Hobo 5 – Nov 1974 (Unpublished)

Posted on 16 October 2014 by trevor

Hobo kept going between June 1973 and Nov 1974 as a magazine despite a series of set backs both

financial and in terms of printing costs and resources. We had no core funding back then, reliant on ads which were sometimes difficult to get and rising printing costs and so, while the intention was to produce a monthly magazine, it in fact came out whenever money allowed. Hence some of the issues / material on here never go finally published back in the day but is presented here as historical source material.

The work of the magazine wasn’t just the production of the magazine however, a lot of networking, puting out ideas and sharing of information and keeping material from the period for posterity was all part of it along with the campaign for a venue for bands starting off.

This issue – which never saw the light of day – was the last attempt to keep the magazine going and production began about November 1974. By June 1974 Hobo had evolved already into a venue / workshop described on other posts on this blog. The Hobo Workshop based first at the Holyhead Youth Centre and then upstairs at the Golden Cross fulfilled a lot of the wider aims of  Hobo and many of the musicians who played for us later went on to better things.

What remains, in terms of layout drafts of issue 5, is displayed here with any other articles / information i can find in my archives.

THE HOBO WORKSHOP – LETS GET IT ON
(Draft article earmarked for Issue 5 Nov 1974)
Where is it?
The Hobo Workshop, which began in June 1974 at the Holyhead Youth Centre in Coventry, has moved recently to upstairs at the Golden Cross, Hay lane. The workshop operates every Monday night and is free to get in, although we sometimes pass the ‘hat round’ to help cover petrol expenses of the bands that play and your contributions are therefor appreciated.
What is it?
It is a creative workshop – as opposed to a straight concert scene – where not only bands (newly started or more established) can come and play their brand of music but at which anyone can come along do their particular ‘thing’, whether it be in the form of music / poetry / street theatre / fire eating (!) or whatever. If you’d like to come along and try something out or if you have any ideas about what you’d like to see happening at the workshop or if you’d like to organise a jam session or anything – then get in touch. The object is to provide a place where you can do or get together whatever you want (within reason of course!).
We’ve made Our Effort – It’s Now up to You to Make Yours!
So come along and take advantage of it or just come along and enjoy it – come in fancy dress if you like – use your imagination and help us break down the “Them and Us” scene between performers and audience. There is a basic coordination at the workshop to avoid chaos but it is loosely applied to accommodate whatever you want to do.
So come on and put away your ‘do it yourself concert critic’, kick away your jams and come and help us get a creative and friendly scene going.
Anyone wishing to know anymore, write to Hobo or come up to the Golden Cross on Monday night and ask for Trev Teasdel; Liz Scott; or John Bargent (Bo).
We’d like to thank all those who have so far supported us, participated or helped us organise the workshop in any way. Special thanks go to Singer songwriters Colin Armstrong, Dave Bennett – bands including Fission (Johnny Adams / Al Varney), Midnight Circus (Neil O’Connor), Khayyam (Chris Jones), Analog (Steve Edgeson), Trigon (Paul Sampson), Phoenix (Dave Pepper), Memories (Ray Barowski), Just Before Dawn (Jim Pryal), Radio Moonraker Disco, John Alderson, Colin and Lyn Cripps. Phil Knapper, Ann Barton, Andy slowhand Cairns, Horace Panter, Neol Davies, Charley Anderson, Julian Adams, John Rushton (Analog), Tony Unwin, Arol, Bob Rhodes and Kevin and oh too many more to name.
……………………………………………………….
HOBO THOUGHT FOR THE YEAR!!!
Why don’t more people skip instead of walk!! It is healthy, fast, fun and doesn;t wear your shoes out if you roll on your feet instead of scrape! Hobo wants to see everyone skipping to work / college or the dole – you can even skip to the loo if you like…!!
………………………………………………………….

THOUGHT FOR FOOD
Vegetarian recipies – Economical – Filling and Nutricious – by Lyndie B.

Baked Cauliflower Cheese
Cook cauliflower in the usual way (steaming is best if possible) then place in an oiled casserole dish. Alternate the layers of cauliflower and breadcrumbs (Whole meal please). Sprinkle each layer of crumbs with grated cheese and a dot of margerine and end up with breadcrumbs on top. Pour over it a cup of milk, mixed with an egg (or just milk if times are hard!) and then bake in a moderate oven until browned. A little black pepper adds an interesting touch.
Drumlanrig Pudding (Scottish)
Stew fruit (any variety but rhubarb is favourite) until pulpy (adding brown sugar or honey to taste) and then alternate the layers of fruit and wholemeal bread in a pudding basin. Stand in a cold place for 24 hours, then turn upside down and gently remove bowl. Yoghurt makes an incredible topping.
………………………………………………………………
Adverts for the Shanty Folk Club and Pat Garcia

Folk Club directory from Pat Garcia 1974

Coventry Folk Singers Society presentations at –
The Jules Verne Folk Club, Grayswood Ave, Coventry 8.pm every Sunday.

Coventry Folk Singers Society presentations at
The Cliffton Hotel, Cliffton Road, Rugby.
The Lobster Pot Folk Club 8pm Thursday nights.

Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment

Hobo Magazine – Poetry Pages 1973 / 5 (Part 2)

Posted on 16 October 2014 by trevor

Continuing from Part one, further contributions of poetry or connections to the local or regional poetry scene.
These have been transferred from the original Hobo Vox blog from 2006 / 7

SADNESS by Gina Grunskis
(Willenhall Wood – Coventry)

Piercing tears from cold grey eyes,
Falling gently, forming pools on
once dry ground.
Arch your body, cover your
feelings in pride.
Swell out your chest to show
your thumping heart,
looking round for a place
to hide,
to lie in a dark corner and
sob yourself to sleep.
To toss and turn out nightmares.
Wake up cold and shivering,
all alone.
Wonder how long this never ending
friendless night would last.
If only I could catch your sadness –
take away, dilute it in sugar’d water,
to form a floating reed on
a silent flowing river
going far away
Rippling happy water on
the pebbles of your broken heart.
…………………………….

Poems by Lyndie B.

This one appeared on the front cover of Hobo No 3 February 1974

The blinds are up

daylight hurts
The sun is cold
I’ve an empty cup
The trees are bare
Winter lives
The birds are dead
I see and care.
Lyndie B
……………..

What is there without you?
The milk bottles on the rain washed step
A cat with fleas and kittens due
The same old alarm clock without a bell
and a bed that has grown too big.
Strawberry jam in the making
making an effort without you.
A new dress in crinkle brown paper
But there isn’t a mirror without you.
What is there without you?
The same old tomorrow morning
with its middle in yesterday.
Homemade bread to be be kneaded.
I needed and now I’m without you.
Tussled hair blown in the wind
No need for brushing without you.
What is there without you.?
Lyndie B – 1974
……………….

Four to a square
Three to a triangle
Too many to each person.
At least two
in an argument.
But One in a marriage.
A coin goes both ways
A sperm splits the egg.
Life has one end
Birth is the beginning
Life is the end
Death the resurrection.
Birds have fans
Dogs have tails,
Men have only stories.
Lyndie B – 1974

………………………………………………..

