Screaming Lord Sutch

[George Hutchinson]

Limehouse - I saw TELSTAR twice when it had it's pre-West End run here in Guildford. It was magnificent (except for Linda Robson who was terrible). The big surprise was Adam Ricketts. Dumb blond from Emmerdale, bit of a David Beckham of the soap world, turns out to actually be a very good actor. Star of the show was, of course, Con O'Neil. I had a chat to him and he was a nice guy. I also managed to speak to Nick Moran a couple of times (he wrote the play) as I have VHS copies of Joe's old ciné films including the actual Outlaws event in London when they were forced to go through the city in cowboy gear on a stagecoach as a promotional gimmick (as referred to in the play).

Yep, Joe was a genius but over the years I met loads of people who worked for him - the list is huge; I met literally dozens of them between 1991-3 - and the over-riding thing they all talked about was his temper. He could be extremely violent and snap in an instant. Another thing that is always hushed up was that he was involved in his final days with a rent boy called Bernard Oliver whose body was found dismembered in a suitcase not long before Meek shot his landlady and then killed himself. I've been in the actual building where he worked and died. It was most unusual, especially as it was so hard to picture what it had been like (it was empty at the time).

Oh, and Chris - uploaded to the net just for you...



PHILIP

[Limehouse]

Hi Limehouse

I don't find the Carry On films the least bit embarrassing - I have the entire collection on DVD - I love watching them and find them very funny. Earlier today there was an 'On The Buses' film on tv which the Radio Times reviewer described as truly awful. I watched it and enjoyed it.

In fact I enjoy these films so much that I make sure the door is closed when I watch them, so that I cannot be disturbed, the window too. I keep the volume down low because I know that not everyone shares my love of these films .....

You'd get on well with my son Steve! He's 21 and loves the Carry Ons and the On the Buses films.

There are some great one-liners in the Carry Ons:


"Oh no Matron! Be careful, remember i was once a weak man"

"That's alright. Once a week is enough for any man"

And:

A young woman's mother to Sid James just before they go off on holiday in Carry On Camping:

"She migh trust you, but frankly, I've got sore misgivings"

"Well, you'd better put some talcolm powder on them then!!"



As for On the Buses, all my daughter and I can think of is 'how on EARTH did any woman fancy that bus conductor. He was VILE! And Reg Varney - he was about 45! Thank goodness modern women have more taste!

[Steve]

Infamy, infamy ..... they've all got it in for me !

[Limehouse]

Phillip,

Yes, Con O'Neill was terrific in Telstar. I didn't know that story about the rent boy being found dead. I knew Joe was homosexual (of course, the show made that perfectly clear but I knew it anyway) and his temper was legendary but obviously much worse than most could have imagined. He seemed a bit of a tortured soul, as geniuses often are.

Do you remember the film 'Live it Up" starring Heinz?

Limehouse

[George Hutchinson]

Hi Limehouse - yeah, I've got a copy of it. It's awful in many respects but quite charming in a way. It was an England that probably never existed in a time certainly before I did. I met Heinz Burt once and spent a couple of hours sat next to him in a car. He was obnoxious. Odd to think that three of the boys in the 'band' all died within a few years of each other (Steve Marriott, Heinz Burt and David Hemmings) when they were the youngest ones in the movie. Mind you, thinking of it I think most of the people in that film have since died. It was 1963.

PHILIP

[anna]

Hi all,
My chappie Gerry was signed by Joe Meek at his offices just before he died.
Gerry also did a "demo" with the guys who played "Telstar"...it's one of his proudest possessions...Gerry was a bit of a loose cannon and was always skipping school to play his guitar.Fancying his chances,and it being the
60's,he went off to Meeks offices with his mate.Meek came back to the office,while the boys were standing outside and fancied Gerry's mate,who didn't fancy Meek and legged it.Gerry stayed,chatted to Meek and played for him.The demo followed and Meek gave Gerry money to kit himself out and phoned Gerry's mum to explain things to her!!!Gerry is always talking about it...think he said the offices were dingy.....have to ask him again.
Talking of groups singing about Jack the Ripper.I was flicking channels late one night and saw a Confessions film....Holiday camp rep setting. Robin Askwith formed a group called "Kipper" who sang a song about Jack the Ripper.
I love the Carry-On's,Confessions,On the Busses....love looking at the 70's settings,seems like yesterday.....you do notice the difference with the amount of people and cars and the nice shops etc.Different world than today...know which one I prefer.

[anna]

PS....What a great picture Philip..
I can always remember liking Sutch as a child whenever my parents watched the boring election programmes, he added a certain something to the occasion don't 'ya think!!!
As you have probably guessed, I am not a child of the 60's, but can indeed remember the winter of '63.....John F Kennedy and the Beatles..so the song goes( Life in a Northern Town)....I had measles.
I have been with Gerry for some years so he has taught me about Dylan(mostly) and other 60's facts.....which I can't remember.

