Odds & Ends: News/Humor (with a "Who Lost the Week?" poll)

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".

OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.

CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead. Speaking of Bill & Michael: look for photos of a meet-up yesterday in Maine that they hosted … including several other other Soros Money recipients (hope?)

ART NOTES — more than 100 posters, prints and illustrated books in an exhibition entitled The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec will be at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire through January 7th.

  Toulouse-Latrec to Jan 7th

RECENTLY yours truly rode up in the elevator at my office with a young couple ... with the father holding their baby (1-yr?) who had a sippy-cup in her hands. When I smiled at her, she smiled back, turned the cup around and slightly extended it to me ... as if to offer me a sip. Alas, I already had a cup of coffee in my hands.

THURSDAY's CHILD is named Paddles the Cat— the new First Cat of New Zealand for the recently-elected Labour Party prime minister Jacinda Ardern.

 Paddles: the First Cat of NZ

GLAD to hear that the newly-successful right-wing party AfD in Germany (happy on Election Night) … is now spending much of its time hunting for office managers and staffers. Ads are being placed and consultants contacted, job boards are being combed through and bonuses offered for posts .. many do not want to take.

FRIDAY's CHILD is named Leo the Cat— a Colorado kitteh who is among a growing number of Adventure Cats — who accompany people in the outdoors.

    Leo the Adventure Cat

CHEERS to a fine previous weekend in Albany, NY — good food, good beer and wine, a chance to hike along the Mohawk River in Schenectady and to rehash some old stories ….. OK, a lotta old stories.

BRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.

OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS? — the late actor/politician Sen. Fred Thompson and TV star Kelsey Grammar.

Fred Thompson (1942-2015)

Kelsey Grammer (born 1955)

...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… last month saw the death of the English promoter, manager and publisher Harold Pendleton. Yet his most enduring contribution was as owner of London’s famous Marquee Club (which lasted at three locations from 1958-1996). If you are a rock & roll fan: virtually every famous English band (other than the Beatles) from the 1960’s-70’s performed there, and many American acts, as well. With that: it might do well to look at this club, and some of the performers who made-their-mark there.

Harold Pendleton was a public accountant with a lifelong love of Dixieland jazz when he moved to London in 1948. At a record shop in Soho in 1950, he asked someone else perusing the racks … where the nearest jazz club was located? He happened to ask no less than trombonist Chris Barber, who has been a mainstay of not only the UK’s jazz scene but later became a prime mover in the blues/R&B movement. With his financial background, Pendleton later became Barber’s manager.

In time, Pendleton quit his day job to become the secretary for the National Jazz Federation, bringing the music into the 1950’s (away from a sterile environment) and helping end the Musicians’ Union’s racial policies. After the success in 1956 of Chris Barber’s banjo player Lonnie Donegan — whose cover of the Leadbelly tune Rock Island Line was a world-wide hit — Pendleton acted as a promoter of such “skiffle” acts (which included some homemade instruments, and influenced Paul McCartney and John Lennon).

He still found time to launch a newspaper (Jazz News) and promote jazz performances across Britain. His 1961 National Jazz Festival eventually morphed into the Reading Festival, still held annually. He also founded a mobile sound company (that his son still operates) and was also widely credited with raising the standards of portable toilets found at British outdoor festivals.

Harold Pendelton 1924-2017

In 1958, Pendleton and Barber sponsored the first UK tour for American bluesmen (suffering under Jim Crow) Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. That same year, Pendleton decided to open his own club, and the first incarnation of the Marquee Club was a basement venue at 165 Oxford Street. It was situated in-between a Dixieland venue (the 100 Club) and a modern jazz club (the Flamingo) — and Pendleton decided he would embrace all sorts of music as the 1960’s dawned. Thus, he began booking British blues and R&B bands when other venues didn’t. One of them was Alexis Korner (whom I profiled recently) with his Blues Incorporated in 1962 — and a young Eric Clapton in attendance asked his family for a guitar after that show. The Rolling Stones played their debut show there.

Harold Pendleton lost his lease in 1964, moving his operations to 90 Wardour Street (from 1964-1988) with the Yardbirds recording their first album on opening night … and it is this venue that people consider the classic Marquee Club. It was a small venue, the temperature could get quite warm, there was gum on the floor and its dressing rooms were notoriously cramped, lacked toilets and were graffiti-covered … yet it became a hallowed place.

Nice (w/Keith Emerson) Taste (w/Rory Gallagher)

Among the bands who performed there in the 60’s included Pink Floyd, Cream, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac (during its early blues era), Manfred Mann (with 102 shows between 1962-1976) and Jimi Hendrix (whose guitar often went out of tune one hot evening).

The 70’s saw more acts break there, including The Faces, Genesis, Uriah Heep, Queen and David Bowie, whose final Ziggy Stardust show took place here in 1973. Later that decade was the advent of punk/new wave, and the club hosted The Jam, the Stranglers, Buzzcocks, the Clash plus Adam & the Ants.

The 1980’s saw a turn towards heavy metal — my visit there in 1981 had as the headline act The More (who encouraged the audience to wave their fists in unison) — including Metallica, Guns N’Roses as well as Def Leppard — plus pop bands such as Dire Straits .

Led Zeppelin were originally dubbed the “New Yardbirds”

The club also had its share of “secret gigs” — performances by established stars who wanted to return as a thank-you for their start there or for fans who understood the assumed name the bands played under (such as Iron Maiden, Squeeze, Motley Crue, Genesis and others).

Due to structural defects in the facade, Harold Pendleton sold the club in 1988, whose new owners moved to a new location at Charing Cross Road, where it continued until 1996. (Some more recent revivals have not lasted long).

Harold Pendleton died last month at the age of 93 and since his love of Dixieland jazz had never waned … Chris Barber led a New Orleans-style marching band at his funeral.

Harold and his wife Barbara

Two quotes about the venue stand out; one coming from the guitarist Mike Rutherford (Phil Collins’ band mate in Genesis):

You were often asked what you wanted to do when you left school. I remember thinking at the time that my goal was simple … to play at the Marquee.

Finally, Fleetwood Mac’s drummer Mick Fleetwood reminisced:

It was there I went from complete obscurity to learning the tools of my trade from the musical masters of our time. I was there at the club’s inception and became a part of its history. So many screaming fans, crammed into that tiny sweatbox! I hold it in my heart with utmost gratitude.

   90 Wardour Street facade

One of the bands who truly broke-it-open at the Marquee was The Who — who were given the slow night of Tuesdays. They became such a hit they performed for 22 consecutive Tuesdays from 1964-1965 ….. transforming Tuesday nights into a club showcase night in the future. Below was one of the posters of that time … and it hung on my bedroom wall during my mis-spent youth (as one of these was included in every copy of The Who’s Live at Leeds album from 1971).

Pete Townshend’s windmill

I don’t know for certain … but very likely, the band played this song (one of their first original tunes) at the Marquee, as it was released at the end of 1964. I Can’t Explain was one of Pete Townshend’s many songs about being unable to express his feelings, which was the case for many of the band’s young male fans (often with the added use of amphetamines). And below you can hear it.

Got a feeling inside It's a certain kind I feel hot-and-cold Down in my soul

I’m dizzy in the head and I'm feeling blue The things you've said: well, maybe they're true I'm getting funny dreams again-and-again I know what it means, but …….

I can't explain I think it's love Trying to say to you When I feel blue

x xYouTube Video