At Peace in a Wood


I am ageless
My roots are in the earth
With the trees
And I too have grass
Between my toes.

I am nature
My mind is in harmony
With the trees
And I too have leaves
At my fingertips.

I am peace
My form moves with the wind
With the trees
And I too live on
For eternity.

I am strong
My death is not real
With the trees
And I too die at the sharp axe
Of society.

Lyndie – 1972.
…………………………………………..


Poems by Dave ‘Byron’ Reid

Tell me once again Malcolm
About the magicians.
What spells are they into now?

David (Byron) Reid by Jackie Finch 1972

It’s true Malcolm
they never could teach me magic.
Yes Malcolm I was lost
way lost and all they were
doing was showing me the simplest spells
all they were doing was 

arsing about.and I was 
looking on with my sternest 
eyes what a laugh Malcolm, 
they were laughing tell me 
once again Malcolm 
how we arrived you and me
on the same day.
at this asylum reception desk.
you with your luggage full 
of magic and me 
empty handed?

David Reid (Known as Byron in Coventry) 1972
Published in Hobo No 2 Aug 1973


………………………………………

My father
Who I hadn’t seen for donkey’s years
And who hadn’t spoken to me
for so much longer.
Came to piss in a toilet where I
was already pissing.
We looked across the crashing water.
I saw his red face …his lovely tyrant eyes.
I looked down and saw.. he held his prick
Like I held mine. If only
we’d known this
Earlier!

David Reid (Known as Byron in Coventry) 1972
………………………………………………..

If  I got
Somehow
Paralysed
Would you stay
With me?
Don’t talk wet,  
He said.
He shook his head
Why do you fuck evenings
Up with asking
Me such things?
Me, who paid for your Cherry B!
Who’s given you more than one ‘Players’  
This night.
He then pulled her close
Gave her mouth a jawbreaker
Band with his.
She sprang away as if his lips
Were drawing pins.
I’ve got to know!  she screamed.
The pub suddenly had faces.
He went bright red.
That night
In lover’s lane
He beat her up.
He’d done it before
And this time he spat
‘Paralysed’
as he clobbered.
David Reid (Known as Byron in Coventry) 1972
………………………………….

they tell me the pretty pop star is

god almighty they believe it if
you could hear them praise him
you’d believe they believe it
the pretty pop star says to
the world I certainly don’t
believe I’m god almighty
I’m no angel says pretty
pop star one eye on the
mirror the other on his
belief that he can make ‘em
scream like no one can make
‘em scream
no hero
no a-bomb
no acrobat
no dracula
can make ‘em scream like he can
ugly fat sweaty man called manager
pats his bottom and says
‘go make ‘em scream’
pretty pop star sayeth ‘ hey! I feel
pretty good!’
leaps up to the mirror so his
nose is against the glass
and winks at himself
‘tomorrow, it’s a sauna bath for you,’
guffaws the manager signing
something or other with gold plated
biro ‘hey! I feel pretty good!’
says pretty pop star
and well he might
so many cute little eyes
so many tingling little thighs are about
to tell him he’s god almighty
tremble and scream a massive wave
of worship over his little body
attempt to sink their souls into
this pretty god almighty.

David Reid (Known as Byron in Coventry) 1972
…………………..

They
The baldheaded ugly men
In morbid suits
Blood red ties in
Colourless department of
Employment offices
Chat to me.
‘and why haven’t you got a better working record?’ 

‘Why you?‘
And I bow my head
And weep 
I….. suffer…..from…… tired……tiredness.

and
In the streets by the January
sales shops 

filthy with bargain hunters
Christian hunters 
David (Byron) Reid by Jackie Finch 1972
hunt me down
Shove 
salvation passports into
My eyes and squeal the
‘end – beginning – beginning – end
is nigh, why haven’t 
you saved yourself?‘ 
And I bow my eyes 
to the slush choking the gutter 
and weep
I suffer from……tiredness…..tiredness

and

in my bed
The girl rubs the ointment
of her limbs 
into the sore of my need 
and I hold 
on to her like 
one holds a leaf
In an autumn wind
And she
cries ‘why d’you stranglehold
my flesh?‘
‘Why d’you pin me to your rotten life?‘
And I 
Bow my heart and
Rage I  I  I  I
David (Byron) Reid by Jackie Finch 1972
SUFFER
suffer from tiredness
Tired….tiredness.
And she dresses
Hurriedly
And when she’s
Gone I
Too tired to sleep
Watch the darkness from above
Till it suffers from tiredness.
And bowing my mind
I squeeze
Out a poem that shouts
brag of tiredness
Tired..ness
So i shout till the poem
is happy
with tiredness…tiredness….
David Reid (Known as Byron in Coventry) 1972

Dave (Byron) Reid also wrote plays, submitted to the BBC

…………………………..

Poems by Jackie Finch

15 HOUR JOURNEY by Jackie Finch 1972


Giggling madly, I had to turn away

The sad pathetic face and distorted limbs

Lino cut print by Jackie Finch

Hilariously sad.

My body was floating on a millimetre blue cloud

But as long as I acknowledged this, I was ok

Complicated thoughts – turmoil

Sudden fear – distorted time and motion

Badly did I fly

Reality turned its arse on me

I stretched out, all gone

Father was alien so was cat

Oh, Christ,

Hospital gushed out sores and blood

On my body, on my brain

Complete ignorance on their behalf.

Shaking, trembling long through the night

Reality had really travelled far

Three days, maybe four and finally I stopped

Questioning, grabbing, testing for materialness

Normality?


……………………….

A POEM by Jackie Finch 1972

Peaceful drops of me and silence

Wound together in hazy gestures of

Shining eyes. Together we-us-now

Are

A swirling, churling, Furling mass of

Landscape, handchase, day dream dissolve

Around you I loved, we shared-changes

Into a loud quack – duck fear realization

Wings in water – beating, sweating rhythm

Black,bright your eyes are shining now my love

Only we can ever know

But oh such disaster; Great gigantic lumps of metal,

Brick,

Shit, mess,

Rubble, dirt,

Noise, being, people shattering, crashing, crushing us. If I

Had a bomb –

Ho peaceful drops of silence flowing from your brow

I’d kill us all.


……………………….

By Jackie Finch (written in the Golden Cross C. 1973)

Strangers

Self, forceful beliefs

Breaking the fibres of warmth

Intolerance causing an anger

You do not feel

Smile without contempt

Smile on your friends and give way.


……………………………………………….


Poems by Ian Gage
Some of the poems contributed to Hobo Magazine by Ian back in 1973.

HONESTY LOVE AND YOU


Honesty is a concept,

And we use it to condemn each other.

It is an opinion

Just as right and wrong.

Love is a goal

Which sometimes gives peace.

It is expendable

As everything else.

You are my friend

But it’s only society that’s thrown us together

We could’ve both been

Quite different.

