I was at school in Stockport (a rare non catholic at a convent ! ) aged 11 in 1967 , and remember attending a service for the victims of that air crash where all the nuns were distraught and it was the first time that i realised they were human beings, and not just other worldly creatures . I also remember a few years later taking two chums to see a little known Elton John at Stockport technical college and - pre decimal currency - i think I paid 17 and sixpence for each of the tickets …….. I loved Your Song , and it was his only hit at the time , and he had been given an upright piano to play which he thought was a bit shit, but i adored the whole thing. It was my first gig . ( Ive always loved 10 cc too , - IM NOT IN LOVE was unlike anything else , a song The Beach Boys ( Pet Sounds my first LP) would have been proud of. Stonkingly good post Mark!
What a lovely story your comment is in itself Gillian! I’m so envious you saw Elton then (I hope you read the link to the other recording studio related post), there really was no-one to touch him around then. I was dragged to sunday mass when I was a kid and was always completely mystified by nuns…were they like other humans, was it just a job like any other, what did they do all the time? etc. Thank you for your company
Hi Gillian, I was also at Stockport Convent High School, aged 11 in 1967. I'm guessing you and I may have been in the same year? My maiden name is Flanagan. I also saw that Elton John concert at Stockport College. I will never forget the spotlight suddenly illuminating Elton sitting at the piano and him singing that first line: "It's a little bit funny..." It brought tingles to my spine, and it still does. I saw so many amazing bands at Stockport College, including Free (they'd had a hit with All Right Now and had just released My Brother Jake), and Rory Gallagher. I also saw Edgar Broughton Band at the Town Hall although I don't remember what year it was. Stockport has such an amazing music history.
How fabulous. Im hopeless at names , but Flanagan deffo rings a bell in the deep distant past. Can you remember the names of the nuns?! Im in contact with Alison Dunkerly . Does that ring a bell for you ? My surname then was Taylor……….
What a lovely piece of writing Mark. Music has been a very important part of my life as well, although most of my formative years were spent during a similar period (albeit much less commercially successful) in Bristol with an explosion of punk bands followed by reggae,soul and hip hop. Music (especially that heard during your teens and early twenties) seems to have the ability to stick with you all through later life. I feel really sorry for people for whom music means little or nothing.
I can’t imagine life without music at the heart of it but I guess if we get whatever it gives us from somewhere then that’s the important thing but like you, it’s music
Great read Mark. Joy Division passed me by, at that time my record library was filling with ELO, Simon and Garfunkel, Blondie and some Sex Pistols till my Dad told me to stop buying Sex Pistols as they were a bunch of foul mouthed lunatics. I’m enjoying your playlists on Spotify and your book Abundance has just landed.
Thank you Tim. My old man wasn't overly enamoured with the noise from my room either! Interestingly, it was Tony Wilson - the man behind Factory Records and who sunk his life savings into recording Joy Division's first album - gave Blondie their first TV appearance on his Granada TV show. I hope you enjoy Abundance and thank you again for your kind words
Thank you Margaret. A piece of me hasn’t quite left the area after last week - we did a bit of a pilgrimage to the Epping Walk bridge, Ian’s house, Little Peter St, etc etc and I could write all day about Ian, Tony Wilson etc etc and their enormity.
I have lived on Epping Walk, my daughter was born in Salford and I’ve spent years in Macclesfield. That music runs through my veins now. And I never tire of it. Great that you visited and Stockport is having a glow up. This piece sang.
I loved this- these places being only over the Pennines from me.
My friend is an archivist at the University of Manchester and is currently curating an exhibition of Ian Curtis’s hand written lyrics in New York to try to raise the money to buy them (they are currently only on loan from his widow). If you know anyone who has a spare half a million and a desire to keep these treasures in the north, send them my way.
I hope so but I can definitely keep you updated. There is a big fan base as well as money in New York so it was just a strategic decision to take them there. However, now they have done the hard work of creating the exhibition I think there is a plan to put it on again in Manchester. I guess it might depend on whether they find their donor?!
