My activity reads like a fairly set pattern by that stage of the term. A fair bit of work, Constitutional Committee,, J-Soc, the Union…
…I was spending so much time with Bobbie by then, that she is referred to as “B” in the diary on several occasions.
Bobbie had a television set in her room in Lindsay. “…Bobbie’s – watched film…” after going to the union with Ashley will ahve been a film on TV – my forensics identify The Killing Of Sister George as the likely film. I remember having seen that film way back when…no doubt this is when.
Saturday 26 November 1983 – Did some work today. Went out for Chinese meal with Malcolm [Cornelius], Ruth, Bobbie…
I started behaving more grown up by that year, going out for meals in restaurants and all sorts.
I vaguely remember a half-decent Chinese restaurant in Hanley, although i cannot remember its name. Malcolm might remember, as might a random reader. I’m sure Bobbie won’t.
I am fairly sure this was the occasion that I had a eureka moment in the matter of making wontons. My previous attempts had been OK, but not sufficiently special for my taste. This place made wontons with a mix of pork mince, a whole prawn and a smattering of spring onion within each wonton wrapper.
I recall thinking that the stock in this restaurant was a bit watery for my taste, but the wontons were super-tasty. My subsequent “famous” wonton soup recipe was a variant on the simple but appealing formula I worked out at that place.
Several of my friends liked to refer to the dish as “wanton soup”, with emphasis on the first syllable, not least Alan “The Great Yorkshire Pudding” Gorman. Alan, my flatmate, benefitted from my production of this dish more than most for the rest of that academic year. I seem to recall that Malcolm also was (and probably still is) a food pun addict, as well as a chap who likes his food.
…and indeed the rest of that week has little worthy of report in it.
Union Stuff
The diary suggests a fairly settled pattern of work, spending time with Bobbie and spending time in the Union, mostly around elections and such matters. The Chair of Constitutional Committee also chaired Election Appeals Committee and it seems there were elections that week.
The other thing that is clear from my diary that week is that I became good friends with Vivian Robinson around that time. She was SU Secretary (and therefore also returning officer) that year – so we were thrown together ex officio in terms of running elections.
Fortunately we got on well and I think the elections that year ran smoothly – even the one that I ran in…just about. Viv and I remained friends after Keele, not least when she lived on Bedford Hill in the late 1980s, about 10 minutes walk from my parents house. Watch this space for future tales.
Anyway, that week, it seems, Viv cooked me dinner one night and I made her lunch a couple of days later.
Anarchist Bonfire Party, 11 November 1983
I like the reference to going to an “anarchist bonfire party” after dinner with Viv on 11 November. Ashley and/or Sally Hyman might remember some details about that event, but I must admit I don’t remember much about it.
Perhaps it was part of a trend at that time to perceive Guy Fawkes as a radical hero, which, frankly, he wasn’t. Or perhaps it was more an excuse to have a bonfire party a week or so after the conventional Guy-effigy-burning occasion and avoid the unpleasant connotations of all that, by simply having a lively bonfire party, which I’m sure it was.
The Anarchist Bonfire Party won’t have looked like this
The Fall Supported By the Stockholm Monsters, 16 November 1983
This was a pretty memorable Keele gig in my book, as much for the buzz there was around The Fall at that time as the sound itself, which was only sort-of to my taste.
The Stockholm Monsters were a more than half-decent support act, well suited to support The Fall. In 1983 they sounded like this:
The Fall appeared on The Tube just over a week after our Keele gig. Their set on The Tube looked like this:
Andrea’s Party At Bushy House, 19/20 November 1983
By the end of that week I was writing in red ink, reporting on a trip to London. I love the fact that I note that I had a haircut on the Saturday morning. I’m guessing that my mum would have strongly suggested I needed a haircut, probably because of the location of the party I was going to that night.
My friend Andrea Dean was living in Bushy House, Teddington at that time. Her father had become Director of the National Physical Laboratory and a rather sprauncy apartment came with that job.
Andrea c1979
Bushy House is a former residence of King William IV, although I suspect he made use of the whole house.
I remember more than one entertaining party/gathering at Bushy House when it was Andrea’s place. This November 1983 one was especially memorable.
…And Forty Years On?
I rather like the juxtaposition of an anarchist bonfire party one weekend and a party in a formerly royal residence the next in November 1983.
Forty years on, both of those parties were good training for the week that I have just been through:
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 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.
…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:
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.
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:
https://youtu.be/ZStDrd65m8I
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.
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 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.
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:
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:
https://youtu.be/HYPD24des44
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.
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…