………………………………

For an oak tree you have

The princely stance of a guardian,

As if in your silence, you

Guard the door, to the house

Of light.

Endless pages I see tortured,

By the pen of thoughts.

Unfounded theories, which,

Though kind, cannot break

Through my brain.

Yet in your wooded suit,

Surrounded by friends and visited

By timeless magicians of skies,

No books can lead me through

The storm, as you,

Unto the presence of the holy man.


…………………………………..

O God,

so greatly garrisoned

By your guardians the stars.

You live hermetically hidden

So eoen Thomas, one of the

Learned, could not see you

As you are.

You are far

As a mountain,

O God

Who can climb your mind

And look down, lovingly

On it all?

Like a lake is your heart

O but you are an ocean,

How can I drink you all,

To stop my drowning.


………………………………………


I planted a root,

her barren soil arose

And fled.

………………..

I wear a ring, which holds my hand,

Comforting and clasping maternally.

It carries zodiacs and tales of ancient

Myth, attracting faces wherever

It guides me.

It’s a companion, that was lost

For such a time, and now

I can hold it in my arms and love it

Or let it roll.

My ring is a pride, a descendant

From the apple tree

A giver of patience and sight

Into all hearts a guiding light,

It tempts me

And I with bleary eyes pursue.


…………………………
IN THE SKIES OF YOUR EYES

I never hurt you, but because I’m 


like me….

Don’t conceive, it’s sadly blind, an 


injured mind

Like the wind my heart is here 


to find

Your friendly soul, O that you would

Give it all you could to reach me.

And I’d teach you how to lay

With the clouds, above our guilty shrouds.

O your worry, I see it all a lie

As we dovely fly through the woods

Of your stormy past


Now explained away by my dictionary tongue.

I lead you through a path

Of your long and winding mind

They call it peace to find.

And I found it in the skies

Of your eyes, cavern-hearted.

………………………….

House of humble, beseech me
a space in your darkest corner
of your darkest room, on your 
blackest floor.
So is my person shameful, and
I crawl, my chin drooped and
hair all dripping sadness,
away from the world.
Out of this blinding light
of confusion and into the security
of myself.
Punish and wreck me for my wrongs,
gorge my eyes, but then,
let me crawl away to love.
………………………..

Wish each night your
together shines
bright.
Hope each path that
you walk
is love.
And if ever you feel
that you’re 
lonesome
May his face
brighten
your mood.
If ever you feel you’re
dreading the tears
at the parting of ways
Then may the thoughts of 
the good times 
together
Enlighten the cloudy haze.
……………………………

Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment

Alternative Sounds – Coventry Music Fanzine run by Martin Bowes 1979 – 80 Some issues on PDF’sof

Posted on 30 August 2014 by trevor

Alternative Sounds was created and run by Martin Bowes and Dill of God’s Toys in 1979 – 80 when the Coventry music was at it’s zenith, post punk and during Two Tone.


















There is an interview I did with Martin Bowes c 2008  here 
http://coventrymusicarchives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/intervie

w-with-martin-bowes-of.html

Maybe that Martin will put the rest of the issues on line at some stage, as I know some of you are hoping. 

I only complete issues of No 3, 6 and 10 and the special issue that came with the album Sent from Coventry and loose pages from issue 12 and 7 – the staples came out and the pages got mixed up. They are below in pdf form.

You can read and enlarge the pdf’s in the players here or click through to their location on Google drive and download them from there. They contain a wealth of information for researchers who are looking at that period Coventry’s musical history, the punk or ska scene.




Here are some issues on pdf







UPDATE Below is a composite of pages from issues 4, 7 and 12 i think.The pages came loose over the years and some are maybe missing and certainly out of order but there’s a lot of interesting stuff in them so sorry about that – best I can with them. However we now have issue No4 which I’ve added above,so some of the pages are now duplicated!

Front Covers

Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment

Joe Reynolds – Coventry Poet / Musician – Willow / Selecter

Posted on 13 March 2014 by trevor

Joe Reynolds was a Poet, saxophonist /flautist and songwriter of the Coventry Jazz / Rock band Willow c 1973 /4 and who, in 1979 /80, sessioned on Sax with Two Tone band Selecter.  Joe also joined a reformed version of A Band Called George (who had made the single NCB Man for the Bell label) in 1974. Earlier, in 1970,  he had sessioned with the Chris Jones Aggression.


His early band – Willow (A Coventry jazz / Rock outfit)  advertised regularly in HOBO. Joe was also in various other bands along the way.  




Joe Reynolds later recorded at Horizon studios, playing on early Two Tone tracks by Selecter – He played on – 


Three Minute Hero and appeared with them on Top of the Pops.  Joe is at the back in this picture from Top of the Pops – with the Sax. Pic from Neol Davies site.











Joe Reynolds playing sax on Top of the Pops with Selecter –


Joe had longer hair when he was in the jazz / rock band Willow
Joe Reynolds in guest sax player in Selecter
Willow Advertised in Hobo magazine – Coventry Music and Arts Magazine 1973 / 74
Letter from Joe Reynolds 1974 in regard to advertising in Hobo. Can’t believe ads were only 50p back then!

But back in 1974 Joe contributed some of his poems for my Communications books.  Before Hobo started i carried manuscript books inviting people I met to contribute poems, lyrics, graphs or thoughts – anything creative. Here are some of Joe’s poems –


Poems by Joe Reynolds


FOR DAYLIGHT ONLY

Reflected spectrum on dew damp pane
Technicolour morning
Wisp away the sandman’s dust
Spraying wind to chill my face
Squealing seagulls whip the sky
Fingering foam claws the beach
Over the rock pool rapids.

Sandy lightening lizards
Moss covered rock wall walks
Spitting forks the bluebottle’s death
Sleepy venom adder
King of the anthill.

Red flamed circle kissed the crest
Rippling arrowheads across the waves
Captured second forgotten dusk
From the reaching cliffs echo
Cricket singing serenade the night
Tomorrow’s dawn will wake you.

Joe Reynolds c 1972
………………..

TRUTH

Behind the spot light
that shows
what’s for us
I find after looking, my truths 

folding themselves up.
To look small
and hiding behind each other
and towards the sides
of that light.
The countless confusions
struggling to find themselves
through the mist
that limps above them.
Joe Reynolds c 1972
………………………………

PROSTITUTE

Through the alleys,
Night lights
Strike the slabs
And pierce the road
She walks ever watchful,
Dreaming
Of her non existing love
As profit
Rings the strings of her heart
Guilt and pride
Beneath her powder
Asking for her wage
Her mind all ablaze with dreams
As home she takes him
Pretence of not caring
Parrot fashion so straight
And upstairs
Her room

Her cold room
Nakedness in routine
That he must not see
A powder tear
As all her dreams
Of silk and bells
And old friends drive her forward.

