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To The North Coast: Lime Tree To Port Antonio
Driving Jamaica is very heavy on concentration levels, mainly because the roads are in such appalling condition. Giant potholes, boulders in the road, piles of builders’ rubble, sudden narrowing of road to single line traffic…main roads which suddenly hit an unmade stretch without warning. It’s all here. You have to keep your eyes on the road surface as well as the other vehicles for every inch of every journey. Consequently it’s a long slow drive from Mavis Bank to our next destination at Port Antonio on the north coast, a drive which involves climbing right over the top of the mountain range before descending through sumptuous green valleys alongside the…
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Rock History & Me #4: Dunstable California
Just outside the nondescript Bedfordshire town of Dunstable lies a range of chalk hills known as the Dunstable Downs, home to some attractive countryside and the famous Whipsnade Zoo. In an unlikely setting just off the main road out across the Downs was the California Ballroom, a live music venue which in its day sat comfortably on every tour itinerary below the A-list. The California in the mid 1970s was the type of venue which would probably not get a licence these days, let alone be on a major gig circuit, without a major rethink. My first time was late ‘74/early ‘75, and my first impression on walking into that…
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Rock History & Me #3: An Affair With Caroline
The four of us sat at a small table in the college refectory, Cheltenham Charlie putting together another of his daft looking skinny roll-ups. “Can you actually taste anything in that matchstick?”, says John Mayes, aka Daisy. “Man yeah. My saviour” Daisy and Sylvo shake their heads and grin, Cheltenham Charlie drags on the tiny fag, oblivious. “They’ve put “Wardrobe” out as a single”, he drawled. “What? Really?” This didn’t seem right. Prog rock bands – proper prog rock bands – didn’t put singles out, it was unwritten law. Maybe Cheltenham Charlie had got it wrong. “Where’d you hear that shit?”, I asked. “Radio Caroline”. Until that lecture break at…
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Rock History & Me #1: Ziggy Stardust
During this period of having no new travel stories, I’m drawn to write about another passion; Michaela isn’t convinced, but encouraged both by my sense of self indulgence and our fellow blogger Leighton Thomas at leightontravelsblogs.wordpress.com I’m pressing on….. #1: Ziggy Stardust As I took my seat on the sofa for the weekly Thursday night ritual of watching Top Of The Pops, I had no inkling of what was about to unfold. Within a few minutes I was transfixed, deaf to my parents’ disapproval, hooked instantly not only to the music but to this unworldly being and his ethereal lyrics. At each chorus, these two men would put arms around…
