My view on life by Malcolm Smith

In this feature a series of questions are put to members of the Group and their thoughts are recorded for the benefit/amusement/interest of other members. Everyone is asked the same questions and asked to submit answers either as a sentence or short paragraph

This article features Malcolm Smith

What is your favourite food
Easy one to answer. Curry is my passion closely followed by egg and chips

What is your favourite drink
I like real ales but not particularly strong ones - Pick of the pints at the moment is 'Shropshire Gold' bitter

What do you like most about people
The general decency that people possess - it's there in most of them

What do you like least about people
There are not many of them but I hate and ignore cynics - they have a view on life that seems to prefer finding fault with anything that's good and that can't be healthy - they are to be avoided because they can't or don't want to change. Next in line are bad manners - I happen to think bad mannered folk are in the minority though

Who was the biggest influence on your childhood
There have been many - I would single out my old Uncle Bob McKay - He suffered as a result of his army service. He served in the 'Gordon Highlanders' and was proud that he did his bit for peace. He also vowed that he would pay the wedding costs for his three nephews when they eventually married - he kept his word and paid for all three weddings and sadly died soon after I married my wife Kay

Whom, in the public arena, do you admire the most and why
Alex Salmond the first minister of Scotland - he's leading the fight for Scottish independence. He is  an exceptional and gifted speaker and would easily convince anyone that black was white. He could win any argument with his political opponents - of course he's completely wrong but it doesn't alter the fact that he's a great speaker

Who influenced you most in the field of music
Ronan O'Rahilly is my first thought because he founded 'Radio Caroline' and gave youngsters the music that they wanted and in so doing unlocked government control of what we listened to - as for recording artists here's a sample, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, The Rolling Stones, The Shadows. It's so broad I could go on and on

Name three records that mean a lot to you
That'll be the Day, Pretty Woman and Can't get no Satisfaction spring to mind. Asking for three is unfair because there are hundreds that I could choose for all sorts of reasons

Name three of your favourite television programmes
Last of the Summer Wine because it's daft and set in terrific scenery and two from the distant past, The Likely Lads and Top of the Pops in the sixties

Any radio programmes that particularly appeal to you
Sounds of the Sixties

What are your hobbies
I like anything to do with the canal system or should I say inland waterways, next are photography, walking and heritage matters

Do you have a favourite sport
Football, golf and formula1

Any sport you don't like
Yes, cricket, I'd rather watch paint dry or eat worms

What do you think of politics
I think it's great that we have the freedom so speak on just about any subject and I value the rights that I have that were hard won by past politicians and statesmen that cared about the people and the country rather than themselves as appears to be the case today

Do you have a favourite possession
Not really though I do regret not having medals that members of the family earned in the fight for freedom - they were in my care and I managed to lose them. I hope they may turn up one day

Name your favourite holiday destination
Everyone will think I'm daft - The canal between Wolverhampton and Birmingham stands out as a great holiday - it symbolises great engineering, architecture and history I've travelled extensively on the canals and they are now a great part of Britain's heritage

What advice would you give to others
Enjoy life with your family, respect others that may not share your point of view and avoid cynics

Name something you would like to do that would benefit others if you had the money
Open a sanctuary for donkeys and horses that have either been mistreated or have come to retirement age

What did you think of your education
I just couldn't be bothered - something I very much regret. I still remember my English master saying "You boy are an idiot" He was right of course

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Record of the Week

Record of the week

Each month I'll place a YouTube link on the 'Blog' of a favourite record and a few words about why it's a favourite

If you have a particular record that you would like to feature here then just let me know the name and why you consider it a favourite

'Caroline' - The Fortunes

Here's one of my favourites

This was the theme tune for 'Radio Caroline'. A Pirate Radio Station dedicated to popular music. For the first time ever, popular music was broadcast all day, thanks to the vision of those backing the Caroline project. Gone were the days of trying to listen to the only option prior to Caroline, Radio Luxembourg, which was plagued with fade due to atmospheric conditions associated with 208mw.