And he unsuspecting
He mustn’t’t know
As her cheeks tighten
As her fingers try to relax
In fear she holds her throat
With a rock
And smiles
As he dresses
His clumsy pants
She laughs so loud
He runs leaving his underwear
Behind
She picks it up
Still laughter.
A wardrobe full
Of past experience
And tears
If only one would stay
Could anyone ever come back
Or are they all married
Twisting
Her tears unfold
But listeners are as rare
As a unicorns horn
And who cares anyway
It’s her own stupid fault.

Joe Reynolds c 1972
…………………..

The pain of honesty is that you have to tell the truth!
Joe Reynolds c 1972

Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment

Hobo Magazine – Poetry Pages 1973 / 5 (Part 1)

Posted on 13 March 2014 by trevor

The following are contributions of poetry that were either published in Hobo or sent in for publication c 1973 / 5

Al Yedd


THE BACKWATER by Al Yedd – 1973.

Published in Hobo No 4 Summer 1974


It had been shortly after midday when the two men had
steered their cabin cruiser into the backwater.

Two snow white swans glided passed, turned and sat
motionless on the water studying the cruiser.

“ Must be nice to be a swan” David said.
Marc was gazing at the sky.
“Yes” he agreed absently “But don’t worry about that 
now; it looks as though we’re in for a storm.”

Dark storm clouds, which had blown up while they had
been talking, finally blotted out the sun.

David was not listening:
 “Only two swans on this section of the river as far as I know…..”
a titanic peal of thunder cut him short: The reeds,
which looked emerald green under the dark sky, shivered
with the noise. A jagged white sear ripped the sky
apart, almost immediately followed by another clash of
the aerial cannons. David glanced up and spoke quietly: “Dry lightning. Won’t last too long. This part of the world is noted for its freak storms.”

Up above them the peals and explosions continued and
the lightning illuminated the cabin cruiser. Presently
the storm, with its echoes of violence and destruction
of ages past and to come, ceased. Peace returned to
the backwater.

Four swans glided downstream past the now empty cabin cruiser.
………………………………..

THE CORRIDOR by Al Yedd 1973

Submitted to Hobo but not published at the time owing to space.

The Corridor exists. It occupies a place in creation.

The Corridor is long. It has no end. No beginning.
*                                     *                             *
The Corridor was inhabited. Along the white part 
walked man 1. He had lived there all his life. Man 1 
stopped. The Corridor had changed. It was no longer 
white. It was grey.

Man 1 did not think or speak about the change, 

rather he noticed it instinctively. Man 1 walked on. Why?
Instinct

He stopped. Terror washed over him in waves which 

threatened to drown him. A few yards in front of him 
stood a figure.

Gradually the terror subsided. Man 2 moved closer.

Terrible images in man one’s brain accompanied the

 approach. He saw a figure stretched out on a floor, 
writhing in pain. Man 1 knew that Man 2 was offering 
this to him.

He started to run and was followed by a terrible noise 

called laughter. (The Corridor walls had changed colour 
again).

Man 1 ran down the now black walled Corridor, followed 

by Man 2’s laughter and the chance to experience pain 
(really pleasure), unaware that he was vainly trying to 
flee from his other (evil?) self.
……………………………………..

THE SAVED by Al Yedd

Submitted to Hobo but not published at the time owing to space.

In a place of perfection, in a time of morals, there

exists a square, white room. In the centre of the room 
there is a small, white, square table supported by delicately 
curving legs.

On top of the table are two champagne glasses 

and a large bottle of champagne. Occasionally a man 
and a women arrive. They are dressed in white suits, 
their pockets bulging with money. They drink some 
champagne and then depart.

They are citizens of Perfection, dwellers in 

Morals. They carry their god in their pockets.

But is not their god called the Root of all Evil?

The man and the women. The saved and the Damned – who can say?

Ends…..
………………………………………………………………………….
Al Yedd and Trev Teasdel in Hobo Issue 4 summer 1974. Graphic by John Alderson


ODE TO A STORM By Gray Buckley

The crystal drops fall
From the heavens above
On to the silk-edged roofs

And the couples in love.

Into the surge of the gutter
And the turbid pipe-mouths
On the convexed ‘brellas
And flock o’ primitive shrouds

Archways and doorways
Bus shelters and canopies
Are all engaged 

in a task of mercies.

People hurry, guardians appalled
Their figments discouraged
The aged plough on, the pompous
Step about like frogs undernourished

The leaves and the plants collect
Water in their arms so plentiful
When the rain ceases
The sky no longer dull.

The procured liquid extends
Welcome to the passing bee
Therefore the gay life
Extends it’s help to ecology.

The domestics in the field
Bow down to the rain
Their legs folded beneath, upon
The vacant grass.

The bird of the wing
Has no desire to sing
For his plumage is drowned
His appearance quite profound.

The storm will soon pass
Leaving prominent scars
But releasing us of this gloom.

Gray Buckley – Published Hobo Issue 3  February 1974

It was Gray Buckley who introduced Al Yedd to Hobo through this letter – 

VISIONS OF MULTI-STORIED CITIES 

 By Trev Teasdel (WRITTEN JUNE 1970)

Multi-storied cities growing to the sun.
Multi-storied people in abundance.
Consuming congested oxygen

through a piping system designed by the electronic architect.
A computer for the Queen is launching a porcelain replica of the earth 
to cater for the anticipated increase in population, 
said likely to double present numbers very shortly.

The Pope, now ruler of the earth, 
still forbids the use of contraceptives.
New born babies are fitted with synthetic digestive systems, 
designed to digest human excrement,
as food is very scarce.

There’s so many people, that they are all contained in blocks, 
standing on each other’s shoulders.
Every necessity comes via a pipe or complex pulley system,
periscopes are fitted for the aristocracy.

Between each bank of towns is a small reservation 
for controlled exercise and breeding purposes.
A special mansion is allocated for the appointed maintainers of the cities 
and the robots fold up into a draw. 
Boredom is their plight and schizophrenia breeds like flies. 
Computerised music harmonises their idle thoughts. 
All music must be computerised and the musician’s union has been dissolved. 
Creativity is dead.

…………………

Comment From the Hobo Vox site 2007

BroadgateGnome

  And you wrote that in 1970, mm, well before Coventry adopted the claustrophobia as a design element.

Posted by: BroadgateGnome | 03/08/2007 at 11:18 AM

This link takes you to plans for the re-development of Coventry’s City Centre. http://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/postwar/precinct.php
SKYMEN by Trev Teasdel July 1970
Published in Hobo Issue No 4
Skymen must look to
        To a colourful firmament
            Red
           
                                     Green
                        Brown
                            Yellow
                                    of fields
                                And forests….
And the cities (multi-storied)
            H
            A
            N
            G like clouds;
                    Like fluorescent
                    i
                    g
                     h
                    t
                    fittings 


THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH – AN ALLEGORY
From HOBO No 2 August 1973 – Comment on the Scene! Trev Teasdel Aug 1973

There was a community of Greenflies and all the Greenflies were bored and each greenfly told the other how culturally apathetic their community was. “Nobody ever does anything ‘ere’” they were heard to say. One or two greenflies noticed that all the greenflies were saying the same thing as if it was only the others that were at fault. So they decided to get up off their butts and let the other greenfly know of this situation and that no fairy.

