willy j.

But Tony you're not living up here in Bedlington, watching it go down the drain as all the investment gets pumped into Ashington time after time. It's ok for you and Symp living down in the smoke, but you're not feeling the pain that we who live here feel. You need to step back and let the people of Bedlington make their own choices. What we don't need is pontificating outsiders telling us we're not intelligent enough to decide what's best for Bedlington. You actually insult everyone whose views happen to be different from yours.

In reply to Tonyp re: 'What's this advertising got to do with Bedlington.' It has everything to do with Bedlington,. UKIP are now the main opposition to Labour in Northumberland. And you will just have to get used to the fact that UKIP are now a recognised political party. There are many people going to vote UKIP in Wansbeck, and particularly in Bedlington on the 7th May. People now have a choice, and they are entitled to that choice.

Maggie the late night café opposite the Central Station was called 'BOWERS'. All the groups in the area would congregate there on Fri/Sat/Sun nights after gigs. Lots of 'groupies' too.

Yes, Ian Mclagan is one of many legends who graced the boards. He will certainly be missed. Funny you should mention LA, I was there for the second time just a few years ago. We were staying in Annaheim and visited 'The House Of Blues', I had my grandson with me and we saw that we had missed Joe Bonamassa by 8 months, we were both gutted. He's was only 10 at the time, but I have him converted to the blues/rock scene, he's already a Bonamassa disciple. But hell, that's what you do for your offspring, you educate them about the virtues of good music. We were also giving him an insight into how exciting the USA can be, and just like me and the wife, he loved every minute of it.

Will check that one out Ovalteeny. It's great to hear about people still enjoying, and making the effort to go to live gigs, One thing I will say, when you mentioned the quality of the musicians in Bonnie Raitt's band, you will always see this when big stars go out on the road. From Rod Stewart to Tina Turner, all of them will only take the very best musicians with them, they can't afford not to. They never hit the tour circuit with 2nd class musicians, it wouldn't be in their best interests, they have a reputation to protect. However, it makes seeing them even better for the likes of us, we can sit back and enjoy ALL the talent up there on that stage.

Great stuff Ovalteeny, keep going to the gigs, honestly there is no substitute for live music. I must share an experience I had at the City Hall a couple of years ago. A few years before that, I had discovered a singer/songwriter/ guitarist called Joe Bonamassa. Collected all his CD's and they were brilliant, I had waited 30 years for someone like this to turn up. But that wasn't the end of it, I was lucky to see him live at the city hall, and he absolutely blew me away. To see so much talent in one man made me sick, I was so jealous. Seriously though, if anyone reading this ever gets the chance to see him live, do it, no matter what the cost. And if you are also a musician, you will truly be amazed by the quality of his band.

I haven't heard that Tull LP Maggie, is it one of their later ones, cos there were quite a few. The reason I put 'This Was' on here is because it was their first, and we used to play 5 of the track on it. Some of those singles you mentioned have stood the test of time. Just goes to show that music is eternal.

Maggie you must enlighten me on this one (Songs from The Wood), sounds interesting. Being a Prog-Rocker you may find this strange, but you must understand that as a teenager in the early 60's, all kinds of new music was influencing us, as it probably did you. The first LP I ever bought was by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders. There you have it, youth was changing. How about you?

If that's the case KL, I must start drinking more whiskey. Think I'll struggle with the sandpaper though. Agree with you, a fantastic voice.

There was a reason why our deep mines couldn't compete with foreign coal though Symp. Most countries subsidised their coal industries on a grand scale, at the time of the strike Germany was subsidising their industry to the tune of £20 per ton. We all knew there was no way we could compete with that. The product that was imported from farther afield, ie; South Africa, South America and Australia was much inferior to ours, but the price was king. Their coal was very dirty and high in ash content, the anthracite from SA was a million miles away from the anthracite produced in Wales for quality. But unfortunately, there was a concerted effort by the government, not so much to dismantle the coal industry, but to dismantle the NUM. The only thing that was wrong with the deep mining industry was that it was seriously in need of modernising and streamlining to bring it into the 20th century and make it fit for purpose. But to compete with other countries, who were subsidising their coal industries, would have needed to be addressed. But the Tories were never going to support a 'working class' nationalised industry who had destroyed them once before. Unfortunately something got in the way, and the Tories had planned for it ever since 1974, when the NUM brought down their Edward Heath Government. They were determined this would never happen again, and in Thatcher they had the perfect champion. Like her or not, she had more balls than the rest of the Tory party put together. They knew that with a firebrand like Scargill, this was their chance, and they took it. It was never about dismantling the coal industry, that was only a bi-product, it was about dismantling the power of the NUM. And as far as Scargill is concerned, it was never about miners jobs, it was about beating Thatcher. Your final question was 'who won'. Well, no one won, the miners lost their lively-hoods, and the country lost a vital energy recourse that to this day we have never recovered from.

Correct Adam, all it would have taken would have been a 'National Ballot'. And of course a sensible negotiator, which rules Arthur Scargill out. I don't know who Gormley preferred as his successor, but with a little research it shouldn't be hard to find out. However, it doesn't really matter now as it's all in the past anyway.

