The Life and Death of Leon Disco

SATURDAY 1st April 2017

Yesterday 26 people checked out my blog.

HI and THANKS to you all.

The blog found a new friend yesterday - a reader from Jamaica. Lovely part of the world. 

I love The Caribbean.

Now....................

Before I get stuck in to today's blog can I remind you all of the date !

I am going to hand the blog over now to my persona The Geriatric DJ...............

Yesterday I posted a comment on facebook for my former students. I was then inundated with messages so I thought I would here tell everyone about..............

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF LEON DISCO

In January 1975 I joined the staff of Leon School, a large comprehensive school on the Southern tip of the New City of Milton Keynes.

The headmaster was Mr D B Bradshaw, an old fashioned, wonderfully kind man who really cared for all of the pupils and staff members in his school.

Every Tuesday evening Mr Bradshaw ran the school disco and persuaded me to come along and help him. NO, he was not the DJ - he brought in a mobile disco to play the music.

I was then form tutor of 3 Blue and taught English within Integrated Studies in the lower school. Our Year Team Leader was the late Donald Capp, husband of Mrs Daphne Capp - Head of Music. (Daphne Capp, now in her late 80's is still a very close friend of my family.) When Don  moved to become head of music at The Lord Grey School Mr Bradshaw invited me to become Head of Year.  I could not believe the promotion and accepted with much gratitude.

When the mobile disco used for Tuesday evenings packed up and vanished Mr Bradshaw had an idea.  Instead of having an after school disco each Tuesday we could have a lunchtime disco every day in the school hall. He approached me and said the school would buy the equipment needed if I would run it.

Of course I would.  I gathered a group of lads together as DJs and Leon Disco was born. Let me play you some songs from our record collection at the very start of Mr Bradshaw's project.

The lunchtime discos were very popular among the pupils and the staff loved them as I was keeping everyone out of trouble allowing coffee and fags to be consumed in the staff room.

My aging brain can not recall why it was we stopped the lunchtime discos and reverted back to the weekly evening events but that is what happened.

So Headmaster Mr D B Bradshaw ,was the founder of Leon Disco, not myself.  I just did as I was told by my boss.  When new head Mr Bruce Abbott came along he was supportive of the discos although the caretakers were not so keen with the mess left behind and the scrubbing of the floors the next day.  Many a time I had to grovel and apologise.

The death of Leon Disco came following a break in at the school where our record collection was stolen.  Things then just faded away.  Shame !

So my facebook friends tell me the music you remember and I will play it for you on YouTube.

Since I was a young child I have loved music. Wearing now my hat as a Amazon e-book

writer - Max Robison - I tell in my Schoolboy Autobiography how at junior school a useless music teacher thought this was a subject just for girls. IU tooke her on in a battle and won !  Then in secondary school how I passed GCE O Level Music and developed a love for Mozart, Beethoven and Gilbert & Sullivan opera..

I hated my schoolboy years - education was monochrome but it did give me my life-long love of music, soething so central to my life.

Yes, I like pop music - preferably from the 1960's, 70's and 80's - today's stuff is rubbish.  I like classical. I love opera and ballet.

On Thursday evening I went to watch a Royal Opera House production of Madama Butterfly. Sadly not at Covent Garden but at Cineworld, Northampton.

My son-in-law is Operations Manager at Cineworld who take live feed from different places. On Thursday it was Madama Butterfly from The Royal Opera House.

I am listening to this beautiful piece of music as I type this blog. 

On Sunday next week I am going back to Northampton to watch The Bolshoi Ballet.  On my list of things to do before my 100th birthday is to go to Moscow and watch a live performance of the world's finest ballet company.  Tickets at the Bolshoi start at £1,000 !

My oldest grandson is an Alpha Male - look at him, looks as if butter would could not melt in his mouth ! He 

says ballet it girlie !  

Little git !  

My oldest granddaughter, however, goes to ballet classes where she ,lives. She is only five but I look forward to her being old enough for me to take to the ballet - in Moscow perhaps !

For my facebook friends in the Lewis's Department Store Group I am scribbling my memories of the two years I spent there, July 1967 to August 1969, faster than I can type them up.  This week-end I will get my backside into gear and bring The Story Of A Teenage Entrepreneur (FAILED) to the store's January sale in 1968.  That was a major turning point in my career. Staff Manager Mr H E Harris decided I should move to the Soft Furnishing department.

