u3a Rewind stories archive

During the summer of 1966 following A levels, some of us decided to hitchhike around Europe. Two of us ended up in Venice but my musical memory is of the Beach Boys on a juke box with Wouldn’t it be nice and meeting American G.I.s who were our age in the Hofbräuhaus in Munich. They were just so glad not to be in Viet Nam  - and so were we!

In my late teens early 20s my favourite by far was  The Incredible String Band, with its combination  of cool hippiness and Celtic mysticism. Of all their many wonderful compositions I would choose The Circle is Unbroken, which speaks to a profound unity of purpose underlying our everyday conflict-riven lives. 

This was the first time I had my heart broken and I remember playing this over and over again on Dial A Disc, I imagined the girl was singing this to me. After all this time, when I hear the first few bars the pain comes straight back to me.

As a teenager, I had quickly cycled through phases of liking soul and Motown, then hard rock followed by prog, and then a dalliance with whey-faced singer-songwriters. When I heard the “Born To Run” album, and this track in particular, my first reaction was “I didn’t know you were allowed to write songs like that!”. That opening harmonica riff still gives me shivers.

Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-1988-0719-38 / Uhlemann, Thomas / CC-BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped

Working in Woolworths as a teenager, customers selected records which were played aloud at the record counter which I was near - serving in those days behind another counter. Good memories taking me back 70 years

momento mori from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

This takes me back to 1960s. Saturday morning under 16s disco at Watford Top Rank nightclub. Rows dancing, boys wearing Ben Sherman shirts and green stay press trousers, girls wearing tonic suits or Prince of wales check dresses.All wearing highly polished oxblood loafer shoes and silk hankies held neatly folded and pinned with a gold tie tack in our top pockets. I now do a chair dance version with my u3a armchair exercise group.

I was introduced to Bob Dylan's songs at the youth club I belonged to when I was around 14 or 15 in about 1965. I was blown away by these songs. They were so much more meaningful than the pop music I had listened to previously. Times they are a-changing was my favourite and is still relevant now.

This song is symbolic of the last four weeks of my first year at Manchester University. The first two weeks of June 1967 were spent taking my end of year exams followed by a fortnight long Workshop Technology course - a unique song for a unique time!

Although they didn’t play in on this occasion it reminds me of my first visit to The Cavern. It was a lunchtime session and it cost me one shilling to enter. And the first group I saw there were The Beatles. How lucky was I; the chance of a lifetime?

Photo: Andypugliese, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The first Stiffs live tour at Leeds University Union in 1977: Dave Edmunds, Larry Wallace, Elvis Costello, Wreckless Eric and Ian Dury. I was 17, and getting into Punk Rock. Ian Dury playing drums and shouting “Stop f***ing spitting!” Pogo-ing the night away.

By Jean-Luc - originally posted to Flickr as Ian Dury, CC BY-SA 2.0, 

Working in Woolworths as a teenager, customers selected records which were played aloud at the record counter which I was near - serving in those days behind another counter. Good memories taking me back 70 years

Whilst the 60’s produced some great singles and albums, musically 1971 was a memorable year for me. I had won a language scholarship to go to Germany before starting university and it was there that I first heard The Doors’ Riders on the storm playing on the radio. To this day, it remains one of my favourite songs ever.