BILSTON UNITED.
Wolverhampton in the 1970s it may be, but Bilston
United's glam inspired ditties could relate to any city,
town or village in the UK, and providing you were there or
thereabouts between twenty five and thirty five years ago
you won't fail but to be reduced to a misty eyed dreamer
recalling the days of your youth. |
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We all had a town or street rivalry so Hilton
Roads tale of "taking the Temple Street" is just as evocative to
this West country boy as it would be to any yobbo fro the darkest
black country. J.B's in Dudley remains a staple venue on the toilet
circuit but Uniteds tribute song could just as easily relate to
Bristols Granary Club, Sheffield Poly or The Fulham Greyhound!As for
B.U., well if you've ever lived away from your hometown for any
length of time then you'll realise just what that place...shithole
or otherwise really means to you, its almost a paean to a long lost
love! Oh and they also to an interesting cover of Slaughter and the
Dogs yob classic Where Have All The Bootboys Gone.
I managed to grab a few words with guitarist
Thomas Dudley before he started his Thursday night shift at the
local chippy..........
SO THOMAS, DID YOU EVER TAKE TEMPLE STREET?
Did I ever take the Temple Street? You kidding!! I was the fastest
runner in Parkfields!! Seriously, it was just before my time! In the
mid 70's, maybe 75 - 76, the Temple Street Mafia in Wolverhampton
were the business! Just around the corner on my estate was the
Hilton Road youth centre & playing fields, which had a gang of it's
own, a pretty tasty one too! Some hard bastards! I always remember
that the fashion was a weird mix of post-skinhead (crombies, DM's)
meets Northern Soul (flares, "star" / "keep the faith, fist"
jumpers, platforms). Anyway, one night in the mid 70's, the Temple
Street came down to "have" the Hilton Road, & even as a pre-teen, it
was the stuff of local legend for a LONG time afterwards!! Such a
legend that some loser twat even wrote a song about it 30+ years
later!!
TELL US ABOUT J.B.'s IN THE LATE 70's EARLY 80's.
JB's!! Wow!! It was started in a social club in Erdington, B'ham
called Mothers (the live side of Pink Floyd's "Ummagumma" was
recorded there!), & then, maybe 73 - 74, they got their own space in
Dudley, which they called JB's, named after the dj at the time, Jim
Bryant! During the 70's they got most of the touring club /
university circuit-level bands to play there (it was small, 275
capacity if I recall!). The club got lucky in the wake of the punk /
new-wave explosion, & while they missed out on the initial burst,
just afterwards they had just about everyone playing there: -
Blondie, The Police etc. I was 13 in 1977, & didn't get to sneek
into JB's till 79 (still way underage.... shhhh!). Early gigs I saw
were U2, Mo-Dettes, Echo & The Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes,
Orchestral Manoeuvers etc etc. By 1980 I was there at last twice a
week, & within a couple of years probably 3 - 5 nights a week! It
was my local!!
YOU MENTION THE DANCING DID IN
J.B.s, WHAT THE FUCK BECAME OF THEM?
The Dancing Did were one of the many bands that were
JB's regulars in the 1982 - 1983 period, hailing from
the Vale Of Evesham, not too far away from Dudley,
though geographically in the "nicer" direction!! I
definitely saw their first JB's gig (WAY before they had
played London & picked up their, albeit small tribal /
Mick Mercer etc following) & I was blown away! I
actually still have a t-shirt, but I can't believe I cut
the fucking arms of it, what an idiot!!! Me & my mates
sort-of got to know 'em pretty well, they were really
nice, in a rurally-poncified way! |
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COULD INSPECTOR BARLOW HAVE HAD
D.I. REGAN?
No way!! Regan was fucking hard!!!
WHERE HAVE ALL THE BOOTBOYS GONE?
It's like all of those footie violence books out there!! I felt
guilty recently about buying that Cardiff City "Soul Crew" tell-all
book: - it's the same old preface: - "in no way am I intending to
glorify the violence" bollocks. Really?? Why don't you put that on
the cover then & call it "A Day Out In Cardiff with my nan" or
something??? Bilston United isn't glorifying violence, just making
an observation of a time when you would see a guy kicking someone's
head in with a pair of 5-button waistband sidepockets & some nifty
platform shoes!! Nothing wrong with that!
I'M NOW GOING TO REACH INTO MY COLLECTION OF EARLY 1970's LOOK-IN
MAGAZINES AND RANDOMLY SELECT A MUSIC QUIZ FOR YOU.....AH, THIS ONE
COMES FROM 1973 AND INVOLVES YOU TELLING ME WHO HAD HITS WITH THESE
SONGS....a) THE PRIDE AND THE PAIN b) SEASONS c)10538 OVERTURE d)
HOCUS POCUS e)ALL BECAUSE OF YOU f) DON'T WASTE MY TIME g) BALL PARK
INCIDENT h) TRAVELLING IN STYLE
Fookin 'ell geezer!!!
a: Roxy Music.
b)
c)ELO
d: Focus
e) Geordie
f):
g: Wizzard
h)
That's the best I can do (no Google involved, btw!)
DARN FINE EFFORT THERE TOMMY BOY. I KNOW THAT "DON'T WASTE MY
TIME" WAS STATUS QUO AND I THINK "SEASONS" WAS BY YOUR FELLOW
MIDLANDERS BLACKFOOT SUE, AS FOR "TRAVELLING IN STYLE", I'VE NO
FUCKING IDEA! NOW, WHO WAS THE BETTER TARGET MAN THE DOOG OR BULLY?
The Doog had a tache, and he played alongside Kenny Wagstaffe, did
he not?? Bully was your typical "I know I could sign for whoever,
but I want to stay where my heart is, with Wolves, & live in
Tipton". I wonder what he does with his days, nowerdays??
JUST WHO IS THE GREATEST LIVING WOLVERONI....,WOLVANI....PERSON
FRON WOLVERHAMPTON?
The word is "Wulfrunian", named after (the city was named after)
Lady Wulfrun! Greatest living?? I name Pete O Shea, aka
Peter Don't Care, aka as the greatest living Wulfrunian. Hands
down!! Greatest ever dead wolvoboy: -
Jonathan Wild:- h : - greatest UK criminal ever!!
DID YOUR PARENTS EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM BRENTFORD NYLONS?
Alan Fluff Freeman sort of put you off a bit, didn't he!! I
definitely had nylon sheets as a kid, though they probably came from
"the van" off the back of Bilston Market!!!
SLIK,PVC2,THE RICH KIDS,ULTRAVOX........WHICH DID YOU PREFER
AMAZIN RAISIN OR AZTECS?
I bought the Slik album a couple of weeks back!! Pretty decent
players, but a bad selection of 50's doo-wop covers & questionable
salf-written stuff! I bought PVC2 when it came out: - it's ok! I
LOVE the Rich Kids! Them on Revolver doing Eno's "Needle In The
Camels Eye" is one of the greats of all time! AND even though it is
wanker Matlock on bass!! John Foxx period Ultravox are still great
IU think!!!
AND I do remember Aztecs! I used to have a badge that said "Feed
Aztec's To Me"!!!
http://www.myspace.com/bilstonunited |