One of my friends at Lewis's was Tony, supervisor in the record department. How we all envied him working there.

This story, when finished, will never be a best seller on Amazon but that is not why I am writing it.

I am partly writing for my own ego trip as a time machine takes me back to those wonderful post-school teenager years

and secondly to fulfill my purpose of being the Thinking Man's Enid Blyton.

More than any author before her or after her, Enid Blyton with her Noddy In Toyland, Famous Five and Secret Seven books inspired children to write their own stories.

That is what I try to do, not children but adults, to get them to write their own stories. As I rfamble through my memories of Lewis's Department Store the writing is rubbish, no other word for it, but I hope I am doing an Enid Blyton and moving the readers to write their own stories.

And with that I guess I had better bring this blog to an end. 

This is David - aka The Gerriatric DJ - aka Writer Max Robinson - aka The Patriotic Pensioner signing off.

Speak again tomorrow.

Check the date.

FRIDAY 30th March 2017

Hi there Friends.

Thank You to the 39 who read yesterday's blog. There were readers in UK, USA, Poland, Singapore, Portugal, Germany, France and Russia.

Wow !  My ego is in overdrive.

Speaking of overdrive, will my new car have this fitted as standard ?

Later today Amazon will be paying over the royalties my e-book download sales have generated in March. I have decided tomorrow I am going to use the cash to buy a new car.

I am thrilled at the way my facebook page is developing. Six more friends yesterday. I always call those of you who read this blog my FRIENDS so if you want to shake hands on facebook that would be great.

I originally started facebook so I could join a group there made up of former employees of the Lewis's Department Store in Central Birmingham. That inspired me to write the story of my memories of the two years I spent there working as a management trainee - July 1967 to August 1969.

This story is never going to be a best seller, to anyone who did not work in the store it is probably dead boring !  However, the style of writing I have fallen in to is different for me and probably unique among authors.

Set aside the boring dribble I am writing, the text had a primary motive to inspire the reader to write himself/herself.

Did you watch my video above ?  I will not embarrass myself by telling you what my Amazon royalties actually are for the month. Among my friends on facebook are so many of my former students - do you remember what I used to say to you about writing ?

The main thrill for an author is actually writing - putting the words in order to develop the plot

and to develop the characters.  It matters nothing if anyone actually reads what has been written.  If they do then that is a bonus.

More than any other writer, before her or after her, Enid Blyton inspired children to write their own stories.  My mission is to inspire my grown up readers to set aside their inhibitions and write their stories.

In my STORY OF A TEENAGE ENTREPRENEUR (FAILED) I have written several thousand words and have just reached the Christmas party of 1967. The sods in my department spiked my drinks and I rolled home drunk.  My parents were not amused. That was the first time I was ever drunk. Actually it was also the last !  Ain't I a good boy !

So I am going to shut up now and hand the blog over to my persona THE GERIATRIC DJ,

Hello there all you pop pickers - this the one and only Geriatric DJ bringing you the very best music her on Blogger with Radio Rock.

Time to tell Radio Minus One to get stuffed and listen to some REAL music.

Let me kick off with something awesome from my youth, a hit when I was working a Lewis's Department Store.

There never was a TEENAGE OPERA I am afraid - just this lovely song.

As a kid we lived in a semi-detached house. I was determined my own home would be detached.  It matters not what kind of home you live in but LIFE SHOULD NEVER BE SEMI-DETACHED - make sure yours is a mansion.

Oh how profound and oh how philosophical.

To play out my time on Radio Rock today let me bring you Zabadak. Listen to the words - no they are not nonsense !

I'll be back tomorrow.

So this is The Geriatric DJ, Patriotic Pensioner and max wishing you an awesome day.

THE PATRIOTIC PENSIONER

A Trilogy Of Presenters

THURSDAY 30th MARCH 2017

Today we have THREE people writing this blog - The Patriotic Pensioner, Max Robinson and The Geriatric DJ (All me of course.)

So let's start with The Patriotic Pensioner - that's me in the silly hat. 

23 people read yesterday's blog, friends from UK, USA, Germany, Poland, France and Malaysia. THANKS to you all.

That's a pic of me my grandson took yesterday while I was driving him to school. Little sod - he put it on facebook, commenting on my hat and my driving. Something about a Lewis Hamilton impersonation.  I'll get revenge. You wait and see !

