Mary Burgoyne and the Scouse accent

Pretty self-explanatory
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Otis Westinghouse
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Mary Burgoyne and the Scouse accent

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

I met this music journo geezer the other day at a bash. My wife was calling me over to talk to him shouting 'Otis, Otis, this man knows Costello's first wife'. He referred to her as Mary Costello and said he knew her from her radio show, and seemed appalled I didn't know she'd ever done one. A quick search revelas her name to be Mary Burgoyne. Don't know if that's what she uses/used for the show. He was the kind of guy who wants to prove his worth by knowing stuff you won't, and said that Costello's Liverpool accent came from one term at Liverpool university. Now I have not read any of the Costello biogs, I'm waiting for a decent one, but I knew this to be bullshit. I know that when his parents split, he want to Liverpool with his mum as a teen. Google confirms this. He patronisingly dismissed this as a Costello myth, insisting his version was true. So, biospecialists, is it not the case that:

1. Costello went to POPland as a teen at secondary school.

2. His mixed London/Scouse (and as we've discussed before, more London in his early days than latterly) accent is a legitimate product of the split upbringing.

3. He never attended any university, even for a term, he went from school to being a computer programmer.

This guy attended a Pistols + Clash gig at the West Runton Pavillion on the Anarchy tour in '76 (or was he making that up too?). I've camped in that town, it's a tiny, sleepy place on the Norfolk coast, This was when they had to go to obscure venues as nowhere else would have them. Must have been incredible. He was also describing brilliant things like a 1978 Gang of Four, Pere Ubu and Delta 5 gig. Some night out. I wonder if anyone here knows of the latter. Great indie band who did memorable singles like Mind Your Own Business. Two basses. Zebrasssss's one redeeming feature was that she knew their stuff. not sure if they ever made an LP.
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norman brain
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Post by norman brain »

Otis, every bio I've read on EC backs you up. Nevertheless, I'd be interested in hearing some of Mary's radio shows. I wonder if anybody has collected them on tape or elsewhere.
Richard
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Post by Richard »

Otis, the guy sounds like he is full of crap. But even the illusion of seeing Pere Ubu & Gang Of Four in the late 70's let alone on the same bill sounds like some kind of Holy Grail. If you are going to fabricate scenes of past glory this guy really hit the nail on the head.

I remember seeing an ad in a UK music paper for a Joy Division/Dexy's double bill. Or maybe I dreamed it!

As for Delta 5 I recall having a single with a very catchy song called Anticipation on it. ('The anticipation is so much better') I don't recall if this was the A or B side & what the other track was has long since left my memory bank. Just thinking of Anticipation has the tune stuck in my brain though. I recall them being a little like Altered Images but not as popular.

Anyway thank you for being the catalyst for some pleasant musical memories.
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Tim(e)
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Re: Mary Burgoyne and the Scouse accent

Post by Tim(e) »

Otis Westinghouse wrote:This guy attended a Pistols + Clash gig at the West Runton Pavillion on the Anarchy tour in '76 (or was he making that up too?). I've camped in that town, it's a tiny, sleepy place on the Norfolk coast, This was when they had to go to obscure venues as nowhere else would have them. Must have been incredible. He was also describing brilliant things like a 1978 Gang of Four, Pere Ubu and Delta 5 gig. Some night out. I wonder if anyone here knows of the latter. Great indie band who did memorable singles like Mind Your Own Business. Two basses. Zebrasssss's one redeeming feature was that she knew their stuff. not sure if they ever made an LP.
Well, if this site is to be believed, Delta 5 did indeed tour with Gang of Four and Pere Ubu, but it was in 1981, not 1978:
============
Q: Where did you play? Who were your favorite bands to play with?

We played all over the U.K., Holland, Belgium, Italy, Finland (with the Slits), and the east and west coasts of the U.S. My favorite bands were the Gang of Four and Pere Ubu -- we had a great time touring with them in 1981 -- and I also enjoyed supporting the B-52s.

============

Also, according to this Pistols Diary 1976 there is no Clash/Pistols show at the West Runton Pavillion - they did however play together at the Black Swan in Sheffield (the Clash's debut), The Screen on the Green at Islington in London, The 100 Club Punk Festival, and at the Leeds Polytechnic.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Thanks for the confirmation re the Costello bullshit.

His memory is somewhat blurred, but further research on http://www.johnnylydon.com/Sex_pistols_gig_list.php reveals that the Pistols played at the Village Inn in Runton, which is a little wrong as there is no Runton per se, only East and West Runtons! And maybe similarly the Village Inn and the Pavillion are muddled. I'll have to carry out some research on a future camping trip!

The Clash are cited as playing this very Pavillion the following May on the White Riot tour http://www.gpjones.free-online.co.uk/Ba ... ester.html

Details not his strong point, as witnessed with the Gof4 et al date. Apparently he was a bit of a druggie, so maybe this explains. He worked on the Vox magazine in the 90s, and a little searching reveals interviews with the likes of Bjork and Joe Strummer. Anticipation was a double A with You.

I never knew Joy Divison supported Dexy's. August 8 1979 at the Romulus Club in Birmingham! This brilliant site gives you the lowdown: http://members.aol.com/lwtua/c1979.htm

This is a real fan's site. The ticket and the poster of the above are scanned, as are many others. Some of these are instantly familiar from hours poring over the NME as a 15 year old, e.g. the 4 day Prince of Wales YMCA event. Boy is that a snapshot of the cool indie bands of the day. Hands up who remembers Prag Vec! I loved that name, and can even remember drooling over their weird haircuts and clothes and wanting to be one of them. There's also a Manchester gig featuring John the Postman, made legendary in 24hourpartypeople. Great stuff.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

God the internet is a funny place. Two seconds with Prag Vec in google and I found not only the NME article I recall about them, but the photos too. Not exactly as I recall (it wasn't the clothes nor were the haircuts weird, it was just the gawky necks and the air of yet another indie individual band to check out, though I don't remember any of their music), but every detail is familiar. It's incredible how much you can take in as a 15 year old with your eyes wide open.

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~flare/nme790616.html

I don't recall any of their music. Big time respect to anyone who does!
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PlaythingOrPet
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Post by PlaythingOrPet »

I have land named after me? How nice.

St. Francis Xavier's choir (which EC was probably a member of) features on the official England footy song (The Farm one). How's that for a completely useless fact? I'm full of 'em!

You thought Elvis was working class, right? Well, SFX is actually a very posh and exclusive school. But I didn't tell you that, ok?
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

What I made is unclear now
But his deference is, and his laughter is

God that's good. I'm happy to see you're obviously a fan.
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selfmademug

Post by selfmademug »

So I'm on BBC2 now, telling Terry Wogan how I made it.
It's funny, I have had that song in my head ALL day (am going to see them tomorrow for the second time, hooray!!) and was thinking I must change my signature to the line....
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Post by laughingcrow »

It'd be awesome if EC was an alumni of those fabled ( :? ) halls of Liv Uni.......like me! but Ive never heard that little factoid!
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

That's cos it's a little fictionoid!

Nice to see you back, LC. You have been missed. Too bad Scotland ain't in the Euro.
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