SHE TOOK A WALK IN MY EYE
by Trev Teasdel – also published in Hobo issue No 2 – written 1968 

You came crashing through my cornea
Like a well aimed spear
You floated through my aqueous humour
With the speed of a rumour
My pupils opened wide
When you rushed in like the tide
My lenses did expand
When you showed your magic wand
But through the vitreous humour
Things must’ve got too hot
Because you played around
In my blind spot.
You forgot to look around the curve
When you landed on my optic nerve.
……………..
This poem also appeared in Trev’s book  ESCAPED POET  – Poetic Licence Collective 1984
………………………………….


12/18/2006 from the original Hobo Vox site

Poems by Veronica Zundel


INCISION
By Veronica Zundel – from HOBO No 4 1974
Your hand burns through my belly
         Hold
               This knife steady I say
I can’t keep still much longer
                The knife slips
                          My belly burns through my head.
 ……………………………..
S L O P E
I
Am
    Hiding
              But
                  You
                       Can
                             See
                                 me
 …………………………………………………………

Veronica is now a published author – here are some links to her sites and work. Her work comprises poetry
religion & theology, women’s studies. She also gives seminars/workshops, talks to adults, writes reviews and
writes for magazines/newspaper. She has produced – Compiler of 3 anthologies for Lion Publishing. Author of ‘Going Out‘ (Hodder 1990) Regular writer for BRF ‘New Daylight‘ notes and ‘Woman Alive‘ magazine. Guardian article on Veronica http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_060422menno.shtml

An interview with Veronica for Rebecca Writes http://rebeccahgiltrow.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/writer-veronica-zundel.html
Veronica Zundel’s poem in Hobo Magazine Summer 1974
…………………………..
Another Coventry poet who submitted work was Bob Davies. One of his poems appeared with Veronica’s in the hobo page above. 

SPHINX

By Bob Davies (Willenhall Wood) from Hobo No 4 1974

 Her baby blue eyes
               Gave the impression of
A gentle creature
                Serene and placid.
Her beauty shining like the sun
                I know you shouldn’t go by looks
But I couldn’t help myself.
                She was far too good to be true.
She had the appearance of tolerance
                 All the sweetness of a flower.
But as we talked and time flew
                 I noticed a nasty streak,
Like a SPHINX, half-women, half lion
                 So I thought any minute
If the mood took you
                 You might pick up that brick
And smash my skull.

………………
The Last Tourist
By Bob Davies Aug 1973
The last American tourist
Ambles his way through
A ruined Cathedral,
As the first art student
Approaches the polytechnic.
          The end of the Summer.
The tramp sleeps on the
Parkbench for the last time this year.
The artist makes his last sketch
Of a great masterpiece no one will ever see.
The poet in his trench coat looks
Cynically around, accessing his
Fellow man, then writes his last line
Of the hottest summer since 67
           And the pigeons remain
Tenants’ year in, year out.
Bob Davies 1974

Finished Paintings
 I have paintings on my walls
But they don’t make me happy
They sit there staring,
Dead to the world around.
Their flesh is fading,
The smiles of long ago are false now,
As they were so many years ago,
Paint is flaking, falling like
Feathers to the floor below

Bob Davies 1974

………………………………..

THOUGHTS FROM THE TOP OF MY HEAD
By ALAN – Earlsdon, – published in Hobo No3 1974
·        The crystallization of the material world becomes void after the concept of wealth becomes the ulterior motive.
·        It does not really matter whether you’re old or young; the sparks of idealism become potent with the passing of time.
·        To be born with the idea of truth in its natural form is irrelevant to the course of mankind.

This next one didn’t make Hobo and I’m not sure now who it was from! His note is included here.

I look out on the city

On the golden neon lighting.

And I think about the morning

and the people in the sunlight.

Songs I have written

but never known the meaning.

Things I have looked at without seeing.

Like the enemy’s I’ve made

before I’ve known them.

……………………………………
I received a couple of letters from Coventry musician and poet Michael Curtis in 1974 – here is one of his poems. This poem didn;t make it to hobo – mostly because the magazine was hard to fund and energy went into organising the Hobo Workshop gigs from the autumn of 1974.

SECURE STRANDS 

by Michael Curtis (Written in pembrokeshire June 1974)
his tethered eyes reached after
a lark
string-snapped kite, tugged and dallied
by the wind to a cloudless noon –
the cell
within his vision
twisted this way, twisted that
tied in its tantrums
unable to take wings
whistling and jabbing
and in the end soaring
out of sight.
Letter 1 from Michael Curtis 1974
Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment

The Windsor Free Festival 1973 / 4

Posted on 4 March 2014 by trevor
THE WINDSOR FREE FESTIVALS

For Issue 2 of HOBO (the unpublished version) co-editor Bo (John Bargant) wrote an article on the 2nd Windsor Free Festival and we had a folded flyer for the 3rd in Issue 4 – August 1974. Other articles appeared in Hobo regarding some of the Coventry bands who played the festival. Here is Bo’s article –

THE 2ND WINDSOR FREE FESTIVAL 1973 – (Article by Bo (John Bargent)

Distant, unbalanced sounds reached me as we walked up the grass slope towards a group of people numbering about 200. As I got nearer, I noticed a small band in the middle playing through badly distorted gear. It was only just a basic beat but it was entertainment and the start of the 2nd Windsor Free Festival.

At midday this great park had looked empty by mid afternoon the people had started to stream in and group vans were parking along the side of the road. At the other end of the site, the group VOID had set up on some planks and had started to play to 2 or 3 hundred people. Back at the other end of the site where the main stage was going to be, lurked a beared guy rushing to and fro with speaker leads in his hand. He looked like a roadie but was in fact ANDY DUNKLEY (the DJ) setting up bass bins and speakers to get his records on and to send out messages to the crowd. Meanwhile, behind Andy, a collection of road weary hired trucks and transits were parking and then, what was this…?

Yes .. Hawkwind had arrived. As I went up to say hello to Steve (the roadie with Hawkwind) and asked how everybody was and have a general natter about things since we were last together, it looked to us like it was going to be another Windsor Festival without a proper stage and to us roadies this means extra work!

Well I don’t suppose you really want to know roadies talk so I will get on with it. After one big incident of the festival when a guy got busted and thrown in a police transit and about 3000 people rushed to the spot where the transit was to stop them taking him away while the transit drove over a guy who was in front of it. The festival then went back to it’s normal peaceful self. Hawkwind played a nice set, late Saturday afternoon, which everybody enjoyed.

Well if I told you about the festival in detail it would take up all this mag, so to cut things short the music was good; the whole festival was good as it was free. Thanks to Hawkwind; Pink Fairies; Andy Dunkley and Coventry’s FISSION and all the roadies that worked day and night to keep the music going and everybody else involved.

Fission – Coventry band c 1973 /4 – Johnny Adams / Al Varney etc.

By Bo (John Bargent)  A Hobo Magazine Co-founder /  Co-editor.


