Bloody hell..... Half a century has passed....... I feel rocks... Seems it was only a few years ago I turned 40, remember it so well...... NOT!!
Bumped into an old friend, after many years, so many years ago in fact that there was not even a mobile phone, computer or CD around.
What on earth...how did we manage?
The telex machine ....flimsy yellow paper with Braille embossed hole type things...had to get the right dot onto the right one on the machine or else...heaven forbid you would have to do it again.
I am trying to remember if I actually operated a typewriter even? I remember Patrick van Blerk offering me a job and asking “Can you type? “ Ah.......NO...hence no job offer...
Felt overwhelmed by a typewriter for goodness sake. What a ninny.
I recall 8 tracks (Springbok Hits Covers) we were on our own South Africa was in those days.
I used to walk home safely not worried about who would harass me; I in fact used to be the person that scared everyone on their walk home.
Saturday Night Fever, I thought John Travolta was hot....I still think he is hot...better with age our John.
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells, Jethro Tull , Golden earring and their ONE HIT- Radar Love, Donna Summer, Pink Floyd – Dark side of the moon, Barry Manilow – The Bee Gees ( the reason the sang so high is that their pants were so tight. Boney M (first time around....I loved Ma Baker!!!!) Giorgio Moroder – Nights in white satin (Dance Mix one whole side of a vinyl record) hopefully you had a fella to slow dance with.
Miss South Africa, Miss Africa South (can you believe it!!) Now days no one even notices only once it’s happened..
.
Waiting for my comics and Fanzines from CNA...Pink, Melody Maker, NME, Smash Hits, Top 40,
The Clockwork Orange Novel (having to check the back for the meanings of the words)
Glenda Kemp and the Python, Granny Leigh, Divine’s appearance at Zipps, The Wilds and being able to walk there without being raped, Black Beauty being banned as they thought it was about a woman....can you believe it!!!
David Cassidy on his horse was proudly shared on the back of my bedroom door. I loooooooooooooooved him he was SO handsome... Whew!!
Soon replaced him with David Bowie (T.G.)
Words like dinkum, none of your beeswax, graunch, as true’s nunu’s, don’t bite me shit, hang your broekies on the line if it was half past nine, china, checking people skeef,
The things that kept us occupied...a piece of board with nails that we did patterns with in wool,
Jaffles on the stove, Over’s ( kugel term for having people over) stencils, Scooby doo’s, Gonks, Autograph Books, Yo- Yo’s( Coke, Fanta and Sprite , Marbles and gons, Baby Doll shoes, Jelly Baby Shoes, The Lemon Squeezer Club @ The Holy Cross Convent – Linden( regular fights there with the Lebanese and Portuguese) Up all night playing Monopoly, Wiggie Boards ,
16mm movies ( The Mod Squad, The Persuaders, The Partridge Family, Carry on Movies....Radio...(.Men from the Ministry, Mind Of Tracey Dark, Squad Cars...they prowl the empty streets of night on foot, living with crime and violence.....these are the men of Squad Cars, 3 wise men, Clacky Mckey, John Berks,
5FM ( when it was a rock station.....what it is now still saddens me)
Esme Everaad, Peter Lotus, Alan Pierce, Capital Radio, LM radio, Pop Shop, Biltong and Pot roast,
Nooit vir nooit (still going strong he must be Riaan Crywagens age by now)
Trips to Durban, the Margate Hotel, Surf Board’s in resin and silver for our necks, Hearts in half to give to our love interest,
Brownies, think I scored a busy bee badge...
. Fondues (getting drunk and putting raw meat in your mouth by mistake
) Mongolian Barbeque Restaurants (way before their time .....Good idea now though!!)
No 5 in Commissioner Street JHB, Joy Music in Jeppe Street
Fontana Chicken at Highpoint after the clubs,
Thursday night out for dinner as it was the maids night off,
Tony Factors,
When food tasted like food especially tomatoes, Stuff in brown paper and not plastic, Orange Juice or Milk at school,
TV launching in 1976 with Loving, DALLAS, one day English followed by Afrikaans and the next day Afrikaans followed by English. Adrian Steed, Michael De Morgan, Martin Locke, Malcolm Gooding, David Gresham ( Still going strong with his record company today ) Riaan Crywagen ( he has not aged he must be about 300 years old by now... we were so excited about the box we used to watch the test pattern.
The Rand Easter Show when it was on Empire Road...holiday jobs, .Incense, Moola as in from Moola’s Clothing, Silver jewellery, roller coaster rides, last bus home, a snog, connecting with the love interest and friends so you could show him off...
Drive- Ins , Hillbrow, Carlton Hotel and the Ice Rink, Cafe Wein and Mivami in Hillbrow, The original Cranks, Rumours in Rocky Street, DV8, Blue Beat, Metal Beat, The Chelsea Hotel, The Oxford Hotel , The Base, Hyde Park Hotel, Ambulance, Plum Crazy, Branch Office, Q’s, Zipps, Scope Magazine ( stars in strategic places) Ritas, Decodance, Mandy’s. Jimmy’s, Leo Sayer, Stiff Records (if it ain’t stiff it ain’t worth a Fuck)... Black and White Photo book comics (Sister Louise, Beau Brummell),
Avoiding PT at School (succeeding) Pulling Weeds out if the field (punishment for smoking!!)
NO designer clothing? No link to the outside world, where did we hear about things? Does anyone remember? Fascinates me just thinking about it.
Rabbitt, Johnny Kongas, Alan Parsons project, Black Sabbath, Hilary, Cornelia, 4 Jacks and a Jill, The Prophet, Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Kiss, David Bowie, Bad Company, Talk Talk, Gary Numan, The Cars, The Cure, BIG Chappies , Fluorescent Clothing, Mixed tapes, Picnics, Hitch Hiking, Gold Dollar Cigs, Lucky Strike ( 1st time around), Bean Bags, , Legwarmers ( URGH) Rodriquez, Shawn Phillips, and I even had a banned album.....Spanish Train – Chris de Burgh ...............bwahahahaha...That’s a laugh Chris De Burgh.... he sang a song about the devil !!!
Cliff Richard did Devil Woman around the same time...that sailed through the piracy board.
When I used to submit music to the SABC, I experienced on a number of occasions a compass being scratched across the track to make it impossible to play it.......YES.... those were the days.
Eating brisket, samp and beans with Lizzie in her room sitting on her bed on bricks,
turtle necks that hid the love bites, my first kiss, my first French kiss, my end of the world is nigh when my teenage relationships ended. My father’s cars, , the long Island iced teas (could not deal with them now) Staying up all night and giggling, sleeping the day away. The Concert in the Park the first time we all mixed (security police were out in full force) Made in China meant cheap,
10 four good buddy CB radio stage with ridiculous names at the Whitehorse Inn, 78’s, 45’s and LP ‘s which cost under R2.00.....seven singles we could get one song and if we liked the act, we would buy the album. Thank god for downloading this trend is back...
I remember dancing around our handbags at dances, but what I most remember is the freedom we had at the hands of apartheid and chances we took in days that were uncertain.
This is to all my friends along the way who I have shared history with, most of who are still in my life today.
Pam Devereux, Steve Harris, Desre Botes, Robyn Curtis, Merope, Kay Thomas, Benjy Mudie, Edith Magnussen, Roddy Quinn, Fiona and Alex Jay, Neil Johnson, Terry Egdal, Sue Olswang, Angie Sanderson....I love you and thanks for all the memories.
Kimo
