Not Bishop Brennan arrived just as we’d been talking about him passing out at Stowmarket, and I was eventually able to answer Nigel’s quiz question about The Real Bishop’s first name (Len). If there is any justice, this fabulous song will be a world-wide smash hit. It would certainly go down a storm on 6 Music. And we heard it first here, during our musical pilgrimage. I think you’ll find that I specified the name of a town or city, on the assumption that ‘Oblong of Dreams’ will refer to Wirral. Was hoping to get a setlist to confirm but it went to the attention-seeker who was whirling her arms Kate Bush style for most of the gig having opened the evening by thinking my wife might be interested in the fact that she was a lesbian. Sic transit gloria mundi.

He’s a poor lad’ in the words of Eddie Waring. Inexplicable miss even with the saturated pitch. Not a nice watch.

The A to Z of HMHB

Whilst they may no longer be a Probe Plus band, the name of the new label is to die for! Thanks NB10. This makes me unfeasibly excited. My day job is as minister of a United Reformed Church, in the Wirral, which regularly regularly rents a room to a chap who sells Persian rugs. Surely Nigel has either been to visit, or at least seen the copious signs put up around the place! Pleased that James Scowcroft was in attendance. He could well have been, of course. He’s still local, coaching at the Town Academy. An aside. Should probably not respond but not letting the accusation go. Who’d have guessed the homophobic card would get played? Not sure what my ‘phobia’ is supposed to be.

Karl was wearing an Inner City Unit Acid Punk t-shirt. (Some Hawkwind off-shoot, according to Andrew). Everyone else in the band was wearing plain tops. Nigel said that they had been to the Charles Darwen museum in Shrewsbury. A maximum of ten people were allowed in. There were eight people in the queue, so the band just barged in at the front, thereby proving Darwen’s theory of natural selection. C’est pas ce qu’on crois” is idiomatic enough, but it should be “angoisse” and “fleurs”— her “fleur-euh” is way over the top. Or maybe I have it all wrong. We were at a wedding reception recently over the water, Hulme Hall. I know The Beatles played there but have Nigel and the band also played there before ? Fascinated For those that like quizzes, the walk on music (Nice one Cyril) was the first recoding by which well known drummer ? He’s still going strong 50 years later and I’m a big fan of his current band. I don’t think many others on here will be though. (Answer available on Google)

Yes, of course it was Matinee Idle that introduced me to HMHB, I’m here now because Simon Morris announced the new album last week. I’m a long time listener and have 3 of their T Shirts! Wow wow wow. Fantastic show, and a blast hanging out with y’all pre- and post-gig. Camper van Beethoven has a lot of personal meaning for me, I felt like I was 20 years old again when Nigel sang the opening lines of TtSB. That adjective was “rival”. I suggested Trevor – which he could also have sung, I suppose. Somebody behind me snorted, possibly in derision. Changes are afoot at 6 Music. They seem to be planning various cuts and mergers. HMHB don’t get a lot of airplay to start with. So there probably won’t be much difference.

An admirable stroke. It takes a bold man to reduce his nearest-the-bull radius by 50% by choosing a port like that. See also Neston or Burton mere (RSPB). I was thinking of going for one of the corners of the Oblong – Morrisons in West Kirby or New Brighton is bound to get a mention sooner or later – but that reduces the radius by 75%. I have become a dithering old man with an impoverished sense of daring-do. Another band meeting was taking place outside the venue, at which Neil let us know that he’d passed the tunes for three new songs on to Nigel, and was just waiting for the words to be attached. After four decades, Neil is still easing his way into the band. He got mixed up between the opening notes of Oblong Of Dreams and When I Look At My Baby, playing one while the rest of the band was playing the other. We tried to record The Hitchers set as best we could. We’d five cameras one of which died, another just filmed Andys legs (but we got some audio) and there was little more than white noise on the drummer cams audio.The first of theirs not on (now dormant) Probe Plus, so support the new label R M Qualtrough. And if you don’t know who/what R M Qualtrough is/was…“

We were looking at some of the videos from 2013, when HMHB last appeared here. The band’s following travels in bigger numbers than ten years ago, so we were apprehensive about breathing space, particularly after the problems that some folk were having with the heat at the Leamington gig in March. Left now with a sore knee, lots of good memories and a resolute determination to avoid Sandbach services on the trip north. I always got my HMHB stuff from Probe and got Geoff to sign it. (He always obliged). How do I do that now?

Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton gig – 6 October 2023

Exxo is quite correct in his exxegesis on the “The XXXX Years” trope. The first example I can recall is the 1981 TV miniseries “Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years”, which Sue Townsend parodied in “Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years”, the predecessor to “The Cappuccino Years”. Having listened to the live session on the Andy Kershaw podcast (link upthread), I’ve got “I’m Getting Buried In The Morning” going round in my head already. Top stuff. Can’t wait for the full album. I think it would be nice for Devizes to get a mention, but hopefully a more positive one than Mr Maconie gave it in one of his books. Incidentally, Swindon won the League Cup in 1969. Have to notion to enquire of those of you who posted phone vids of us would you mind if I copied it and mixed it with some of our own? Your front of the house perspective is better than ours for both video and sound. When I Look At My Baby”. One that gives me a nagging feeling I’m missing a reference; Jeff D can no doubt fill in that one.