Thank you Mark. I was 16 in 76 when the pistols changed music but Joy Division and a little later The Cure changed the way I felt about music. Transmission still stops me in my tracks if I hear it unexpectedly, Love will tear us apart again is one of my desert island discs.
Thank you Mark for that story. I grew up in the suburbs of Stockport in the 70 & 80s and I did not know those stories. And I was a bit too scared of the Manchester music scene at the Hacienda - front row for The Alarm at the Apollo was as brave as I got! But Johnny Marr lived in Marple Bridge, where I had a Saturday job at the Post Office and newsagents. I remember that he drove a VW Beetle - white with a yellow roof. Liked a fried egg. I wanted one. That was what my colleague told me anyway. So now I think back all these years ... perhaps it was joke I've believed for 40 years 🤣🤣 the AC/DC drummer was supposed to live at the top of our road. So the people who I babysat for told me. And I did believe anything! But Mike Yawood's Dad definitely lived in our village - and he came in every Saturday for his newspaper. Which I remember to have been the Morning Star - because we kept those "communist papers" in a different pile. 🤣 But I could have been wrong, maybe he read something else - not a reliable witness. Bill Grundy too - but we'll forget about him and he mega gaves me the creeps and I used to hide out the back in the ciggy stockroom when he came in the shop.
Marple Bridge was the village. Below Marple - the other side of the River Goyt, which joints the Etherow and the Thame in Stockport to create the River Mersey. The built the shopping centre actually over the top of the rivers. Agatha Christie looked out of the window of her train carriage, eh Roger to stay with her sister. She was thinking of what to name of key character - just at the point she saw the railway station name - Marple. Famous for that. And the proudest moment in the village when I lived and worked there. Mrs Thatcher was visiting. In fact she was just outside the post office. She reached over to take the bunch of daffodils that she appeared to be offering. The hero instead bopped her on the head with the bunch. Our post office made the national news 🤣🤣💛🌼
Stephanie, this has made my day! A post in itself. So many stories. Johnny Marr’s fried egg VW and Mike Yarwood’s dad’s left leanings will especially stay with me, though I have a feeling the Mrs Marple story will win me a pub quiz one day. Thank you and happy Wednesday to you
What a gorgeous, poignant piece, Mark. I love the connections here. Always had a soft spot for Neil Sedaka - when we were kids we used to visit our elderly, housebound neighbour, Maurice. We’d eat Twixes, smoke fags and sing Oh Carol. I played him Elton John’s Too Low For Zero album and he then adopted I’m Still Standing as his personal theme tune. He was a good guy.
Mark, I loved this. I knew nothing of these studios. I loved 10cc, and saw them a few years ago in Norwich, and they were still thrilling. Whenever " I am not in love" comes on the radio, it still stops me in my tracks.
Thank you Deborah. I am envious of you seeing them. I think we are now at a tipping point for forming substacks own 10CC fan club. Perhaps even tribute band. I have you down as drummer, and @laura thompson on keys, would that be ok? licks pencil
I really enjoyed reading this. I fell in love with "Love will tear us apart" as soon as it was released, I was 12 lol, now I've learned to appreciate many other artists you mentioned too.
I was at school in Stockport (a rare non catholic at a convent ! ) aged 11 in 1967 , and remember attending a service for the victims of that air crash where all the nuns were distraught and it was the first time that i realised they were human beings, and not just other worldly creatures . I also remember a few years later taking two chums to see a little known Elton John at Stockport technical college and - pre decimal currency - i think I paid 17 and sixpence for each of the tickets …….. I loved Your Song , and it was his only hit at the time , and he had been given an upright piano to play which he thought was a bit shit, but i adored the whole thing. It was my first gig . ( Ive always loved 10 cc too , - IM NOT IN LOVE was unlike anything else , a song The Beach Boys ( Pet Sounds my first LP) would have been proud of. Stonkingly good post Mark!
