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Stuff from the early days!!! - Roger Squires.

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Me&you View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Me&you Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 November 2014 at 2:26pm
Hello Ricky,

 

My audition for Mervyn Thomas was at the Monarch pub on the Chalk Farm Road in Camden in 1975, and I lived at the house 87, Herbert Gdns. for around a year. I can clearly remember you repairing the gear in the shed and building those huge light screens. . Do you remember Mervyn banned us from making bacon sandwiches at night? LOL.

My time with Rainbow was spent jocking in the London pubs and stints with the roadshow with either Billy (Keen?) or Dave "Scribbles" on the south coast. Memories from that era have unfortunately faded but I have racked my brain to recall some of the pubs where I worked. The Clanger in Fenchurch street was a great lunchtime gig, as was the Tiger Tavern in the Bowring building opposite the  Tower of London, the office girls were always up for a laugh :-) Then there was the other end of the scale, The Surprise pub at Farringdon, just over from the post office sorting office, Mount Pleasant, was where I worked with the strippers (Dirty Diana and Busty Jill !) the place was full of postal workers at lunchtime who were more than willing to drop a couple of shillings in the beer mug if the girl got her knickers off :-) The place got raided by the old bill a couple of times while I was there, and even News of the world did a piece on it.... Ha Ha!!

The Railway tavern at New Cross and the Charlie Chaplin at the Elephant were also Mervyn´s gigs, very nasty in those pubs in the evenings, well advised to wear you tin hat. I did the Sussex a few times,  I remember that´s where i met Rocky Rivers. He liked to frequent the gay pub Black Cap in Camden with his mate Mervyn. I seemed to remember his disco centre in Kentish Town burnt down and there was a police investigation about insurance fraud?

The Newham Audio decks you mentioned were actually not too bad for that time, they certainly put up with a lot of bashing about in and out of those escort vans. i remember we used to shoot off down the Harrow Road and all over London with that gear. We also used to make trips up to Optikinenics in Luton to collect Solar 250s and strobes. Blimey it seems a life time ago mate.

What happened to Billy and the Scribbles? what are the others up too today? I know Mervyn runs a strip joint in Shoreditch and books djs through Power House in N20. He still lives in that house I believe.

Graham Bell & I left Rainbow in 1976 and joined IDEA (International Discotheque Entertainment Agency) in Copenhagen, Denmark. We worked separately on 1- 3 moth contracts all over Scandinavia and in most European countries, Graham lives in Hamburg, Germany today and works as a record producer/songwriter and DJ. I live in Copenhagen and have recently retired after a career in IT/robotics.

I hope you found this interesting Ricky, and look forward to hearing from you again

Best regards

Bob Webb 



Edited by Me&you - 03 December 2014 at 2:55pm
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markshowman View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote markshowman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 November 2014 at 7:06pm
Hi Bob, thanks for your really interesting reply, ah the good old days of Newham Audio gear and huge light screens. My audition for Rainbow was at the Sussex in Leicester Square, I also did a few fridays at The Clanger, I remember the manager was guy called Andy, he was always making strange advances towards me, the Pig & Whisle in latimer Grove was one I did with the strippers on a sunday lunchtime, the pint glass was always quite full in that place! the Admiral Duncan in Deptford, and the George in Hammersmith were two lovely Irish pubs (not),  where you needed armour unless you played rebel songs. I remember doing a place late on friday nights, where the carpet was red to mask the colour of blood, looking back it reminds me of a scene from the Blues Brothers, where you needed to dodge the bottles and glasses. It was up on the north circular somewhere.  Did you ever do the Queensborough Hotel in Bayswater, that had the aussie bar  downstairs. Glad you are well, best wishes, Ricky 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Me&you Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 November 2014 at 3:51pm
Hi Ricky,
Blimey, that bought back a few more memories! I also did the George pub in Hammersmith Broadway, we used to play in a big room at the back of the pub, and yes i do recall it was full of IRA supporters who weren´t very friendly:-) I also did the place on the North Circular Road that you were talking about, that was the Cock Inn at Palmers Green which  made even the Charlie Chaplin at E&C look nice. It was a big pub and the DJ was a distance from the bar so when all hell broke loose you had to dive under the decks and prey the bouncers could handle it.. LOL! Also did a really rough boozer behind Euston Station, can´t recall the name but it was another Irish pub! The Pig and Whistle I remember well, it was one of Mervyn´s oldest customers along with a boozer called the Seven Stars & Half Moon on the Goldhawk road in Fulham which i`m sure you will remember. The Alma pub (evening gig) in Chapel Market was also a bit dodgy!! One good luchtime pub I did was for another London agent (Gavin Breck) was the Two Brewers in Shoe lane, just off Fleet Street in the days when the journalists used to frequent it. Seem to recall the Queensborough in Bayswater, not sure if I did that one, but I probably did :-) I remember a lunchtime gig in Chalk Farm (not the Monarch) which paid £3,50 for 2 hours of which I had to pay Mervyn £2 commission, which meant working for nothing if you paid the tube fare there ad back to Kensel Green or as I did bonked it....Those were indeed the days!
More later Ricky...as it emerges LOL.. Bob (btw. my mail address is  - bobbywebbis@hotmail.com)


