Fashions in Music at CH

[MaryB]

The Erl King must have been the musical equivalent of Hiawatha, taught to generations. We did it in AT with Miss Cordery.

[Fjgrogan]

I have the recording of Noyes Fludde from All Saints, Hertford. It was amongst the pile of records just passed on by my sister as she declutters my father's flat, so I probably have at least two copies, because I am sure I already had a copy of my own. I think both my daughters were in it - Maria I think on percussion and therefore producing thunder (I'm sure she will correct me if I have got it wrong!) and Kirri as something like a wave?

[mvgrogan]

One of their hits was "I'm not in love and don't forget it".

That was Rose Royce I think...before my time

Does anyone remember performing Noye's Fludde by Benjamin Britten in the church in Hertford?

Yes it was the school's farewell to the town. I was indeed on percussion, although I seem to remember my percussion teacher, Mary Smith, taking the beater from me at the last moment and playing the loudest, most important "crash" herself - She didn't think I would do it justice for some reason!

I think the idea was that everymember of the school was involved, so there were a lots of waves & raindrops, naturally, all covered in glitter, which we continued to find an all sorts of places for ages afterwards... even after the move to Horsham

I still have Tom Lehrer's songs on tape and regularly play them.

this has rubbed off on me... anyone heard of Les Barker?

[Vonny]

Yes it was the school's farewell to the town. I was indeed on percussion,

I have vague recollections of this but can't remember what I actually did. Although I think it involved wearing a fluffy costume of some description

[fra828]

Lynn, don't you remember we had such an eclectic record collection in the Study? Elton John -we knew all the words.Faure's Requiem , the Bruch violin concerto and Dark Side of the Moon (which you either knicked from your brothers or was present from them?) and not much else. I certainly had no records of my own and I don't know where those came from.
Do you also remember those music apprecition lessons or general music or whatever they were called? The music staff were possibly compelled to provide this quaint little opportunity which was meant to improve our understanding and appreciation of classical music. I feel the hand of DR on this somewhere. Bless them, they decided to offer us the opportunity of providing the music .I will never forget their faces when Freya Pinsent and Elizabeth ? exposed us to The Who in all its decadent glory.I don't think that was exactly what they had in mind...I think we thought how funny and shocking we were at the time but I expect the staff feigned shock to allow us to enjoy the joke.I hope they weren't offended as they were sweet and meant well..

Yes I do remember the odd collection of records we had - I also had Brahm's 2nd piano concerto. There was also "Venus and Mars" and what was that group we all went mad over? Was it 10 CC or something? One of their hits was "I'm not in love and don't forget it".

The music staff were nice about those appreciation lessons.
Does anyone remember performing Noe's Fludde by Benjamin Britten in the church in Hertford?

'I'm Not in Love' was 10cc, one of my favourite singles from 1975.

[Kim2s70-77]

Noye's Floode must have been performed on more than one occasion if it was a "Farewell to Hertford" in the 80s. Ms Taverner was responsible for a performance in the early to mid 70s - I believe I was a Wave flooding down the aisle - resplendent in leotard and floaty aqua-coloured chiffon!!

[mvgrogan]

Was it 10 CC or something? One of their hits was "I'm not in love and don't forget it".

'I'm Not in Love' was 10cc, one of my favourite singles from 1975.

Told you it was before my time.. I'd have been 6 years old! Sorry!

[chaosriddenyears]

Noye's Floode must have been performed on more than one occasion if it was a "Farewell to Hertford" in the 80s. Ms Taverner was responsible for a performance in the early to mid 70s - I believe I was a Wave flooding down the aisle - resplendent in leotard and floaty aqua-coloured chiffon!!

Yes, I was one of the gossips - either lust or avarice, I can't remember. Mrs. Dawson made wonderful animal masks. The waves were really effective coming down the aisle and sides of the church in a two-step forward , one back kind of rhythm while lifting the floaty material upwards and then down again. And wasn't Mr. Upton the Voice of God?

[Fjgrogan]

Re Noyes Fludde; I have finally fought my way through the clutter to reach the record collection and find that I have SIX copies of the 1975 recording of this. Since it is obviously not the performance that my girls were in prior to leaving Hertford, I would be happy to pass on a copy to anyone who has a desperate urge to own one!