Did you know that in 1964 the BBC broadcast only 45 minutes of pop music a day? No wonder we all became rebels

Radio Caroline changed the UK governments views on music for youngsters, which appeared to have been controlled or regulated until pirate radio started a musical revolution

read about Radio Carolines history

and even more about 'Caroline' from Wikipedia

one of a number of ships to broadcast 'Radio Caroline'

Submitted by Malcolm Smith

'Beat the Intro'

'Beat the Intro'

Sundays at 11.00am

Click the pic and try the quiz

Trudi and Lorraine thought a musical quiz featuring the type of music that may have been played in the 'Crystal' would be a good idea to stimulate interest. Their idea came to fruition and 'Beat the Intro' was born and became an integral part of the Groups 'Facebook' page.

Has it been a success? In many ways it has, although we would like to see more folk taking part, however there is no doubting it becomes a regular Sunday morning challenge and there's some good natured banter involved as well

How we encourage people to join in the fun!

Test your musical knowledge and have a go next Sunday

Mystery Island

Mystery Island

I call it mystery island because I don't know it's proper name and I refer to it here because it evokes powerful memories of my late teens and early twenties

It's the island that I usually feature when compiling the short video clips for 'Beat the Intro'  it has a special place in my memory box because I do associate it with the Crystal and one time in particular - see previous post for the story

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You might have noticed I've added a car to the picture recently and if you are knowledgeable about cars from the sixties you might have recognised it as an Austin Westminster. The picture I used is not my car but it is the same model and colour scheme - I do have one photo of me in the car but sadly it's the only one left of many that were taken

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My photo collection' such as it was, suffered somewhat when my mother moved home and a lot of stuff was thrown away or lost in the process

The Westminster was a fast and powerful car with lots of extras and leather seats to add that touch of class, or so I thought. It even had a radio that worked, not very well but never mind - remember this is in the days before stereo radio's were made for cars

Why am I going on about a car on the 'Crystal Blog'? Simple really, it used to get me there and back and if I'd had too much to drink, in my opinion, then me and my mates could have a few hours sleep in relative comfort before setting off for home - those really were the days

Yours truly, posing as usual

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Submitted by Malcolm Smith

New Years Eve

A Night To Remember

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I remember it well, not quite true because it was either 1968 or 69 I can't be certain which, the night began in the usual style with a few drinks in the pub opposite the Crystal and then to the queue to get in - once inside the atmosphere was terrific, as always, then midnight came and went and everyone was having a good time - next thing I remember, me and my mates were on this traffic island singing our heads off - we were then joined by others and in no time at all the island was covered with people all singing, badly but not caring - the event ended when the local police came along and politely suggested we all bugger off, which we did - every time I see that roundabout I think back and realise how fortunate I was to be there that night - a great memory indeed

Were you there on that epic occasion? - If so please leave a comment in the box below

I eventually discovered the island was at the westerly junction of George Street and is still a feature there - Not sure if the fountains work these days though

Here's the island in the present day

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Submitted by Malcolm Smith

How it began

The Crystal Ballroom

The Crystal Ballroom is located in Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire. It became the place to go in the sixties and was renowned for a fantastic night out with a terrific mix of live and disco music in a superb social environment

The atmosphere was always electric - It was one of the friendliest places in the United Kingdom - It was well run, well organised and well liked

There are stories to tell of this remarkable place

This 'Blog' has been created so that any interested parties can read, and perhaps contribute to, some of the stories from some of the people that have an interest in the 'Crystal' (we have to populate the site first, so please be patient)

The building still exists, although now empty and perhaps wondering what the future holds

There are those out there with a genuine interest in resurrecting the site and bringing the building back to life with the 'sounds of music'

Will it happen - The truth is we don't know - What we do know is the people concerned are dedicated and will do everything in their power to regenerate this place for the benefit of music lovers

Please watch as the site grows and feel free to add your comments on any aspect - we hope you will enjoy and maybe add to the experience