It was fifty years ago today (or thereabouts): Martin Kelly's birthday knees up, Magdalen Arms
Category: Music

This was a gig to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of Martin Kelly, long-time Skittle Alley recidivist and one of Abingdon's premier hedonists (it's strange how many of them are associated with the Skittle Alley).  Martin was formerly landlord of the Horse and Jockey on Bath Street, the birthplace and spiritual home of the Skittle Alley, a loose collective of musicians, promoters and, above all, drinkers.  Having Martin run a pub was a little akin to having a wolf running a sheep pen, but it was fun while it lasted.  The food fight on the final night of the Horse and Jockey is the stuff of legend.  More recently Martin has taken to running the scurrilous Skittle Alley website as well as similarly scatalogical myspace page.

I'd spoken to promoter/soundman Jamie on the phone and found, in true Skittle Alley fashion, that the gig was already running late before I got there.  I picked up my sister and headed for the Magdalen Arms.

The Rooster Band were up first.  The line-up is variable but always includes singer/guitarist Innes and tonight also included his harmonica player.  Previously there's been enough of them to start a Sunday League football team.  They play raucous blues, delivered with a Tom Waits snarl.  'Love in Vain' is among the numbers aired tonight.

Then it was the Mark Bosley Band.  I knew time was already slipping away so I jettisoned the more soporific/melancholic numbers which was also in keeping with the party vibe.  That accounted for about half the set(!)...that left the Wobble-esque 'I Know Why You Don't Call Me' (which I'm doing in B instead of A nowadays, it's a fraction easier for me to hear what I'm singing and thus pitch slightly better), old song 'Mr Siddley's Shop' (a Bolan-like romp dubbed 'Mrs Miggins' Pie Shop' by Graham) and mutated Velvets/Sisters cover 'Sister Ray' (epic and rocking, or as epic and rocking as you can get with a voice as polite as mine)...it was a short, sweet set.  Graham played the fretless again and Nick's drumming was back to its commanding best.  Collectively I think we acquitted ourselves pretty well.

Then it was Superloose, strange 21st century skiffle...the vocals are shared between Nigel and Emma.  Emma also plays what I'd previously thought was a tea chest bass but what is actually called a bindi (not sure how to spell that).  It only cost about £2.80 to make apparently, even I could afford one.  I think Kate managed to escape making her vocal debut, aided no doubt by the slipping timings.  There was welcome banjo and lap steel sounds from the twin towers of Johns Potter and West.  Some of the songs are imported from the Roosters' back catalogue (Nigel was a member).  It's always been apparent that Emma's a fine singer but I've been surprised and impressed at the smoothness of Nigel's singing since he's emerged from the vocal shadow of Innes.

I was back on stage playing bass with Twizz Twangle after that.  Had he been born in the middle ages, Twizz would have been a court jester, or would have been hailed as a prophet or possibly burnt at the stake for being a witch.  There's certainly something otherworldly about the man and his music.  He's also a great rock'n'roll showman.  Nick was back on the drum stool again.  It was another short set: 'Boyband' (which featured Twizz reassembling his trumpet for what seemed like hours while Nick and I cycled through the same two chord riff), 'Fig O'Splendour' (which needs extending), 'Monkeydog' (greatest hit) and 'Chorus of Bees' (which I screwed up again; at least I'm consistent).  You can get away with anything playing with Twizz.  And I do.  We kept the instrumental wig-outs at the end of songs down more than normal in an attempt to claw some time back.

Then it was the man himself, Mr Kelly the birthday boy.  Back in the day Martin used to join me on stage at the Horse and Jockey, normally to sing the same two songs: 'Panic' by the Smiths and '20th Century Boy' by T Rex.  Once we experimented with expanding our repertoire to include 'Shakespeare's Sister' and 'Get It On' but it didn't work as well.  We were going to do the same two songs but Martin unselfishly stuck with just 'Panic' which he sang lead on (I think we used to sing the whole thing as a duet back in the day) in order to leave Redox more time.  I was mildly relieved that Bolan got the chop as the high notes provide something of a challenge to this baritone.  Martin was on good form.  I played Twizz's Gibson acoustic as the sole accompaniment.  He told me afterwards that we were very well received.  I'm pleased about that.  I told him we'll do Bolan at his 60th, assuming we're both stil capable.

The stage was then cleared for headliners, the Mighty Redox (recently forced into a minor name change).  They're a fantastically consistent band with Nick and Graham providing the backbone and Phil and Sue the focus at the front...they played a typically high-octane, high-energy set, exactly what's required for a party.  'Eternity', 'Kicking Down the Doors', 'Bulaburra', 'Dan Dakka Dakka' with what must be a hugely fatiguing bass line and the funky 'MTV' all chug along at quite a pace.  Graham stuck with the fretless bass.  Like everybody else, their set was shortened a little.

Many good folks attended this beery soiree: Pete 'the Legend' Fryer and Liz, Andy King, Jeremy, Matt Sewell, Jim Davies, Wittstock godmothers Trish and Sue, Sophie, Phil 'the Garve' Garvey, the lovely Fiona, Steve, Silver Phil...Matt said he went to Portabello Market the other day and couldn't get Redox's song out of his head ('Bulaburra' mentions the market much)...

So, congratulations, Martin.  Here's to the next fifty years...