[englishangel]

I think Jude is the one who has been desperate for one.

[Requested Removal 18]

Always remember a specific couple of albums being flogged to death in the mid 80's in Maine A - Chris Jupp was always playing "Friends" by the Bolshoi (have had a copy for a few years now) and Go! Box Frenzy by Pop Will Eat Itself which Olly Fenton would not stop playing in the dorm. Got that one too...

Si Gibbs always used to bring his stereo down to the showers and play loads of mainly electronic stuff such as New Order, Depeche Mode and The Communards. And in my last term I had the study above the toilets at the back of the house so I ran a speaker down into the toilets and played Radio 1 constantly during the day. Boogie on the Bog rocked!

[Straz]

Wow! That's an amazingly long thread!

Clearly contemporary music has played a huge part in many people's lives at CH. It certainly did for me during the early 70s, leading to an eventual career as a pop music journalist in the early 80s.

When I first arrived at CH (LHA, 1969), the singles chart was all-important. We regularly gathered around a transistor radio on Sunday afternoons to hear the new chart, to see which records had come in to the top 30, and, most crucially, what was number 1! Occasionally - shock, horror - a "good" record - such as Free's "All Right Now" would actually get near the top, but more often than not it was ghastly novelty record, such as The Mixtures "Pushbike Song" or the equally hideous Pipkins with "Gimme Dat Ding"...

Gradually, as we progressed through CH and moved up to senior houses, the singles chart no longer mattered. Prog Rock and albums were where it was at, maaan. Led Zeppelin, Captain Beefheart, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Jethro Tull, The Faces, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Van Der Graf Generator, Roxy Music, John Martyn, Yes, Genesis and, of course, Pink Floyd, became essential listening, from Peele A to Lamb B. One of the most played albums of the early 70s at CH was Hawkwind's In Search Of Space. On one particular day, I recall dropping in to the dayrooms of three different houses to hear the same album emanating from different record players. Far out!

I also vividly recall hearing Santana's Third album for the very first time, in highly memorable circumstances at CH. Some enterprising wag had taken out a huge pair of hi-fi speakers on to the asphalt between Lamb A and the dining room, split the speakers about 30 feet apart, set up chairs and floor cushions in front of them, and proceeded to play this phenomenal piece of Latin rock at mega volume. About 20 of us all ended up listening to the album. Incredible!

Around this time, I also recall that singer-songwriter Michael Chapman (who was signed to Harvest) played a concert in Big School. As far as I can remember it was the first time that a major contemporary act had visited CH. The show had quite a big effect on me, and I started to go to gigs during the holidays.

The music press was also avidly read around this time. Most dayrooms had copies of NME, Sounds or Melody Maker lying around. They were our bibles, and I decided that I would try and write for one of the "inkies", if I could.

Some years later, I managed to realise my dreams. I worked at Melody Maker from 1980-86, initially on the production side of things, and then moving across to news reporting and feature writing. Bands I met and interviewed included Eurythmics, Tears for Fears, Everything But The Girl and The Housemartins. I also managed to survive three interviews with the dreaded King Kurt...

All in all, CH had a huge influence over my musical tastes. And, by the sound of it, it's had a lasting effect on many other Old Blues, too.

[englishangel]

The music press was also avidly read around this time. Most dayrooms had copies of NME, Sounds or Melody Maker lying around. They were our bibles, and I decided that I would try and write for one of the "inkies", if I could

I think this one sentence sums up the difference between Hertford and Horsham.

[adlop]

Paul Strange......

Paul Strange......

You ever had a stripgram delivered to your desk at Melody Maker......?

[Jo]

The music press was also avidly read around this time. Most dayrooms had copies of NME, Sounds or Melody Maker lying around. They were our bibles, and I decided that I would try and write for one of the "inkies", if I could

I think this one sentence sums up the difference between Hertford and Horsham.

Well, maybe not lying around the dayroom, but I remember reading first Sounds, then Melody Maker, and then NME (in ascending order of coolness) from about the 4th form upwards. Franny Hayman's brother Martin (who may have gone to CH, I can't remember???) wrote for either Melody Maker or NME in the 70s. Franny was my age, Martin several years older (ie probably late 50s now).