Were you ever in the school play or talent show?
The thought terrifies me now but I had two stints under the school limelights.
In primary school circa 1968 I was one of the three wise men in the Christmas nativity. I may have been Joseph come to think of it. I was holding a toy lamb dressed in nomadic robes. Me that is, not the lamb. My mum, who was in the audience, had advised me the night before not to wave at her. I ignored this counsel and waved my head off promptly dropping the lamb into the manger!
My second bash at school stardom was in the first year talent show in secondary school. I was 11 and it was 1972 at the height of Bowie mania. I adored David Bowie and went to see him live at Preston Guildhall during his Aladdin Sane phase.
I couldn't wait to emulate my idol on the school stage and in an uncharacteristic bout of showmanship I did just that. I was dressed in fairly normal street clothes but I did slick my hair back Bowie-style and had a large circle of red paint daubed on my forehead. With a cheap Telecaster copy round my neck I proceeded to mime my favourite bowie song. I'll give you a clue. Now Ziggy played guitar! I didn't win the talent show but I enjoyed the gig immensely.
It would be another seven years before I graced the stage again but this time I'd left school and was a late Seventies hippy appearing with my friend George in our duo called Alien Cage. It was 1979, we were 18 and we toured all the best busking sites in the nearby seaside town of Blackpool before plucking up enough courage to do a proper gig in a pub. We were ropey as hell, nervous as mice but we had our own instruments and our own songs! Our signature tune was Alien Cage is Coming!
We didn't leave it there either and with even better instruments we went in search of rock glory. But that's a story for another day!
Did you do a stint in the school play or show or maybe play in a band or appear in a film readers?
At sixteen,I played bass in a band at a Spring Talent show.We played Judas Priest's Living after Midnight.The next year I played bass,guitar, and keyboards(not all at the same time) in a high school performance of "Godspell".
ReplyDeleteah, the Priest. What a great band. I loved their first LP of the same name and regularly listen to Last Rose of Summer on it, my fave track. Sounds like you were multi-talented at 16 with all those instruments Brian!
DeleteYour reminiscence touched a nerve Woodsy, as I have played a shepherd in a Christmas nativity. This was set up by a Sunday School that us boys attended, mainly to collect scraps (those square ones with aeroplanes etc.) that were given in the end of every meeting.
ReplyDeleteI remember vividly one of our performances at a local hospital for the disabled. The Angel in the play was a girl a bit older and taller than us kids. We had lots of fun while rehearsing. She had those huge eyes which could give you a stare that made you burst into laughter - think of Shelley Duvall eyeballing you proper. So, during our performance, she used to turn his back to the audience and give us that tease of a stare as she was spreading her wings upon us - causing all us little shepherds to burst out giggling, mid-show! Afterwards we cleared the coffee table of all the buns left for the troupe.
Later in life, at college, I played the Little Prince in an adaptation of the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. My favourite story then and ever since.
beautiful memories Arto! I wonder what happened to the tall girl with the piercing stare? As for the Little Prince, there's a well-thumbed copy in out bookshelf as its also one of Missus Moonbases's fave books!
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