What a lovely story your comment is in itself Gillian! I’m so envious you saw Elton then (I hope you read the link to the other recording studio related post), there really was no-one to touch him around then. I was dragged to sunday mass when I was a kid and was always completely mystified by nuns…were they like other humans, was it just a job like any other, what did they do all the time? etc. Thank you for your company
Hi Gillian, I was also at Stockport Convent High School, aged 11 in 1967. I'm guessing you and I may have been in the same year? My maiden name is Flanagan. I also saw that Elton John concert at Stockport College. I will never forget the spotlight suddenly illuminating Elton sitting at the piano and him singing that first line: "It's a little bit funny..." It brought tingles to my spine, and it still does. I saw so many amazing bands at Stockport College, including Free (they'd had a hit with All Right Now and had just released My Brother Jake), and Rory Gallagher. I also saw Edgar Broughton Band at the Town Hall although I don't remember what year it was. Stockport has such an amazing music history.
How great is that! I love this place for these kinds of stories and connections
How fabulous. Im hopeless at names , but Flanagan deffo rings a bell in the deep distant past. Can you remember the names of the nuns?! Im in contact with Alison Dunkerly . Does that ring a bell for you ? My surname then was Taylor……….
Great post Mark. Saw 10cc live not too long ago, they were still incredible. Musical artistry abounding.
Such talent even at their mature ages. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Talent never gets old Pauline! Such great songwriters
Totally agree Mark, their voices were incredible and musicians were amazing. Plus Graham chatted about their history.
Their encore included ‘Donna’ sung A Capella! 🔥
Your ability to connect Neil Sedaka, the Sex Pistols, and the New Order are unmatched – what a weave!
I enjoyed the backstory on Strawberry Studios...all of which I was completely unaware of. You’ve made me more culturally aware this Sunday...thanks!
And Devon Spiced Beans – well, add that to my cultural enrichment today!
Thank you Jack!
What a lovely piece of writing Mark. Music has been a very important part of my life as well, although most of my formative years were spent during a similar period (albeit much less commercially successful) in Bristol with an explosion of punk bands followed by reggae,soul and hip hop. Music (especially that heard during your teens and early twenties) seems to have the ability to stick with you all through later life. I feel really sorry for people for whom music means little or nothing.
I can’t imagine life without music at the heart of it but I guess if we get whatever it gives us from somewhere then that’s the important thing but like you, it’s music
Great read Mark. Joy Division passed me by, at that time my record library was filling with ELO, Simon and Garfunkel, Blondie and some Sex Pistols till my Dad told me to stop buying Sex Pistols as they were a bunch of foul mouthed lunatics. I’m enjoying your playlists on Spotify and your book Abundance has just landed.
Thank you Tim. My old man wasn't overly enamoured with the noise from my room either! Interestingly, it was Tony Wilson - the man behind Factory Records and who sunk his life savings into recording Joy Division's first album - gave Blondie their first TV appearance on his Granada TV show. I hope you enjoy Abundance and thank you again for your kind words
I grew up in Stockport and Macclesfield and now live very close to Ian’s resting place. I often thank him for the soundtrack. Lovely piece Mark. 🍓
Thank you Margaret. A piece of me hasn’t quite left the area after last week - we did a bit of a pilgrimage to the Epping Walk bridge, Ian’s house, Little Peter St, etc etc and I could write all day about Ian, Tony Wilson etc etc and their enormity.
I have lived on Epping Walk, my daughter was born in Salford and I’ve spent years in Macclesfield. That music runs through my veins now. And I never tire of it. Great that you visited and Stockport is having a glow up. This piece sang.
I lived in Warsaw for a decade and a half, yet never knew Joy Division had been Warsaw first (why?), so thank you.
My pleasure! I believe it came from them liking the song almost of that name from Bowie's Low album
Thanks, Mark🙏🏻
I loved this- these places being only over the Pennines from me.
My friend is an archivist at the University of Manchester and is currently curating an exhibition of Ian Curtis’s hand written lyrics in New York to try to raise the money to buy them (they are currently only on loan from his widow). If you know anyone who has a spare half a million and a desire to keep these treasures in the north, send them my way.
Will they be exhibited in the uk too, do you know please?