So twenty-three people read my blog yesterday. Have you read my DIARY by the way - that's different. Dead BORING but different. BUT an estimated half a million people watched this bit of fun when I popped it on to Twitter and invited my followers to retweet it 

The Witch Of Scotland did not have a good day yesterday. The Prime Minister told her to get stuffed and my song for her went, if not viral then semi-viral. Couldn't have happened to a nicer person could it !

I've just put this on Twitter. It will be interesting to see what happens. My referendum to see if the UK should have a referendum to see if The Witch Of Scotland should have a referendum.

OMG IU am starting to sound like that idiot Tim Farron !  Time for The Patriotic Pensioner to shut up and hand the blog over to my second persona - Writer Max Robinson.

I am determined today to spend a couple of hours working on my latest story - my teenager memories of the two years I spent as a management trainee in the giant Birmingham Department Store - LEWIS'S. Not to be confused with John Lewis, he was a poor relation to this mega store.

Yesterday I posted this on the Lewis's facebook group's page - my part helping to ;launch a new aftershave for men. Well it would be for men wouldn't it, not many women shave.

BRUT - something I remember from late 1967

In my bedroom today I have a bottle of aftershave/cologne - BRUT. For fifty years I have used this product.

Brut was launched on the male shaving population in the autumn of 1967. As a member of staff in Lewis's I was given boxes of small sample bottles to give away to customers and help launch the brand.  My circle of friends within the store, the lads of course, all received ample supplies. We were all of the same opinion, it stank and would never be a success. I offered a sample to the store's security manager. Store Detective Jim Wittan. He told me he preferred his usual aroma OLD SPICE.

Tomorrow Amazon pay up my royalties for the e-book downloads I have sold over the past month.  I am working hard in my brain to decide what I should spend the cash on.  I will tell you tomorrow.

By the way, if you want to read my teenage memories of those two years as a failed entrepreneur CLICK HERE

Time now to hand over to the third face of my personality The Geriatric DJ. 

Thank You Max - you have a good day. Hi there all you pop pickers, this is The Geriatric DJ bringing you some wonderful music from Radio Rock and my YouTube Channel.

Never forget that Life is a DISCO so get ready to DANCE.

Let's kick off the party with this.

Did you do the actions ?

That boring old fart of a radio station - Redio Minus One, banned that song !

Ok let's keep the music going with this.

And having played that I just have to keep the dancing going with..................

I have all of these songs on a CD in my car, my grandson calls it my SILLY CD.  This is actually his favourite. Yesterday parked up outside his school while we waited for the gate to open I played it in the car and we did the actions together.

Time for one more before I sign off.

Hopefully that has set you up to have a fun day.

NEVER forget that Life is a DIS|CO and the only way to live it to the full is to DANCE.

So this is THE GERIATRIC DJ signing off for today -

WRITER MAX ROBINSON saying bye -

And THE PATRIOTIC PENSIONER saying have a fantastic day.

We are, of course, all one and the same person.

National Remoaners Day

WEDNESDAY 29th MARCH 2017

Yesterday 23 people read this blog. HI to you all and THANKS for dropping by.

Today is an important day, it is Britain's very first NATIONAL REMOANERS DAY so let's celebrate shall we.

Today we tell the EU where it can stick its anti democratic dictatorship.

Did you see the picture my grandson took of me yesterday and added to facebook ? 

Adam you wait until I get round to your house later this morning to take you to school ! It's not the picture that's the problem but the comment he wrote about my hat !

(Blogger, owned by Google, you are really getting on my xxxxx with the bugs in the system ! Your formatting tool is totally NAF.)

Now speaking of facebook. I belong to the Lewis's Group where I have been recalling my youth and brainstorming memories of the two years I spent as a management trainee in this giant Birmingham department store.  Yesterday I posted this on the page:

CEDRICK AND THE GUY FROM CROSSROADS - something I remember from 1967

The mens electric shaver department on the first floor was looked after by Credick. As well as selling shavers he also took them in for repair. It was a busy counter. One day a customer cam in to buy a shaver. He chose what he wanted then proceeded to pay by cheque. Mo cheque guarantee cards back then so Cedrick asked him for his driving license to prove who he was.

"Don't you know who I am ?" The young man said, somewhat indignantly.

"No," Cedick replied.

"I am an actor.  I play the part of Sandy Richardson in Crossroads."

Crossroads was a TV soap opera.