Report of the 2rd Windsor Free Festival in Hobo No 2 (Published version) – August 1973

2nd Windsor Free Festival 1973
Starts Saturday 25th August 1973 in Windsor Great Park, London, and is expected to last over a week with well over a hundred groups as well as poets / street theatre / solo singers and everything a far fetched imagination can think of (including free food and beer).

Some of the more well known groups appearing are –
Hawkwind, Pink Fairies, Skin Alley, Third Ear Band, Longdancer, String Driven Thing, Kraan (German group).

Coventry bands possibly appearing – Trilogy (featuring Al Hatton (Ex Indian Summer and Runestaff), Ron Ablewhite (Ex Torqwood), Roy Brewster (percussion); Just Jake (featuring John Alderson and Martin Barter); A Band Called George; Fission; Trev Teasdel and Don’t Talk Wet! (Trev (me) I didn;t actually play) but Bo was promoting me around then and added me to the list. Further information was available from Bo and he wanted to know if anyone could supply any generators for the festival.

………………………………………..
3RD WINDSOR FREE FESTIVAL – 1974


For the 3rd Windsor Free Festival Bo (John Bargent) supplied fliers to put inside Hobo Magazine Issue 4 and earmarked a number of Coventry bands to play the festival. Not all of them did but we included their names in that issue of Hobo.
From the Coventry Evening Telegraph 1974
Above the ‘A’ and ‘B’ side of the flyer that went in Hobo Magazine.

Hobo Issue 4 The entry read – 

“August 24th sees the start of the 3rd Windsor Free festival, organised by Communes. Last year 20,000

were gathered together in Windsor Park. This year they they anticipate 100,000 with over a 100 bands and artists participating. It is expected to last about 9 days in all. Being a free festival, they are relying on people contributing with things like unused stamps and envelopes to help with the heavy mailing list and food and drink, near the actual time. If by any chance anyone can help with supplying generators, they would be greatly appreciated. The address to write to is U.B.T. Bill Dwyer. BM- Circle, London WC1V 6XX.

Any bands, singers, poets, street theatre groups interested in participating, then contact Bo (John Bargent), 21, L:orenzo Close. Willenhall, Coventry. There is no payment but a great deal of publicity is received in the continental and British press.”
Coventry bands ear marked to play –

Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment

Coventry News (Alternative newspaper c 1979 – 84)

Posted on 3 March 2014 by trevor
COVENTRY NEWS – Introduction

c 1978 or 1979, I attended a meeting at The Wedge (Cooperative bookshop / Cafe) 13, The High Street.  Arol from Broadgate Gnome and Diggers Hole Artist Collective back in 1970, was there along with members of the Wedge.  I’d been involved in Hobo – Coventry’s Music and Arts Magazine in the mid 70’s and thought i might get involved but didn’t, owing to commitments, however I buy copies, some of which are on here.
Coventry. The purpose was to discuss the creation of an Alternative Newspaper for Coventry.

THE AIMS OF COVENTRY NEWS
“Coventry News was a monthly paper produced by a group of people living and working in and around

Coventry. It’s aim was to cover news which is either ignored or distorted by the local commercial press. There was no one editor and editorial decisions were made by the group as a whole. There were many shade of opinion in the group and articles in the paper reflect the overall attitude – they were not determined by any one particular political line. They supported individuals and groups in their day to day struggles to improve housing, social amenities, working conditions etc. They aimed also to defend the interests of minority and oppressed groups.

ORGANISATION OF COVENTRY NEWS
Coventry News was dependent on the support of the Coventry public who would help in news-gathering, writing articles, production and in particular – distribution of the paper or make a financial contribution. The contact point was Ray Mason.

Coventry News also carried a good Whatz On section – bands, folk, disco, classical, theatre etc.

The Urge were featured in the Whatz On of an early edition of  Coventry News.
Urge – Revolving Boy – Live TV
Coventry News began in the  Newspaper format but later changed to an A4 magazine format.
Note – PDF versions of a few Coventry News Issues will be available on here soon.

Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment

Interview with Martin Bowes of Alternative Sounds & Attrition

Posted on 23 October 2013 by trevor

MARTIN BOWES, 

as many of you will know, ran the Coventry Alternative Sounds


Fanzine in 1979 / 1980, –

an amazingly popular and documentary Coventry Music magazine during the Two Tone period in Coventry. The magazine wasn’t just about Two Tone though, the City was buzzing with lively post punk bands and venues and Martin captured the scene and the atmosphere in his magazine before realising his first dream of having his own band which became Attrition – still going strong some 28 years later having recently toured Russia. Martin recently took time out from his busy schedule to answer some questions for us.

Trev Teasdel’s Interview with Martin Bowes (2008) 

Trevor – In Coventry people used to talk a lot about apathy! So what got you off your butt to do the Alternative Sounds Project? The inspirations / motivations.

Martin – I remember that….everyone used to say that in the late 70’s early 80’s…i don’t know why…i don’t

Martin Bowes

know if times were really any different to now in that way….i suspect that in the wake of punk rock it was actually LESS apathetic a time…there were so many bands around at the time…a lot of people making an effort… but then there were less distractions from computer games and dvd’s and the internet…

Punk rock just slapped me in the face. I wasn’t happy with the adult world i was entering in the last years at school in the late 70’s…and it said to me. ANYONE CAN DO IT. DO IT YOURSELF. I actually had already had dreams of being in a band…there was so much i wanted to say….I went to the Lanch (Polytech) to do an art foundation course in 77/78… I dropped out of that…it wasn’t enough… so as the band thing was a, then, distant dream…i took up the fanzine…. the typewriter rather than the guitar… 🙂 ….. I was proud that I was contributing to something as culturally and politically important as the punk and post punk music scene… and just to Coventry… as that was my life at the time as well…

Trevor – How did you get it started / produce it / finance it? Was it a struggle?


Martin – I did the first issue with Dill, the singer of Gods Toys…I have to credit him with that extra push to go out and do it… I was a shy boy in those days and he encouraged me…! he didn’t bloody well contribute much but i never cared about that! 🙂
The first issue we pooled our dole money and photocopied 100 copies at Parbury’s in Earlsdon!… February 1979 it came out…only a few pages… nothing special but a first statement…
it sold well straight away and we reprinted!… we got our money back…
then i heard about the Princes trust…. the Prince of wales gave away money to young people to help them start up new projects….(wasn’t that kind of him?! 🙂 … i’m no royalist but this seemed like a plan…. so i applied and sent a copy of issue one… and i got £100 to finance the next issues…!
so it wasn’t a struggle…i kept the fanzine going for 18 issues… the first 12 were out on the first of the month for a year….always got the money back from sales… a lot of alternative outlets sold it for no commission…something that wouldn’t happen now… i took a very few adverts but i wasn’t into a commercial concern…. the circulation rose to 1000 copies at it’s peak and i really believe it helped the Coventry music scene a great deal…Although it started very much as a local Coventry fanzine…there were so many great bands here… in the end i was looking more and more to bands outside of Coventry…and even started my own band…. so i did the last issue in the summer of 1981… for years i thought of doing another….
maybe i will again… i met a lot of people through the fanzine… local bands…national acts…other fanzines people…which helped my band Attrition get started… and even local journalists who started off writing for Alternative Sounds… such as a certain Mr Pete Chambers…
I even went on to the BBC’s something else programme ,… the Coventry edition… to talk about fanzines and show people how to make one…
that was a highlight..it was a great time for me…and for Coventry…
oh and… when i finished the magazine i had almost exactly £100 left in the kitty…. 🙂

Trevor – Martin – Alternative Sounds was a lively and popular Coventry music fanzine in the wake of Two Tone and is now a great historical document of the times – but wasn’t one issue banned and branded ‘sexist’. What was that all about?

