Author Archives: Bruce

The Band That Prog Forgot

In 1967 it was unheard for an unknown band to be asked to headline at the Marquee club in London.  But the Marquee’s manager, John Gee, believed 1-2-3 to be the best band he’d ever seen — a Scottish trio comprising of Harry Hughes, drums; Ian Ellis, bass and Billy Ritchie, organ (l to r on photo).  Often John Gee had to come on stage and interrupt to calm the audience and tell them that if they wanted boring R&B … Continue reading

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Bass Player Seeks Gig

It’s been a while since I posted anything …  Mike Miller sent me this a while ago and it still raises a chuckle.  To be honest, I had to read it twice to decide whether or not it really is a spoof.

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New Interview

I’ve just done a new interview with Mr Harry Pye of The Rebel magazine if any of you would like to take a look. http://therebelmagazine.blogspot.co.uk/

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Ye Olde Gigge Liste

I was rummaging through some boxes in the loft when I came across some old gig lists for the first six months of my time as an Attraction.  Back in the day, before the office provided us with printed schedules, I used to write it all out meticulously … as you can see. The rehearsal on July 3 was the first time the four of us got together and played as a unit at the same time in the same place.  … Continue reading

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Face to Face

                A while ago I started playing around with photo-manipulations of peoples’ faces.  I long ago noticed (like you probably have) that most peoples’ faces are not symmetrical.  One eye usually has a different expression to the other — and the mouth is usually slightly lopsided. Without going into all the science of it (which would fill several books) there’s sound evidence to support the idea that one half of the face (usually … Continue reading

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Visual Puns

Moving on from the last post which featured some notable look-alikes, what about these ‘visual puns’? Who wouldn’t be amused by placing of the rivets on this ad seen on the side of a Bangkok city bus?  And who’d fail to get a chill if they received a letter with this stamp and postmark?              

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The Greatest Movie Never Made

The Attractions Story! … featuring Nicholas Lyndhurst  as the Drummer, Gabriel Byrne as the Keyboard Player, and Frank Carson as the Singer.   I would demand to be played by Kiefer Sutherland — but most likely Donald would get the call.               Mike Miller asks who would play “the Manager”.  Step forward Harry H Corbett of Steptoe fame.  The Manager himself seems OK with the casting , but Harry H doesn’t look too sure. Perhaps we should … Continue reading

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Scratching Post

Yesterday my cat Lucy watched as I was topping up the oil under the bonnet (hood) of my car.  Of course, cats have a natural curiosity about them.  But she didn’t come any further than the garden gate as I’d previously impressed upon her (more than once) that were she to venture into the road, she’d almost certainly be flattened into a two-dimensional tabby wall-hanging by a runaway juggernaut carrying twenty-two tons of concrete blocks and a replacement propeller for … Continue reading

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