennis, 4 September 1992

This is the first sequel to my trilogy of postings which explain how Janie and I got together.

The first time we met was a party at Kim & Micky’s place, which ended up on the Central Square tennis court…

Kim and Micky’s Party, 8 August 1992

Second up – the ossobuco evening at Janie’s place a week or so later, with Kim & Micky there as informal chaperones:

Ossobuco At Janie’s Place, 16 August 1992

The third part of the trilogy being the Street of Crocodiles evening:

Janie and I Go On Our First Proper Date, The Street Of Crocodiles, Cottesloe Theatre, 29 August 1992

So the invitation to Kim’s the following Friday must have come hot on the heels of a positive report from Janie on the Street of Crocodiles date…

…or at least not a negative report.

Intriguingly, there is also a note in Janie’s diary that she had a new bed delivered on Tuesday 1 September. Janie claims that the timing of the bed purchase must be pure coincidence. I am tempted to believe her and I am sure that all you sweet Ogblog readers are similarly convinced by the “must be” argument.

Anyway, for Friday 4 September, the suggestion was that we gather for some early evening tennis in the Square and then eat5 at Kim & Micky’s place afterwards.

Picture borrowed from and linked to http://www.hgstrust.org/news/archive.shtml

I think the pre-refurbishment look of the courts in 1992 can just be seen on the second court at the back of this picture.

Anyway, we were returning to the scene of the 8 August crime (as it were), with Kim, Micky and their dogs Charlie and Jumper in tow. In truth, even though I was no doubt sober on arrival, tennis peppered with dogs wanting to chase the balls all the time is not exactly great tennis.

But it was great company, of course. In any case, the wine would soon start to take effect making the tennis seem less important and the idea of sloping back to Kim & Micky’s place for more wine plus food increasingly appealing…

…so that’s what we did.

Janie recalls we did this more than once, but the evenings were drawing in and soon tennis was off the agenda for Friday evenings even though gathering after work on a Friday was something we did quite regularly (i.e. once every few weeks) in this early months/years.

Sunday 20 September shows Kim & Micky tennis in Janie’s diary, whereas it says “Bridge?” in mine. I don’t think the bridge happened. Janie had been to the Questors Theatre with her mum the night before. More on the Questors anon. Anyway, I do think we spent that Sunday afternoon with Kim & Micky, plus Charlie and Jumper making tennis havoc.