Martin – The name Alternative Sounds was a poke at the national music paper Sounds at the time….

i occasionally changed the title for a joke… one issue i put out a mock”Alternative fiesta”… which was a poke at porn magazines… i used a page 3 model but in the style of the great Linder (she did the famous cover for the Buzzcocks Orgasm addict) or even Crass…i cut her head off….what i thought was an obvious comment on the exploitation of womens bodies…

Unfortunately the fanzine was printed by the students union at the Lanch at the time… and there was a very strong left wing presence there… they didn’t talk to me about it they immediately banned it…(actually they still printed it and took the money but that’s another issue…)… i couldn’t sell the fanzine there any more…
i was really disappointed in them… i always thought that there was a counter culture…that we were all on the same side…i was obviously naive… and my, perhaps crudely executed, statement had not fit into their world view…
well i found another and better printer and went from strength to strength..
shame about that though… it really is…

Trevor – 1979 / 80 was an exciting period in the history of Cov music. Punk had happened and Two Tone bands were breaking through. Give us a snapshot of the music scene in Coventry in that period. What was good, what was bad.
Martin – Oh i don’t like to tell you what is good and what is bad…. what was really positive is the morale boost that Specials and Two Tone gave the city and pubs and clubs were all giving bands a chance to play… i loved the Specials but they were only the tip of the ice berg… there were bands playing every night… there was a real vibe and some real talent in the city… a mix of styles…based around punk or new wave…everything looked really good…there WAS a future…

Trevor – What were the venues like – How easy was it for bands to get gigs in the city / out of it back then?

Martin – Most of the venues were only small clubs or back rooms at pubs…. i even ran a night for a while at the old Zodiac pub near the Parson’s Nose chippy in town…now a car park unfortunately). Usually bands brought in their own small vocal PA’s in those days… there wasn’t the technology available at the venues… but bands would share and it all worked so well… it was very easy to get gigs in the City at the time…. the problem was that it was much harder to get gigs outside Coventry…it was much harder to get the contacts in those days…. we had a good scene with bands…my fanzine…and others coming hot on it’s heels… but to break into another city in those days without the internet was much more difficult… and ultimately the bands that did well were the ones that DID get out and play the UK and maybe Europe… the ones that were left eventually died… you have to grow to survive and many of them fell by the wayside after a couple of years….

Trevor – A lot of bands seemed to either get contracts / make singles or at least have had the promise of that even if unfulfilled. What was happening at this time?


Martin – It seemed everyone made singles at the time!…. i had a great collection… again the do it yourself
ethic…most were self financed… some bands got contracts but usually with small labels that were little more than being self financed…Gods Toys were an example…i so wished they had got a better deal…

Embedding is disallowed but click back to youtube to watch this amazing vid and others by God’s Toys.

Trevor – You initiated the compilation album Sent From Coventry. It’s a great snapshot of the bands from that time. How did this come about and what effect did it have on the Cov music scene?


Martin – Yes…i saw that so many cities in the UK were putting out compilations of their bands and as i was

on the promo mailing list for a number of record labels i approached one of them – Cherry Red – who had just put out a Bristol compilation – and they were really interested…

I approached the bands…some had demos already…some Cherry red paid for at John River’s Woodbine Studios in Leamington…. i think it was a really good snapshot… they even included a special edition of Alternative Sounds inside the album with articles on all the bands… (A copy of which is <<<on this page – see the Sent from Coventry album cover the magazine is in the collection there)
this all added to the buzz going on here in Coventry in 1980…. it was all positive…

Trevor – What about media involvement – was there a rush to look for bands?


Martin – there was interest…Cherry red wanted to sign the Wild Boys…and some publishing companies

were interested… signed Protege at least…there were also more magazines and journalists coming to shows here…. it lasted for a while…then i guess somewhere else became the new big thing…

Trevor – What about recording studios in and around the city. Were you involved with Horizon studios?

Martin – NO…i went there once to transfer our first 4 track recording to a reel to reel master for a flexi disc Attrition put out…. but i had little to do with the Coventry studios… Woodbine in Leamington did a lot of bands at the time… and later Cabin studios of course although that opened around 1984..

Trevor – Two Tone is well documented of course but do you have any ‘behind the scenes’ stories or insights to share with us?

Martin – Well i wasn’t around Two Tone much at all… i knew some of them…Horace i still see around occasionally… John Bradbury used to work in the original Virgin records… he used to save me weird experimental records as he knew i liked them…i remember buying the first Teenage Jesus and the jerks 12″ from him on his recommendation…. i still live it… (that was Lydia Lunch’s first project)… Terry i knew vaguely… i remember bumping into him in Woolworths once…he was buying a copy of the TOP OF THE POPS album with Gangsters on it…(if you remember the awful albums they would put out in the 70’s with covers of the latest chart hits!…)… i would have done the same!…

Trevor – I remember attending a meeting with you around the creation of a Community Arts Centre


of some description. (At the Hope and Anchor I think it was). I left Cov shortly afterwards but did anything come from that meeting?


Martin – I only vaguely remember that meeting…. so i would think it is safe to say that not a lot happened!….
i’m not very good at meeting like that anyway….like wading through mud at times… 🙂

Trevor – Eventually you emerged as a musician in your own right with the creation of Attrition. Can you tell us about that transition?

Martin – As i said like any frustrated journalist i had always had desires of doing music…. but i was a visual artist…i knew nothing about “music”…
so it took some time and really the popularity of synthesisers to give me an out let…a start….we did our first show in December 1980…actually December 8th…the day John Lennon was shot. and as i began Attrition my enthusiasm for the fanzine started to wane….

Trevor – What were the influences and approaches of the band?


Martin – I was very influenced by the more experimental and post punk scene i would say i still am although I’ve moved on a lot in other ways… so that is Joy Division/Magazine/PIL/Banshees/Wire…and going back to the Velvets…. that kind of thing started us off in style at least if not content… we actually began life as a guitar/bass/drums/vocals line up but soon got a synth in instead of guitar and then bought an early drum machine….eventually we even lost the bass…. although years later the electronics were augmented by viola/violin and cello occasionally…and even some guitar if you listen closely… 🙂

Trevor – It’s great to see that the band is still going strong and recently you toured Russia. Why Russia and how did you fix that?