[Graham]

Hi Philip

A mate of mine recalls seing Heinz somewhere in Birmingham way back in the 1960's, and he swears that Heinz was 'miming' his bass-playing to someone behind the scenery! Wouldn't doubt it, either!

"Telstar" was No 1 at the time I had my very first girl-friend...aaaahhhhh!

Cheers,

Graham

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi Philip

I enjoyed seeing the photograph. Great stuff. Many thanks!

Chris

[George Hutchinson]

Hi Graham

That wouldn't surprise me. Heinz didn't play on the Tornados actual recordings, and most of his early vocals were actually not him either. Both bass and vocals were done by Dave Adams.

PHILIP

[Limehouse]

Hi Limehouse - yeah, I've got a copy of it. It's awful in many respects but quite charming in a way. It was an England that probably never existed in a time certainly before I did. I met Heinz Burt once and spent a couple of hours sat next to him in a car. He was obnoxious. Odd to think that three of the boys in the 'band' all died within a few years of each other (Steve Marriott, Heinz Burt and David Hemmings) when they were the youngest ones in the movie. Mind you, thinking of it I think most of the people in that film have since died. It was 1963.

PHILIP

Here is a link to a clip. Dosen't look much like Heinz is playing that guitar! My, but he was a pretty boy wasn't he? No wonder poor Joe fancied him.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Udzd87FMDuQ

There is a family story that when I was 5, my dad was working on the garden of a posh house in Buckhurst Hill, Essex (he got lucrative gardening jobs from his main job as a milkman) and I was 'helping him out'. The owner of the house came out with drinks and started to chat to me. He had heard me singing. He asked my dad if I went to stage school! No, dad said, she's just a little show off! Anyway, this chap asked if I could appear in a film he was hoping to make. My dad was a bit suspicious, but it turned out to be a genuine offer. Dad said yes, but mum said 'no way'. Anyway, before any decision could be made mum had a massive stroke and our family was plunged into a rather long crisis. I never got to make the film and don't even remember any of this happening, except for mum's stroke. My brother (8 years older than me, swears the film was 'Live it Up'.

[Graham]

Hi Limehouse!

Looking at the YouTube clip I'd say Heinz wasn't singing, either! If that isn't miming, I dunno what is!

What a shame about your close brush with stardom! Who knows what this might have led to? But family comes before fame, every time.

A bloke I worked with years and years back played bass for various local bands around Brum, and just happened to answer an ad in Melody Maker asking for bass-players to audition as session musicians. He auditioned, and got the job as bass-player in The Overlanders, a 'synthetic' group formed by a record-company to make a cover of 'Michelle' by The Beatles. A short time later the record was at No 1 and I don't think my acquaintance even played on it! Anyway, he milked his sudden fame for all it was worth and I believe he now runs a bar in Nashville. Bloody good luck to him, I say!

I'm close to retirement and still waiting to be discovered....sniff.

Cheers,

Graham

[George Hutchinson]

These are great stories! I'm loving this thread.

Limehouse - I would be surprised if the film WAS 'Live It Up', as there's no small kids in it from what I remember. Maybe you were going to be written in?!

My dad saw the film at the cinema in London when it came out. I think it was supporting the Norman Wisdom film 'A Stitch In Time'.

Anna - does hubby still have the demo recording? The Joe Meek Appreciation Society would be very keen in getting hold of a copy, I'm sure. It's 15 years since I left them but I guess they have a website.

Who remembers Meek's group THE MOONTREKKERS? They did NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE which was banned by the BBC. The lead guitarist, Gary LePort, buys old records off me sometimes.

Whilst I remember - if you listen to the original 1963 recording of JACK THE RIPPER and not any of Sutch's later versions, he doesn't actually sing the words 'Mary Kelly' at all. I do wonder if he had even heard of her at that stage. He just mumbles something and it sounds like 'Red Blood'. However, I have footage of him from a couple of years later doing it live and he's definitely yelling 'Mary Kelly' by then. Maybe being name-specific was thought to be a step too far by Decca?

PHILIP

[Graham]

Hi Philip,

What old records do you deal in, mate? Anything in particular, or everything in general?

Do you ever have any REALLY OLD blues 78's through you hands?

Cheers,

Graham

[George Hutchinson]

I deal ONLY in 78s, Graham.

Nice try about the 20s-30s blues. I know how much they sell for. I know someone who bought one for several thousand pounds two years ago.

The answer is 'no'. I sometimes get a Billie Holiday or Bessie Smith, but if you're looking for the likes of Blind Lemon Jefferson Wee-Wee, you're barking up the wrong tree at Satan's crossroads!

PHILIP