My grandmother had one and as a child I was fascinated by the soft fur, the claws and the beady eyes that kept staring at me. There was a fascination but also a revulsion at such cruelty and the later emotion took over. I was on a press trip to Finland and staying in a hotel with a huge foyer and along one wall there were tall glass cases and inside each one a full length fur coat – magnificent creations of all ‘breeds’ from mink to ocelot pictured above
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There was no embarrassment because these coats were made to keep people warm in winter, certainly fashion items but practical at the same time. I could admire them but no matter how cold or how much money I may have they would never be for me.
NO SOUND LIKE CLUB SOUND
They were the cream of the crop, everyone had heard of Clubsound when they were at their height sixty years ago and still they go on – at least until the Coronavirus hit.
Records show that this group of talented musicians were one of the most successful show band groups from Northern Ireland.
The original line-up of the band featured George Jones and drummer Tommy Thomas who wrote all the comedy material & Harry Hickland. They started as a backing band and played skiffle before evolving into comedy cabaret, with a few locally successful singles, including Belfast Belfast and Shankill Airways.
The band was lead by George Jones but it was a tight knit group and over the years included Barry Woods, Alan McCartney and Dave McKnight, and Jimmy Black. Sadly one member Billy Bingham died a few weeks ago.
But times change, especially in the world of entertainment, some survive but many others are struggling to get through this awful pandemic. Some have turned to other ways of making living, using zoom to reach their public but the stages aren’t there anymore for the one thing they all love best – making people happy.
If ever I want to reinvent the wheel I’ll be asking George Jones for help. He’s a man who for over 70 years has kept his wheel turning, sometimes it slows down, it might even threaten to stop on occasions but such is his energy and faith George peddles away and it’s up and running in no time. All this despite the fact that for the last 15 years he has suffered a complex back problem which is inoperable but the agony doesn’t show when he’s performing.
Take this year for instance. He and the Clubsound boys had a massive hit with their Rock & Roll Years touring the 50s and 60s music and cabaret show throughout Northern Ireland, they had just finished when ‘lock down’ struck and everything on track stopped – including George. He admitted to me he hasn’t played a note of music since February, unheard of since he was a 13 year old boy when his beloved sister Lally bought him a guitar. Immediately he formed The Monarchs skiffle group with a mate called Van Morrison and the boys from Bloomfield were a hit.
His record is remarkable over 60 years playing the guitar and singing, 50 years with Clubsound, sadly this year’s celebrations have had to be postponed and the promised reception at the City Hall will have to wait as will the anniversary tour.. He was 35 years in broadcasting, his programme won awards, had 87,000 loyal listeners; it broke his heart when BBC decided to drop the show and replace George, something that devastated the man, deeply effecting his life both mentally and emotionally. However, U105 scooped him up and he build a fan base in no time and once more became one of the most popular broadcasters on radio. But the hurt remained.
His Charity Work Is Well Known
He was always one of our most loved celebrities usually making a front row appearance in Children in Need even being invited to London to join the Riverdance cast, donned Michael Flatley’s blue silk shirt and acquitted himself extremely well. On another occasion he designed a dress for Paul Costello, modelled by Miss NI. He’s a versatile entertainer who has acted, appeared in musicals and with jazz drummer Tommy Thomas wrote a successful comedy play.
There have also been many dangerous times travelling Ireland during The Troubles entertaining audiences from all cultures and backgrounds, the band were residents at the Abercorn in 1972 surviving the terrible bomb that exploded late one Saturday afternoon killing two young women and injuring 130 others.
So from touring the world and hitting the heights, the Corona Virus threatened to stop George in his tracks but it failed, indeed it opened up new horizons.
This is the side of George Jones the public are yet to discover. George Jones the artist.
Again it was his big sister Lally who came on some sketches her brother had drawn when he was at school .
“I started colouring them in and I became so involved that I began painting and in the last three years I’ve produced over 200 paintings. I’ve only walked away from one, I didn’t like the railway track in the snow as it disappeared into the night under a pink moon but maybe I’ll go back to it some day!” All George’s tracks lead somewhere!
As friends discover George’s talent, a God given talent he insists, he’s getting commissions and is considering a dedicated web page and an exhibition when the time is right.
Many Works Have A Religious Theme
This is no accident. Six years ago George became a Christian. He admits he learned tolerance and gives thanks for surviving The Troubles when, like so many musicians and entertainers, he brought happiness to all sides of the religious divide. His art is a powerful force in his life.
“I played in a band in church but sometimes I just had to lay down my guitar and take up a pad and sketch, some divine inspiration encouraged me to draw and it has saved my sanity.”
From a state of depression after the BBC experience, through his faith he has found it in his heart to forgive and to acknowledge that radio is a young persons game these days although many would dispute that.
It was his daughter Natalie who talked of God guiding her through the blindness she was born with that impressed her father.
“She invited me into church and it has changed my life. I now realise that all I have done throughout my life, good and bad, has been watched over by God from that day in Bloomfield when our wee Skiffle group played for our parents. My father was sitting there with his cap on his knee and when I asked him what he thought he said, ‘It was all right.’
“But he added something I’ve never forgotten. ‘Don’t forget son you’ll never get anywhere playing that wee ukule-lillie’”!
Well, basically the guitar, good fellow musicians and a fantastic drive to make music has taken that son round the world and back. Now he’s spending his time perfecting his techniques on canvas but music is still in his heart. He has some story to tell and that’s next, a book entitled You’ll never get anywhere playing that wee Ukule-lillie..
DOES THE LEFT HAND KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT HAND IS DOING?
What is going on in Boris Johnson’s brain? Has he lost the plot? One minute it’s one thing the next something else and now the question mark hangs over students and Christmas. Sure it’s a dilemma but how on earth can you keep thousands of young people holed up in cramped accommodation for days and days – that’s another form of cruelty. The thought of it makes me cry and I don’t even have anyone in that situation. They are still children to some extent, grown up enough to leave home and get on with their lives and studies but most in the knowledge that there is a place for them at the table and a mum to spoil them with home cooking and a washing machine. Imagine a teenager attending university and it’s their first year away from all they know and love. It’s been traumatic already, especially in Scotland, and now this prospect to contend with. There seems to be signs that these restrictions will be looked at again but it’s this dilly dallying that is so hard to take. Confusion reigns for all of us.
Johnson needs to wise up and not just throw catch phrases at us, he should be a writer for a TV quiz show when he leaves his present job. How soon might that be!
And then there’s the Trump extravaganza coming up the line like an express train. I’m afraid he’ll wipe the floor with Biden, make him uncomfortable so that the older man will begin to hesitate and appear unable to cope with the deluge of words and sneers.
Come to think of it, Johnson and Trump could join forces, open a production company and make reality tv shows where the contestants are belittled and befuddled. Oh wait, hasn’t Trump already done that?
Keep being wise and sensible, don’t take risks. And please big grown up men who feel it’s beneath them to wear a mask – stop behaving like sulky babies and grow up.