I haven’t played in London for 43 years. In the UK a few times, but not London. Tomorrow (Friday 27th April) I’m temping at The Dublin Castle in Camden Town with Lasse Forsberg and his band Mary Maple. We’ll be making plenty of noise playing a bunch of Lasse’s power-pop songs and a few well-chosen covers.
Why am I playing with Mary Maple? Well, it’s complicated. More than half the band (Mats, Eva and Stefan) unfortunately couldn’t make it for these gigs. So, Jonny (guitarist) took over on bass and Lasse’s son Ced is playing drums. Their plan was to play as a three-piece, but at the last minute, I was asked to add a guitar and do backing vocals. And how could I say no to a gig in London?
This coming Saturday we’re also playing in Ramsgate at the Churchill Tavern. If you’re around either place, drop by and say hello!
I haven’t been to Ramsgate since my family’s last summer holiday there in 1963. Our days were spent on the beach building sandcastles and getting sunburnt backs and in the evenings, we played cards in our caravan on the camping site. Great for us kids. There was also a clubhouse on the camping site, where the parents could go to the bar and have a drink, while the kids were in the room next door.
And I loved that kid’s room! It was perfect because they had a jukebox with all the latest hits. I had no money to put in it, but others did, so I got to hear plenty of new music. But what I really wanted to do was dance. Especially to the Crystals’, Da Doo Ron Ron, probably the most danceable hit that year. I only found the courage to do it the evening before we went home, which was a bit sad. But I also got to ride in a Ford Capri which was the coolest car I’d ever seen in real life (irl, for those under 30). I think the Capri owner was the man who ran the camping site.
A couple of other occurrences were less fun. We were driving along the seafront in the old Austin A30 dad had borrowed for the week, when a motorcyclist overtaking a car ended his life under the wheels of a bus. When we drove past, the fire brigade and police were busy cleaning up the mess and that’s a sight that still comes back after 56 years. But a family of five going on holiday in an A30 must have been a logistical nightmare. How we all fit in that tiny car, with enough packing for five is a mystery. But who cared. We were going on holiday in a car for the first time.
When we were out strolling on the seabed at low tide one day I found a rusty old steel pipe. Cool! I picked it up with my left hand and threw it as hard as I could. Unfortunately, it had a jagged edge of metal sticking out of the back end, which I hadn’t seen and which ripped a long, deep cut in my thumb. I’ve still got the very visible scar. My memory of what happened after that is zero. That painful experience was completely wiped away, which is a pretty good defense mechanism.
Caravan is, for me, one of Van Morrison’s best songs, from his 1970 album Moondance. Not the nicest cover I’ve seen on the other hand.