ORIGINAL MESSAGE

NAME: Stephen Giles  

DATE: 31 December 2007

CONNECTION WITH QE: Inmate 1957 - 64

Does anyone know what happened to Pew (Martin?) Iller who was in the 6th form around 1964.  He played superb rock n roll piano in our school band - The Konmen.  Who else was in that band?  Well, Dick Newton on vocals, Bruce Garvey on sax, Ned Calvert on guitar (he introduced me to making electric guitars!) and a few others I have long forgotten.

1st REPLY

NAME: Bruce Garvey

DATE: 15 February 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Former pupil 1957-64

Came upon this by chance - yes I'm the Bruce Garvey who used to play the baritone sax - another name was Connor who played the clarinet - you Stephen if I remember correctly played a mean electric guitar - there was also Lennard on guitar as well plus a trombonist and a tenor sax player too.  Haven't played for years but the sax is up in the loft - still a fan of Gerry Mulligan - I believe I had the nickname 'Mad Dan' given to me by 'Winky Winkwort' our very own D-Day veteran.  Also remember whole Latin class being given 100 lines by 'Tiger' Timson in Winky's absence one day because we couldn't (conjugate or decline - can't remember) hic, haec, hoc.

2nd REPLY

NAME: Martyn Day   Then & Now

DATE: 18 February 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Former pupil 1956-63

I remember Colin Lennard!  He was into modern jazz and in particular the drummer Louis Bellson.  We once went to the Royal Festival Hall together to see Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Le Sage, J.J. Johnson and a host of other modernist 'greats' in concert.  He loved it and I managed to keep awake until something better came along.  Eventually it did and it was called 'The Beatles'!  We even swapped guitars.  My new Harmony cello acoustic for his beat-up Guyatone electric plus Selmer 'Little Giant' amp.  We both thought that we had got the best end of the deal.  Hah! How wrong I was.  I am still playing, including Glastonbury a couple of years ago.  The set still includes 'Move It' taught to me by Colin Lennard a million years ago.

3rd REPLY

NAME: Brian Seal

DATE: 14 July 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Former pupil 1957-63

Hi, Steve. [see original message]  A bit late, I know, but have just noticed an entry on Friends Re-united for Martin (blind pugh) Iller.  Quite interesting!

4th REPLY

NAME: Nigel Wood  

DATE: 3rd September 2008

CONNECTION WITH QE: Class 1b of 1957

Bruce [reply 1]: we sat on the same lunch/dinner table in the fourth forms.  I remember you telling us that birds-nest soup contained bird-spit, only in the hubbub I couldn't be sure it was an 'sp' and not an 'sh' you were pronouncing.  I worried about it for years.

One of your recommendations I took up 48 years later (last night, actually, courtesy of Utube!) - it was to watch The Strange World of Gurney Slade.  Incredible stuff it must have been at the time.  Surreal with touches of Hancock and 'ahead of its time' i.e. the run of viewers couldn't cope with it!

Putting on One Way Pendulum (two or three years later) as a QE school play must have been pretty bold.  Wouldn't have happened under E H Jenkins!  [See pic of that year's backstage crew, which includes Nigel]