Chris
and I, in between coming back from Clacton on the 15th and setting off for the
Brighton Sixties Festival on the 18th, were in danger of meeting ourselves coming
back! With such a short turn-around, a full kneeport on the fantastic weekend
of August 12th to 14th was impossible, but we knew you'd want to read about
a few highlights!
The pleasure of being able to drive around the countryside with Big L playing
on the car radio again...
...Seeing so many happy-looking knees, freed from the confinement of restrictive
garments by sunny weather.
...Hearing our great friend Alan Hardy presenting two terrific shows on the
afternoons of August 11th and 12th and then valiantly stepping in to be newsreader/producer
of the PY Show on Aug 14th.
...Finally being able to put faces to names of people with whom we had exchanged
many a knee-mail. It was particularly nice to meet model-maker supreme, John
S Platt.
...Ian Damon's enhancement of the Saturday afternoon schedule, and meeting him
for the first time since 1997.
...Being reminded by Dave Rogers that the last time we'd met, I'd looked like
a cross between a drowned rat and the Michelin man! (This encounter, I hasten
to add, was after my life-threatening attempt to get aboard the Kneebo III,
in August '99.) Dave was most interested to know if I still had the rubber wetsuit....
...Two very minor DJs, (Chris and me) sharing a Sunday breakfast table with
two very major ones - Bud Ballou and Cardboard Shoes! Ann, our landlady, wants
to put up a plaque in Skues's bedroom to commemorate his stay.
...Sunday Skuesmania on Clacton pier on the 13th, with the Cardboard Shoes Show
being enhanced by somewhat unusual news bulletins from the inimitable John Ross-Barnard.
The whole thing was sponsored by Lil's great supporters, Donut Di and Hugo (and
their Harley Davidson).
...Meeting Louise Copple with her husband Ian and seeing Louise's fantastic
collection of photos taken with offshore DJs in the Sixties. We hope to feature
some of them on the site before too long.
...Chris permanantly hooking/unhooking recording equipment and diving into his
case for either a new film or a new MiniDisc.
...Being very glad on the morning of August 14th that the broadcast WASN'T from
a ship, as the sea was so rough that we'd have been very unlikely to have got
on board. Three hours of producing the Bud Ballou Show from a wind-tossed Portacabin
proved somewhat similar to a life on the ocean wave! Bud, who has never left
the radio business since his days on Caroline, but ironically has not done MUSIC
radio for some years, proved to everyone that he's still the bee's knees!
...Jenni Baynton's tribute at noon, when a last-minute decision to dedicate
Billy Fury's 'Once Upon A Dream' to Jenni proved the perfect choice.
...Peter Young, enjoying three of the most enjoyable hours of his broadcasting
career, and after 7pm announced himself as, "This is PY, sitting in for Garner
Ted Armstrong...!"
What a Wonderful Weekend!