Your balanced opinion Sym, I do agree with you that the NUM were always willing to negotiate when uneconomical pits were earmarked for closure. However, that was only ever their attitude under Joe Gormley. Under Scargill there was never any chance of sensible negotiations. Thatcher and Scargill went to war with each other, a war that they had both hoped would come, and it did because thatcher set a trap, and scargill took the bait. The issue of the closure of 27 pit's was only a vehicle to create a conflict between them. A conflict the miners didn't want, the Northeast NUM voted against strike, and Nottingham refused to be bullied out of work by a firebrand like Scargill. Maintaining that they would only abide by a 'National Ballot', which was the law at the time. Only Nottingham stood up against their crazy President, but Scargill got his war, and he lost. Instead of 'Negotiating' as you said, even if it meant losing the 27 pits in the mysterious document, he brought the whole industry down. And along with it, a lot of good men and their families. And for what, to see if he was tougher than Thatcher, which he wasn't. Well, was it worth it? I have a different balanced opinion than you, in my opinion Scargill never really cared about the miners, what he really cared about was beating Thatcher.

KL Roger has put Family back together again over the last year, but as yet I have only seen gig's advertised in London. Don't know if he is going to take them out on the road, or what the line-up will be, but he is awesome to watch live.

Don't hold your breath on that one Reedy, there is no way they can 'Massage' the figures on that one. Well done Alan Henderson for wising a lot of people up. If they do answer in the Leader it will be interesting. However, I would imagine that they will consult Labours 'Ministry of Misinformation' at Head Office before they attempt that.

Spot on Keith, 'Weavers Answer' was/still is a Classic Prog Rock number, we used to play it at every gig, some people would ask for it again, so we often got to play it twice, wonderful Family were strange, but packed with very talented musicians. If you can remember, the bass player, Rick Gretch went on to play with Clapton, Winwood and Baker in 'Blind Faith'. How bloody good was he? Keep the names coming this could be really interesting.

Sorry GGG, that one hadn't scanned properly. The one below is the complete letter.

GGG have you read the letter in the News Post Leader this week, if not I've attached it. This guy certainly puts the wonderfully misinformed Mr. Campbell in his place. Best letter I've read in the News Post Labour.....OOPS I meant Leader, in a long time. He certainly knows his subject, and has crammed it full of genuine facts. Not like the 'Earl of Battenburg', Mr Campbell. sorry I couldn't resist that one, Just goes to show though that the good people of Blyth have been represented by a doughnut for these past 27 years. Anyway, I think this letter puts him right where he belongs, in a wilderness with likeminded lying, ignorant, misinformed politicians.

What about these bands..............a pocket history of Prog-Rock, and there's loads more. Can you name them? The finished list should be fantastic. I mean proper Prog-Rock bands, not stupid ones like The Pink Fairies etc.

Here's one for you Symptons. (attached file)

HPW, Blodwyn Pig were a blues band (slightly on the heavy side), an excellent band born out of the foolish actions of the Jethro Tull management team. They sacked Mick Abrahams because he was taking the limelight away from Ian Anderson. In the days (60's) when good lead players were becoming icons to the prog-rock faithful, they dumped him because they wanted the band to be based around Anderson. Mick then formed 'Blodwyn Pig', an excellent band who unfortunately didn't go on to achieve the fame that their talent deserved. Their line up was: Mick Abrahams......Lead guitar & vocals Andy Pyle...............Bass Ron Berg................Drums Jack Lancaster.......Flute, Violin, Tenor Sax, Baritone Sax, Soprano Sax. Their 1st Album was called 'Blodwyn Pig....Ahead Rings Out'. The album cover had a pigs head on it with a cigarette hanging out of it's mouth, shades on with earphones. This was a very talented band, just wish they had gone on longer.

Symptoms you are quite right about the uni circuit, it was very unique in it's day, not quite the same now though. The mere fact that you could have three bands of that quality (Pig, Free & Timebox) on the same bill would be impossible to equal nowadays. We only ever did one tour of the uni circuit in 1970, but two of the gigs stand out in my memory because of the fantastic audiences. One was Dundee University, and the other Cambridge, which was held in Wisbech (hope I spelled that one right) the audience were terrific. Night's like that you never forget. The uni students of that time were well into the Prog-Rock scene. Glad you were there.

Nice one Keith, thanks for that. I've Amazon-ed the CD, looking forward to putting it through the Bose surround kit. If you've got Sky Arts you can get 2 excellent programs with Jeff Beck. From catch-up Search just type in his name, you will get 'Jeff Beck At Ronnie Scots' and 'Jeff Beck Talks Music'. Both great shows, and well worth a watch.

Keith you're spot on about Jeff Beck, my apologies for missing him out. Another legend, and he is still playing just as well, if not better today that he was in those days. I recorded a gig he did recently at 'Ronnie Scotts' on Sky Arts 1, he was superb, and so were his band. If I'm not mistaken his young daughter is on bass, and she was also superb. He had Joss Stone as one of his guest singers....................lucky git. Will hunt down the Roger Waters 'What God Wants' piece. He can do no wrong for me. Can't help you with the members of Fridge Mercuryg, It was a long time ago, but I will see what I can find out

Watched it Maggie, brilliant, he will forever be a legend and an inspiration to all bass players.

Sorry guys, the proper title of the 'Cellar Club' was 'The Lampglass Music Arts Cellar Club'. I had to go back and dig out the cutting from the 'Blyth News' from that week in 1970 to get that right. I think that Marshall stack of mine has badly affected my brain.