Martin – We are busier than ever….it’s been a long road that has taken us all over Europe…the USA…to Mexico and now to Russia…
the Russian adventure all started a few years ago when we played at the Castle party in Poland…a Russian label was there and loved the show…they put out our last album “Dante’s Kitchen”, in Russia… and then hooked us up with a booking agency there…

Trevor – What kind of venues were you playing and what was the response to you like?

Martin – the bigger cities like St Petersburg or Moscow had regular rock clubs but a lot of the cities were a little like throwbacks to the scene in Coventry in the early 80’s…the promoters would hire restaurants and they would clear them and bring in a PA for the evening… (i will say the PA’s were all excellent quality…)… it’s really new to a lot of Russians outside of the major cities… i was surprised…and really pleased to find that there were a handful of die hard Attrition fans in EVERY town there… and they were all amazed that we had made it out to places like Siberia…. so we had a great response… we loved it….

Trevor – Any stories of the tour you’d like to share?


Martin – Well we were a little concerned to be playing Russia in January!…. especially as far east as Siberia…. the Russian winter doesn’t have the best reputation does it!… so we bought thermals…!… but actually they had a very mild winter this year so we only got down to -14c… !
we traveled on trains as well… overnight trains…which we didn’t realise until just before we went… it’s the only way to get through the snow and the long distances… we were doing up to 41 hour trips on the trans Siberian express….mixing with Ukrainian builders and Mongolian peasants…it was like an episode of a Michael Palin travel documentary! and it was hard work but i wouldn’t have missed it for the world… oh and the vodka helped… 🙂

Trevor – Where can they buy your albums?

Martin – In Russia they have shops that sell CD’s/DVD’s and MP3’s!!! ….. which basically means they sell legitimate music and films and then bootlegs as well… we are in the alternative shops… we also did very well selling at shows…
We’re planning to do more there…it really is a growing scene…

Trevor – Martin – Alternative Sounds was a great contribution to the Coventry music scene in it’s greatest hour – that of the Two Tone breakthrough. Have you anything else you want to say about those days or the music scene.


Martin – Thanks…i need to scan all those issues i still have and put them online somewhere as a resource….
I had a wonderful time in those days…. it was a great period for Coventry and the UK music scene as a whole…but as i also teach music technology at City College here in Coventry now i can see there is a lot going on here now too…almost 30 years later…
what they need though is a really good fanzine!
……………….
The official Attrition Site


Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment

HOBO PROPOSED BENEFIT

Posted on 11 October 2013 by trevor

HOBO PROPOSED BENEFIT

A letter sent

To Lynn Greenwood – Coventry Evening Telegraph August 1973

updating her on our ideas for a venue and Hobo benefit…

Dear Lynn,

We told you of our proposals to put on a benefit to raise funds for Hobo. Well we’ve had some ideas of putting on a succession of events as a kind of arts week with all events leading up to the benefit. Some of the ideas included Jazz / poetry sessions, folk and rock concerts, art exhibitions and various other musical get togethers and any other ideas anyone comes up with. We were hoping to hold this sometime in August but again we’ve been let down on venues…

Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment

Trev and Bo on the Music Scene 1973

Posted on 11 October 2013 by trevor

TREV AND BO – ON THE SCENE!

This post is from the original Hobo site on Vox blogs c 2007

After publishing the first edition of Hobo in June 1973, we dropped off a copy of Hobo for the editor of Coventry Evening Telegraph’s supplement ON THE SCENE –  and our articled appeared in this issu Saturday June 30th 1973 – after an interview by  CET Reporter Lynn Greenwood. I’ve written out as the print quality might not be so clear after all these years! The CET editor wrote to me after sending a petition of 500+ signatures in response to the article they published RU18 and in sending the first edition of HOBO.

TREV AND BO ON THE MUSIC SCENE

TREV and Bo didn’t think much to the arts scene in Coventry – so they decided to try and liven things up.

And their efforts – an eight page music mag called HOBO – is out this week.

In their own words “It’s an attempt at supplying the musicians and such likery of Coventry with a form of music paper intending to cover not only musicians but discos, poets and artists, etc.”

At the moment it’s free and is strictly a “non-bread-head, non-profit mag”

“We want to get people interested in helping us” said 22 year old Trev Teasdel. “the music scene in Coventry has never been brilliant although three or four years ago it wasn’t too bad. But now there are lots groups wanting to do concerts and artists willing to do exhibitions, but there’s nowhere to hold them.“

Trev, of 16, Laneside, Willenhall Wood, Coventry, says the only place to go for music are pubs.

“And that just gives the drugs and pubs squads plenty of work,” he said.

One of Bo’s ideas (his real name is John Bargant) is to start an information service which offers help to anyone with a problem.

“I’ve called it Central Spot and at the moment people can only contact me at home,” said 26 year old Bo, of 21, Lorenzo Close, Willenhall. “but we’re trying to get premises and have been offered a room in Bardsley House so many nights a week”

“We want to be available to help young people who may have owhere to live or stay; they may have a drugs problem or they may just want to drop in for a chat and coffee.”
At the moment the big problem is finance.

“We’d like to put on some sort of benefit to raise money for the mag.” said Trev “but first we’ve got to find somewhere to hold it.”
So if anyone has any ideas, please contact the two and try to help.

Lynn Greenwood.

Letter from Lynn Greenwood of Coventry Evening Telegraph


Notes

Bo left Hobo during the production of the second issue and became the Road manager of Khayyam – the

Jazz Rock group with Chris Jones on guitar and Steve Tayton on Sax. They were embarking on a European Tour.

He ran Rouguestar Promotions and Disco and was managing me as a singer songwriter at the time of starting HOBO. The magazine took over from the music for a while although I still played and wrote. The emphasis was on building an infra-structure for musicians through the work on Hobo. Bo had worked for Release as an adviser, hence his idea for Central Spot. However Central Spot hardly got off the ground before Bo went on his European tour with Khayyam. However through going to an executive meting of the Coventry Arts Umbrella, I met Henry West, who was both on the Umbrella Executive and the head of the Coventry Voluntary Service Council. He had just employed a Detached Youth Worker for the city centre area – Bob Rhodes (who later managed Midnight Circus / The Flys for a while). Bob needed contact with local youth to help in a similar way that Bo had intended and we needed facilities – a venue and place to organise alternative street theatre / films and music nights and printing facilities etc. It seemed a good trade-off. Bob got us the use of the Holyhead Youth Centre in 1974/5 and started an informal youth advisory service at the gigs. I was doing a Social Study course at Henley

College and it became my Social Work placement – which was good because it wouldn’t conflict with what I considered to be my Real work – HOBO! So Bo’s idea for an advisory centre came to fruition albeit without him, but stimulated by him talking about it to the press. Following on from the informal detached work at the Hobo Workshop, a drop in House for young people S.H.A.C.K. was established in 1975. I went to Canley College for some training to be an advisor. But more of the Hobo Workshop (the music and the advice work) in separate posts in a while. For now the magazine was the first base to establish.

Posted in Uncategorised | Leave a comment