Simon Coward
@simoncoward.bsky.social
"A good pedant" (Richard Herring)
I think the artist has pulled the London Pavilion slightly towards the corner.
November 28, 2025 at 11:28 AM
I think the artist has pulled the London Pavilion slightly towards the corner.
First gig I ever went to, in March 1975.
November 28, 2025 at 12:01 AM
First gig I ever went to, in March 1975.
Sadly not, it was the tour with guest vocalists (Ade Edmondson and Phill Jupitus) but we did get Neil Innes, Roger Ruskin Spear, Rodney Slater, Sam Spoons, Legs Larry Smith, Vernon Dudley Bowhay-Nowell and Bob Kerr - plus David Catlin-Birch. Must be nearly 20 years ago.
November 27, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Sadly not, it was the tour with guest vocalists (Ade Edmondson and Phill Jupitus) but we did get Neil Innes, Roger Ruskin Spear, Rodney Slater, Sam Spoons, Legs Larry Smith, Vernon Dudley Bowhay-Nowell and Bob Kerr - plus David Catlin-Birch. Must be nearly 20 years ago.
As soon as I saw the thumbnail I thought, "I remember that being in the NME" and sure enough that's where this came from. I wonder if it appeared elsewhere.
I think I'll have my copy of it. I'm sure it'll have been folded in half but I don't remember mine having the red smudged.
Great, isn't it?
I think I'll have my copy of it. I'm sure it'll have been folded in half but I don't remember mine having the red smudged.
Great, isn't it?
November 27, 2025 at 1:47 PM
As soon as I saw the thumbnail I thought, "I remember that being in the NME" and sure enough that's where this came from. I wonder if it appeared elsewhere.
I think I'll have my copy of it. I'm sure it'll have been folded in half but I don't remember mine having the red smudged.
Great, isn't it?
I think I'll have my copy of it. I'm sure it'll have been folded in half but I don't remember mine having the red smudged.
Great, isn't it?
Your guesses are spot-on - barring Mike Winters, as you've realised.
November 26, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Your guesses are spot-on - barring Mike Winters, as you've realised.
Yes, she's the only one I didn't know from that year.
There's other fun to be played in 1976 such as which people have got the same hood and who is in the partial images at the sides and bottom. In particular, which partial photo (or at least, which hood) is being used second row down on the right?
There's other fun to be played in 1976 such as which people have got the same hood and who is in the partial images at the sides and bottom. In particular, which partial photo (or at least, which hood) is being used second row down on the right?
November 26, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Yes, she's the only one I didn't know from that year.
There's other fun to be played in 1976 such as which people have got the same hood and who is in the partial images at the sides and bottom. In particular, which partial photo (or at least, which hood) is being used second row down on the right?
There's other fun to be played in 1976 such as which people have got the same hood and who is in the partial images at the sides and bottom. In particular, which partial photo (or at least, which hood) is being used second row down on the right?
Yes, that's who it's supposed to be but I don't think it's enough like him (and enough unlike anyone else) for it to be a good likeness.
November 26, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Yes, that's who it's supposed to be but I don't think it's enough like him (and enough unlike anyone else) for it to be a good likeness.
Yes to Nina, in the sense that it feels a bit like a generic sketch of an attractive woman of colour. Could just as easily be Cleo Laine, for example.
Tony wasn't the other one I was thinking of. That was the young feller in the top left-hand corner, holding the 20p balloon.
Tony wasn't the other one I was thinking of. That was the young feller in the top left-hand corner, holding the 20p balloon.
November 26, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Yes to Nina, in the sense that it feels a bit like a generic sketch of an attractive woman of colour. Could just as easily be Cleo Laine, for example.
Tony wasn't the other one I was thinking of. That was the young feller in the top left-hand corner, holding the 20p balloon.
Tony wasn't the other one I was thinking of. That was the young feller in the top left-hand corner, holding the 20p balloon.
Actually no, I was thinking that was quite a good likeness of Angela Baddeley (but a bad likeness of Angela Gooddely).
November 26, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Actually no, I was thinking that was quite a good likeness of Angela Baddeley (but a bad likeness of Angela Gooddely).
Most of them are reasonably good likenesses but I'd say there's at least two where you really need to know who was on ITV that Christmas in order to guess who they're supposed to be.
November 26, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Most of them are reasonably good likenesses but I'd say there's at least two where you really need to know who was on ITV that Christmas in order to guess who they're supposed to be.
'Mainstream' is "Close to the Edge" by Yes; 'Total stinker' is based on "Calling All Stations" by Genesis but, apart from, that, I'm stuck at Tull, Crimson and Floyd too.
November 25, 2025 at 10:47 AM
'Mainstream' is "Close to the Edge" by Yes; 'Total stinker' is based on "Calling All Stations" by Genesis but, apart from, that, I'm stuck at Tull, Crimson and Floyd too.
The Sandals, The Blue Caps, Brave Belt, The Shirts.
November 21, 2025 at 7:19 PM
The Sandals, The Blue Caps, Brave Belt, The Shirts.
Hi Russell, good to see you earlier - and thanks.
November 17, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Hi Russell, good to see you earlier - and thanks.
Bah! Real life's over-rated. You're fab, so these 'friends' must be idiots.
November 12, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Bah! Real life's over-rated. You're fab, so these 'friends' must be idiots.
Wasn't he Little Norm's brother? #beiderbeckejoke
November 2, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Wasn't he Little Norm's brother? #beiderbeckejoke
Oh yes, definitely. He's very slightly younger than Ollie but his career in entertainment continues to this day.
In the U.K., of his ilk, I imagine only Sooty and Sweep have been around continuously for longer.
In the U.K., of his ilk, I imagine only Sooty and Sweep have been around continuously for longer.
November 2, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Oh yes, definitely. He's very slightly younger than Ollie but his career in entertainment continues to this day.
In the U.K., of his ilk, I imagine only Sooty and Sweep have been around continuously for longer.
In the U.K., of his ilk, I imagine only Sooty and Sweep have been around continuously for longer.
I think the story-telling may have been Oliver as the lighthouse keeper in Dog-Watch, with Fred as his companion.
November 2, 2025 at 12:27 PM
I think the story-telling may have been Oliver as the lighthouse keeper in Dog-Watch, with Fred as his companion.
And Dog-Watch is Oliver and Peter's joint creation. So while Peter may have been responsible for creating the physical manifestation of Fred (the Raymond Cusick to Oliver's Terry Nation, if you like) I'd consider Fred to be a proper joint creation.
November 2, 2025 at 12:26 PM
And Dog-Watch is Oliver and Peter's joint creation. So while Peter may have been responsible for creating the physical manifestation of Fred (the Raymond Cusick to Oliver's Terry Nation, if you like) I'd consider Fred to be a proper joint creation.
Fred and Ollie seem to have been created at around the same time and their billed debuts, so far as TV Times is concerned, were in Jan and Feb 1961 respectively.
But whereas Ollie just seems to have started off as one of the Small Time gang, Fred gets his own series, alongside Oliver: Dog-Watch.
But whereas Ollie just seems to have started off as one of the Small Time gang, Fred gets his own series, alongside Oliver: Dog-Watch.
November 2, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Fred and Ollie seem to have been created at around the same time and their billed debuts, so far as TV Times is concerned, were in Jan and Feb 1961 respectively.
But whereas Ollie just seems to have started off as one of the Small Time gang, Fred gets his own series, alongside Oliver: Dog-Watch.
But whereas Ollie just seems to have started off as one of the Small Time gang, Fred gets his own series, alongside Oliver: Dog-Watch.