"Oh I don't watch that rubbish," Cedrick told him. "Now do you have a driving license so I can get your cheque authorised ?"

I'll be posting more today.

Now I want to introduce you to someone new:

When I write my e-book stories my pen name is Max Robinson. For my Diary I am The Patriotic Pensioner. I have decided to take on a THIRD personality for the music I play on my YouTube Channel - let me introduce you to THE GERIATRIC DJ.

Let this blog have a daily feature to take at least a few readers away from Radio MINUS One.

Today I am going to start off my playing the tune Radio Minus One first played when this dreadful radio station came on the air on Saturday 30th September 1967.

Now something ti celebrate National Remoaners Day.

And finally one of my favourite pieces of music from those wonderful days of my youth.

As a randy teenager I had the hots for the singer of this, the first time the UK won the Eurovision Song Contest. VICTORY IN EUROPE.  Today we celebrate another victory in Europe - National Remoaners Day.

Have a WONDERFUL Wednesday and Happy Remaoners Day. Speak again tomorrow.

THE PATRIOTIC PENSIONER

Thumbs Up Tuesday

TUESDAY 28th March 2017

Hey Thank Yiou to those who read yesterday's blog - the page hit 42 - brilliant.  Friends in UK, USA and France had a read.

Don't forget I also write a diary, my new weekly page is now on-line so CLICK HERE and check me out.

I have been neglecting TWITTER, my followers are down to 17k, the lowest the numbers have been for weeks and weeks and weeks ! I need to put up a few more messages.  Are YOU FOLLOWING ME by the way ? I have just put this up.

Do you like it ?

I am fiercely patriotic, I am The Patriotic Pensioner of course. I am a member of UKIP but the party does drive me crackers at times.  I love my country and love it with a passion but I hate what some people have done to it and what many would seek to do. This lady, I use the word generously, particularly pisses me off !

In my ARROGANT OPINION everyone should be proud of their country and everyone should seek to make where they live a better place for all.

At my age it is not a good idea to wish away the days but I can not wait to be rid of this hideous European Union.  I hope I live long enough to see the whole rotten edifice collapse and disappear.

Right - now I've got that off my chest let me tell you what is happening in my corner of this wonderful world of ours. This facebook thing is in danger of becoming addictive. I am

working like crazy typing up my braistorm of notes for the two years, July 1967 to August 1969, I spent as a trainee in Lewis's, Birmingham. Today I plan to put up a couple of things on the Lewis's facebook page. The memories are like entering a time machine.  I do believe that time travel is possible you know. It is scientifically possible.

If you read my story THE GREAT PRETENDER you will see how I take the theory of quantum mechanics, wrap it round with my vivid imagination and the license any writer has permission to use.

Perhaps a better story from my library to explain the theory is my TIME TRAVEL TRILOGY  (BLOGGER I wish you would soirt your damn formatting tools out on this site - you are driving me nuts !) 5.45am - ime for me to go and have a bath, get dressed Then take the dogs for a walk - Yeh dog (s) plural. My daughter's dog, Lucy, is staying with us while her Mum, my daughter, is in hospital. then when I come back I'll be off to take my grandson, Adam, to school. THEN I'll come back and finish writing today's entry.

So in cyber speak - BRB or in proper English - hang on a moment. While you wait have a listen to this stupid song.

OK BACK. 8.30am.

Two dogs walked. Grandson taken to school and I even found time to go to McDonald's for breakfast. How's that for the day.  Here's a pic Adam took of me when I picked him up. You can see what he wrote on facebook  If you are reading this blog you are welcome to become a friend. HEY GEEKS AT BLOGGER YOUR WEBSITE FORMATTING IS REALLY STARTING TO PISS ME OFF !  Sorry my to readers, I know I need a new paragraph but the words will not wrap round the picture properly so I am rambling on until I move down the page.

Like this !

In the car Adam told me what he wants me to write for the next part of the story we are working on  together - FIREBALL XL5. 

Adam says I am not allowed to add the story to my e-books on Amazon but I will get round him. On Friday Amazon will be paying me my royalties for the month. (OH THIS STUPID BLOGGER WEBSITE FORMATTING - damn Geeks don't they get on your nerves !)  So Amazon pay me on Friday, Saturday I will be spending the money. I know exactly what I plan to do withe the cash.  I will tell you in a future blog what I will be doing. For now just remember what the date will be on Saturday,

Have a great day.

THE PATRIOTIC PENSIONER

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