The Portsmouth Music Scene |
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I have to point out that Linn Harris should actually be Linda (above) – I plan eventually to update that booklet (very few copies left) and publish on-line so we’ll get that right. But talking of dancing, what I’m really interested in here is the names of the DJs around town and their roles in the various venues – including Linda (photo above). I can recall Pete Brady at the Birdcage very clearly where he played the latest, rarest soul and R&B between sets by Vagabonds, Action, Who etc. Lots of people danced to him. But what about other names and venues? Occasionally I went to the ‘Cage with Pete Cross who is probably best remembered for his years at the Tricorn and on the seafront (Neros?). At the Birdcage there was briefly an American DJ called Mad King Jerry and who was Prince Bustup on the Bluebeat/ska nights? Oddly I can’t recall what went on between live sets at all the venues we played. What happened in the youth clubs? Was it just a record player? A couple of times I chose tracks for Rikki Farr at Kimbells on Sunday nights but they went through the band’s PA and nobody necessarily knew it was me. Linda promoted at the Oasis but again I can’t recall what happened when Rosemary played there unless we were supporting or being supported. She was also a DJ (see below) – did you spin some discs Linda? With two bands the night was busy with live music but what about when we played on our own and took a 30 minute break? Were records played? (Did we get a break?) What about Ricky’s? They had jazz record nights in the late 1950s but what kind of sound system and when did it become the Marina? Was the DJ initially Gary Buck? Following the quote above, that was the place for the dancers (and smart dressers). Occasionally the national guys like John Peel and Jeff Dexter turned up in Pompey but if people danced to them it was only that far-out hippy stuff. This from Linda Ashton-Evans (DJ Belinda above)Head photo The Oasis club was a private drinking club, over a billiard hall in North End. It had a hall attached which the owners (Norman and Katie Loades, now long passed away) rented out for weddings etc and ran their own “members” dances , on Saturdays. In early 1966 I rented the hall for a regular and ongoing booking every Friday Night, and re-named it “the Soul Parlour” because I was also managing “The Soul Society”. The club kind of took over, so I stopped managing the band and concentrated on the Club, re-naming it “the Parlour”. I used a mix of good local bands, but also started to bring in fairly “edgy” bands, like Skip Bifferty, Blossom Toes, Free (before their fame), Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera, Badfinger (when they were The Iveys), Human Instinct etc. About 1968 I had to revert back to calling it “The Oasis Club” because the police started getting heavy about non-members of the Oasis drinking in the bar. We tried to get round it by having people who came to sign a separate book, and had members of the Oasis itself block-sign people in. It was difficult, but we managed. However, in the end, people drifted away to new clubs – it happens. However, we had some very good years there. I think from the end of 1969 a few other people tried things there, but nothing really took off, and a lot of money was lost. (Dave: I loved the club – it was very kind to Rosemary. We broke the attendance record a couple of times and got our best paid gig there too. I also recall a Blossom Toes gig where they used smaller amps and sent everything through the PA with a mixer out front. It sounds obvious now but it was the first time I’d ever seen that (1969?) in a club.)
Here’s a fascinating letter (edited by me from three Flickr messages) from Linda Du Pret who in Pompey’s 1960s was better known as Linda Ashton-Evans
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