I hope so but I can definitely keep you updated. There is a big fan base as well as money in New York so it was just a strategic decision to take them there. However, now they have done the hard work of creating the exhibition I think there is a plan to put it on again in Manchester. I guess it might depend on whether they find their donor?!
I wish I had half a million to give!
How fantastic is this?! Thank you for sharing this piece of yourself with us.
Thank you Kalee!
I’ll see your GMEX ticket and I’ll raise you Don Estelle’s autograph…
This is incredible
👀
I saw you tonight at the ICA - and the Sex Pistols in a pub in Shropshire in 1977.
And now I wish we’d had chance to talk about that Shropshire night!
Thank you Mark. I was 16 in 76 when the pistols changed music but Joy Division and a little later The Cure changed the way I felt about music. Transmission still stops me in my tracks if I hear it unexpectedly, Love will tear us apart again is one of my desert island discs.
They’re such timeless special songs aren’t they
Thank you Mark for that story. I grew up in the suburbs of Stockport in the 70 & 80s and I did not know those stories. And I was a bit too scared of the Manchester music scene at the Hacienda - front row for The Alarm at the Apollo was as brave as I got! But Johnny Marr lived in Marple Bridge, where I had a Saturday job at the Post Office and newsagents. I remember that he drove a VW Beetle - white with a yellow roof. Liked a fried egg. I wanted one. That was what my colleague told me anyway. So now I think back all these years ... perhaps it was joke I've believed for 40 years 🤣🤣 the AC/DC drummer was supposed to live at the top of our road. So the people who I babysat for told me. And I did believe anything! But Mike Yawood's Dad definitely lived in our village - and he came in every Saturday for his newspaper. Which I remember to have been the Morning Star - because we kept those "communist papers" in a different pile. 🤣 But I could have been wrong, maybe he read something else - not a reliable witness. Bill Grundy too - but we'll forget about him and he mega gaves me the creeps and I used to hide out the back in the ciggy stockroom when he came in the shop.
Marple Bridge was the village. Below Marple - the other side of the River Goyt, which joints the Etherow and the Thame in Stockport to create the River Mersey. The built the shopping centre actually over the top of the rivers. Agatha Christie looked out of the window of her train carriage, eh Roger to stay with her sister. She was thinking of what to name of key character - just at the point she saw the railway station name - Marple. Famous for that. And the proudest moment in the village when I lived and worked there. Mrs Thatcher was visiting. In fact she was just outside the post office. She reached over to take the bunch of daffodils that she appeared to be offering. The hero instead bopped her on the head with the bunch. Our post office made the national news 🤣🤣💛🌼
Stephanie, this has made my day! A post in itself. So many stories. Johnny Marr’s fried egg VW and Mike Yarwood’s dad’s left leanings will especially stay with me, though I have a feeling the Mrs Marple story will win me a pub quiz one day. Thank you and happy Wednesday to you
What a gorgeous, poignant piece, Mark. I love the connections here. Always had a soft spot for Neil Sedaka - when we were kids we used to visit our elderly, housebound neighbour, Maurice. We’d eat Twixes, smoke fags and sing Oh Carol. I played him Elton John’s Too Low For Zero album and he then adopted I’m Still Standing as his personal theme tune. He was a good guy.
He sounds like the very best of guys Helen, and we could do with a few more of them. And thank you for your kind words
Mark, I loved this. I knew nothing of these studios. I loved 10cc, and saw them a few years ago in Norwich, and they were still thrilling. Whenever " I am not in love" comes on the radio, it still stops me in my tracks.
Thank you Deborah. I am envious of you seeing them. I think we are now at a tipping point for forming substacks own 10CC fan club. Perhaps even tribute band. I have you down as drummer, and @laura thompson on keys, would that be ok? licks pencil
Now all we need is a good name
I’m in too, though what I lack in rhythm, I would make up for with enthusiasm!
The story of my life
😂
I'm in 👌 I think our version of I'm Mandy Fly Me will be a set highlight.
I really enjoyed reading this. I fell in love with "Love will tear us apart" as soon as it was released, I was 12 lol, now I've learned to appreciate many other artists you mentioned too.
Thank you Suze, that makes me very happy