Editorial
Happy New Year . Glad tidings we bring . By the time you read this I ’ m guessing you ’ re halfway through your resolutions - that Direct Debit to the gym is already looking as appealing as Dry January . We here at Whistler Towers don ’ t buy into that “ New Year , New Me ” thing because , well , the old me ’ s still basically OK . A few tweaks and it ’ ll be fine . It ’ s not that often we sit down with a box of Quality Street and a small Jack . A little something sometimes , it ’ s OK . And walking to the bamboo Hawaiian drinks cabinet to get another glass ... That ’ s exercise .
We have though been watching a fair bit of telly and recently watched a rather fine series about the early days of the American airline PamAm . It ’ s set in 1963 and essentially it ’ s about style , and the style is to die for . The clean lines , the attention to detail . The clothes they wore , the angle of their hats , everything was about the cut , the line , the style . And nowhere was the style more stylish than the cars .
You should watch PanAm just for the cars . These extraordinary , exquisite creations , all chrome and fins , were the ultimate in style over purpose . On almost every measure we ’ d use today , they ’ re
When stars such as Katy Perry , Coldplay and Enter Shikari , along with the current Government and Brighton and Hove council rally to the same cause , we have to pay attention . After successful lobbying by the Music Venue Trust , they are all supporting grassroots music venues . This is a real issue across the country as venues are regularly under threat from developers , gentrification and the cost of living . Here , the iconic Prince Albert was not so long ago battling closure .
As Brighton-based author Caraline Brown says , “ Music is life . It is the blood in our veins . It ’ s what made us and will keep us sane ”. Her book , Mrs Wilson ’ s Children : Adventures at the Welly Club , Hull 1979- 81 , tells the story of why these venues are crucial to the social , cultural , and economic life of our cities . Think what Brighton would feel like without The Hope and Ruin , The Green Door Store , Chalk and so many others .
Stuffed with rare , fascinating pictures , tickets and posters of the gigs , Brown ’ s book illustrates the enduring importance of these venues through the prism of the punk / post-punk / 2-Tone moment ( 1979- 81 ) and tells us about life away from the bigger cities such as London , Manchester ridiculous . They were unfeasibly big – the Ford Galaxie 500 , an extraordinary thing of beauty , was 18ft long and did about 12 miles to the gallon - but it ’ s heartbreaking that that idea , the idea that style comes first , fell out of fashion .
No one ever got frothy saying “ Oh look , there ’ s a five-door hatchback ” or “ Look at the lines on that SUV ”. What ’ s happened to car design is nothing short of tragic .
Take away the style and all there ’ s left is purpose . And if all there is is purpose , then there ’ s little argument against getting an electric car . It ’ s quiet . It ’ s cheap to run . It doesn ’ t use fossil fuels . It doesn ’ t spit out emissions . And , for those who care , they ’ re surprisingly very fast . No engine , no weight . It goes from A to B . There ’ s no road tax . Insurance is polite . And it costs next to nothing to run . Plug it in , go to bed . Wake up , full tank , less than £ 20 . The other thing is , you won ’ t only feel good , you ’ ll look good too . You ’ ll be fit and svelte because you ’ ll never go to a petrol station , so you never buy a useless Twix or raisin and biscuit Yorkie Double .
And here in Brighton , electric cars make even more sense , because we ’ re Green . First Green MP , don ’ t you know ? So you ’ d think everything is geared to supporting these environmentally friendly if slightly dull cars . Well , no it isn ’ t . There are precious few street chargers , which
The heart of the city
and Liverpool . The Welly - which could be the Concorde or , well , pick your own favourite venue - became the centre of a community , a place where fans , bands and promoters could meet and chat and drink and ferment ideas . These places provided a space to build a scene . As Welly regular Jon Nelson says : “ We had to build our own revolution , one gig at a time ”.
“ I owe my whole career to those early days at the Welly ”, says Brown . Managed by the formidable Mrs Wilson , like a “ stern ward matron ”, the Welly opened as a working men ’ s club in 1913 , and was still hosting darts matches when Brown was promoting gigs there . A proper sweaty venue with character and sticky floors . However , it didn ’ t appeal to everyone . Bauhaus were supposed to support Magazine , but their singer Pete Murphy took one look at the stage , pronounced the venue a “ shithole ” and refused to play . His loss .
Another highlight was the reproduced pages from Brown ’ s contemporaneous notebooks with the phone numbers of music industry executives such as legendary Factory Records boss , Tony Wilson , as well as the costs for the gigs . Refreshingly , you need because if you live in a house on a street with a pavement between you and the road , you can ’ t charge at home because even if you could park right outside your house / flat , you ’ d have wires trailing out of your window across the pavement . You need a street charger . But there are precious few street chargers and they ’ re all in parking permit bays and so people with ordinary cars and permits park there . So , unless you ’ re very lucky , you can ’ t charge your car . If the Council was serious about supporting electric cars , it would a ) provide more street chargers and b ) make it so that only electric cars can use those bays .
We ’ ve got a new column by two of our Green councillors ( see opoosite page ). Maybe next time they can address this .
Just a quick line to say how sad we here at Whistler Towers are about the sad demise of the i360 . It ’ s not in our manor , but it ’ s in our city and we care . Take away the money , the costs , the politics , all the miserable stuff , all the practical stuff and what you ’ ve got is a phallus , complete with ring , rising up from the beach . It ’ s a little odd . Brighton ’ s got a rich heritage of mad stuff - think about Magnus Volk ’ s “ Daddy Long Legs ” train in the sea . It ’ s very Brighton . Make it more accessible - or , better , free . And make it part of our landscape
there ’ s no sign of a mobile phone or an Excel spreadsheet . Local musician , Vince Coulman says that , while the gigs might not have made much money , the real benefit “ might lay , not in cash , but in the thrill of bringing an ace band to our favourite place in the city . In short , making stuff happen .”
The nights that Brown had organised at the Welly were still being talked about reverently when I arrived in Hull in the mid- 1980s , even though Brown and the Wilsons were long gone .
Thankfully , The Welly is still going strong playing host to the new generation of alternative groups . Music is indeed life . l ‘ Mrs Wilson ’ s Children : Adventures at The Welly Club , Hull 1979-1981 ’ by Caraline Brown costs £ 14.99 plus postage and is available from www . karibrown . uk
Johnny Hopkins