Edited by Me&you - 30 November 2014 at 4:35pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote markshowman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 November 2014 at 7:49pm
Hi Bobby, Its so good to know that someone else had the fun times as well as me, when I tell people about the disco work in london in the 70s, I am sure some think I am making it all up. i went back to doing the London pubs for a few years in the mid 90s, and really not much has changed. I went to a gig in Brentford, and as soon as I got in the door, an elderly lady came up to me to me and informed me, "if you aint no good , were smashing your gear up", just what you want to hear the first time you go to a place, luckily for me, I must have won them over, got out with all the kit intact, and got asked back every month, I have just started my 3rd christmas season for a group of hotels in Bournemouth, so lots of work untill the end of January, I will put up some photos of my equipment when i get a moment, all original stuff from the 70s, many people ask me why I dont get modern kit, but as an original 70s DJ, I cant bear to part with any of it. I sometimes think that the guys who turn up to a gig with a laptop, 2 small speakers, a couple of LED lights, and no microphone, may be the sensible ones, (my box of leads takes up more space than their complete equipment), I cant bear to be parted from my stuff, although it takes me about 1hr to set up, and just as long to dismantle, the super sounds of the 70s lives on. regards, Ricky
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GregM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 November 2014 at 10:25pm
Blimme, this is the first time ever I've seen somebody post that they used Newham kit - amongst the old brochures I've still got is the full Newham range - can you remember which one it was (or describe it)?
Remember, if you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask the question!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote markshowman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 December 2014 at 6:24pm
The Newham Audio kit was not too bad in its day, quite robust, and worked ok, I cant remember the models , as Rainbow International had quite a few versions, all had the amps built in, and had Garrard SP 25 turntables, I used to repair them frequently, as they got quite a hammering. not a really well known brand, but good value , and when put through a pair of Davoli cabs, a pretty good sound 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Me&you Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 December 2014 at 2:57pm
Hi Greg, I would love to see the Newham Audio brochure. Can you put it up?
Best regards
Bob Webb
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Me&you Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 December 2014 at 4:57pm
Ricky,
If you have a LANDLINE telephone, please mail me your number, it would be fun to talk about the old days at Rainbow.
Best regards
Bob ( mailto:bobbywebbis@hotmail.com - bobbywebbis@hotmail.com)
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GregM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 December 2014 at 5:39pm
Bob - I've just emailed you the Newham docs, it's a whole lot easier than prattling about finding somewhere to host them online.

Greg
Remember, if you don't want to hear the answer, don't ask the question!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote andymann Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 August 2015 at 2:47pm
I've just got hold of one of these consoles from a friend complete with matching speakers but I'm swapping those BSR's for Garrard sp25's
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote andymann Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 August 2015 at 3:32pm
Big smile I used to go to a lot of discos as a kid in my teens and chat with the dj about their equipment and started my self in 1994 using a Linear super disco 70 and moved up to a NJD DM 808 that I rebuilt I now use cds but I still prefer the sound of vinyl
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote markshowman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 August 2015 at 9:19am
Is it a Newham Audio console you have got. perhaps you could post a picture, good luck with everything
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