ORIGINAL MESSAGE
NAME: Stephen Giles
DATE: 27 September 2005
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil, 1957-64
I was amazed to see the picture on Dave Selway- Hoskin's website [no longer available] of the staff at QE in 1961. At last I can put a face to all those characters I have often spoken about to my wife, who went to Northlands, still one of the top schools in Buenos Aires. I wonder how many of those teachers are still alive? I would imagine that few of them would last 5 minutes in the current regime of political correctness and racial equality! I would be interested to hear from any OE's who remember me from that time. I'm still playing guitar 40 years on, in fact I remember doing gigs during my A-levels which I failed miserably.
1st REPLY
NAME: Martyn Day
Then & NowDATE: 04 October 2005
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1956 - 1963
Memory is a cruel mistress. I was at Q.E roughly the same period as you, Stephen, and I also played guitar - but can I remember you? No. The only guitar playing Elizabethan that I can recall is Guy Hewlett and that is only because we played together, very briefly, in a band that was later to evolve into 'Unit 4 plus 2'. Do you remember Concrete and Clay? The lead singer was Tommy Moeller whose brother, later in the 60's, became 'Whistling Jack Smith', a one-hit-wonder with I was Kaiser Bill's Batman. Worst of all, I cannot remember 'Underne House' at all! Are you sure that this actually existed? By the way...I'm still playing and actually gigged at Glastonbury in 2003! Yippee!
2nd REPLY
NAME: Vic Coughtrey
Then & NowDATE: 04 October 2005
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1954-59
Just to repeat my reply to your comments about Underne House back in June, Martyn, it was named after Edward Underne, who was the Rector of Barnet when the School was founded in the 1570s. The Housemaster in our day was the Scripture master 'Poker' Pearse. He was called poker because he glided about in a very erect fashion with a sanctimonious expression on his face. Surely you remember Poker?
DATE: 06 October 2005
CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1957-64
Hi Martin, your name rings a bell. It looks as if you were in the year above me, so you may have known Ned Calvert or Calverd, he made an electric guitar and showed it at the Hobbies Exhibition around 1961, after which he brought it to our house in Borehamwood and convinced my Dad that he should make me one! I had a group with Mick Allen, who stayed down a year, Dave Ward and for a while John Bass. I also played in the Starliners for a few gigs deputising for their guitarist Steve Hounslow who was ill. I don't know what happened to him, he could play a lot of Chet Atkins stuff. Highlights of course from that period were seeing Lord Sutch & the Savages at a church hall in Barnet which I think has long since been pulled down.
4th REPLY
NAME: Vic Coughtrey Then & NowDATE: 06 October 2005
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1954-59
Stephen, do you mean Bob Hounslow? He was keen on jazz guitar. I went with him once to a concert by a band which included Herb Ellis. We were both very disappointed because Ellis didn't take a single solo all evening. The Screaming Lord Sutch concert was in the Assembly Room in Union Street, which was also home to Barnet Jazz Club. There is now a doctor's surgery on the site.
5th REPLY
NAME: Martyn Day Then & NowDATE: 06 October 2005
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1956 - 1963
Blimey! The Starliners! [reply 3]. My memory might be a bit fluffy but I do remember that band because I played rhythm guitar with them on a couple of occasions. They were a great outfit. I can even remember some of the songs we practised AND the chords....Trambone, Image (very jazzy), Sleep Walk and Caravan. It all ended in tears for me unfortunately because after one practice my guitar fell off the car roof rack. Somewhere on the A1, between Potters Bar and Brookmans Park, it got driven over by a bus! I didn't lose too much sleep at the time because was only a single pick- up job that I had bought from a junk shop for about £5. It was not until years later that I discovered that it was an early Fender Broadcaster, the forerunner of the Telecaster and probably worth a fortune!
DATE: 25 February 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1960-1967
Mr Giles! [original message & reply 3] I am reasonably sure you played at my local youth club (remember youth clubs?) about '64. If I am right your band were supporting the pathetic youth club band - but actually blew them off the stage. I think you had a square guitar - long before I had heard of Bo Diddley - and even lay on your back on the stage while playing lead (Hank never did that!). I could not believe my 14 year old eyes and have been trying to emulate ever since. Now have about 30 guitars - but still can not play as well as you did that night - hope you are still pluckin'.
DATE: 25 February 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1957-64
Allan, my word what a memory you have! I'm thinking that it may have been a year or two later than 1964 if I was using my square guitar - in Borehamwood perhaps? It was either a band called Ogz Wumpies, with a singer called Og Corbett or it's successor known by various names, with a singer called Linda. Can you give me a clue as to where the gig was held?
DATE: 26 February 2013
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1960-1967
The square box Gig? Could well have been later Stephen. I think it was New Barnet, somewhere down Lyonsdown Road - Somerset Road maybe. Don't remember a female singer (surely I would have) ... so I guess Ogz Wumpies it was. (Now how could I forget a name like that!}. I distinctly remember the second act lead singer standing nervously next to me (attired in a brand new powder blue drainpipe bumfreezer cloth button suit - with Billy J Kramer split level side slit trouser cuffs) turning a whiter shade of pale as the organiser told him "You are going to have to pull something out of the bag after that !" That's when I decided to be a bedroom guitarist and not put myself under that kind of pressure. I swear every word is true. (Now where the hell did I leave my car keys?).
Then & NowDATE: 17 August 2017
CONNECTION WITH QE: Pupil 1956 - 1963
12 years ago, in October 2005, memories of various beat groups that some of us were involved with during our time at Q.E appeared in this thread. One group whose name popped up were the Starliners - a rather superior guitar instrumental group that both Stephen Giles and I briefly played with. My contribution to Thread 13 was a memory of some of the songs that we played like Trambone, Caravan, Sleepwalk and the elusive Image. (I am still unsure if it is pronounced 'Im-Age' or 'Im-Arg'). Over the years I forget the tune completely and was unable to find copy of the record anywhere to remind me - until last week when it suddenly turned up on EBay as a HMV 45 single. (A complete bargain at £2.45!). Hearing the record again after 50 years was like stepping back through a time portal to a period in my life when I was just 18, leaving Q.E and starting out on the business of growing up. Not a completely successful exercise. Image is coming back to me now. The original and best-known version published in 1961 was by Hank Levine. It was co vered again in 1965 by Alan Haven as the theme music for the sci-fi film Night Caller. Usual story - mutant humanoids from outer space kidnap young Earth females in order to interbreed and save their species from extinction. Sounds like an early version of The Hand Maid's Tale. Starliners fans might like to check it out on YouTube.
DATE: 25 August 20017
CONNECTION WITH QE: pupil 1957-64
Funny that you should mention The Starliners again Martyn, I was talking about those days with my wife recently. I remember that Steve Hounslow, their lead guitarist, could play Lullabye of BirdlandChet Atkins style which I could never get my fingers around! I wonder what happened to them?