Charmers - I've Got To Get A Message To You

Released in 1967, I was given a large number of singles and LP's in the early days of the original blog, in among the singles was a copy of this record, when the blog was closed this was among the records ready to download and post in the next couple of weeks.

Dave Barker I've Got To Get A Message To You

Spoof Notice

 

During the week at the fenced off stepping stones someone put up a spoof notice on both sides, if you are nimble enough you can get round the fences and use the stepping stones.

Marc Reid - The Magic Book

 

 

Issued in 1966 a year before the Gibson's version, I do not ever recall hearing this record played on the radio.

Marc Reid – The Magic Book - YouTube

Stepping Stones

 

At the present the stepping stones on the Hogsmill river are fenced off due to a Health & Safety issue, since the Longmead branch of the Hogsmill river was diverted at Chambers Mede to form the water gardens to try and remove the sewerage that Thames Water so graciously adds to this Chalk Stream, the water is now almost always over the top of the stepping stones, causing them to be slippery, I have slipped twice one getting a wet foot the other time water in my boot, also there is a lot of wear on the far side as the dogs climb up the slope next to the steps, the area behind the steps is starting to erode.

No one owns the river it is manged by the River Wandle and Hogsmill River Trust, Epsom & Ewell Council installed the stepping stones, and apparently the Enviromental Agency is responsible for the river banks. The temporary closure could drag on for some time.

 

Further down the river not too far from the Stepping Stones there is another point where sewerage is discharged into the river.

Rodney Bewes - Meter Maid

 

Often the 'B' sides of records are never featured on Compilations or Greatest Hits records/CD's, this is one of the exceptions where it is the 'B' side is on the compilations and not the 'A' the only other record I can think of where the 'B' side is on the Compilations and not the 'A' side is A New Generation where the 'B' side 'She's A Soldier Boy' is on a number of compilations, while the 'A' side Smokey Blues Away has only recently appeared on CD.

This is the second single by Rodney Bewes so far the first one has eluded me.

Meter Maid

Muddy Paws

Yesterday I had to pick up an emergency prescription for my wife, the chemist had sent me a message that the item was ready, as they allow dogs into the chemist I took  Biscuit with me and took her for her morning walk on the way back, the Hogsmill Country Park starts close to the chemists, for some reason she went into the mill pond and came out with four black legs, the mud was cleaned off when she went into the river later in the walk. 

I also saw one of the Water Voles they introduced recently into the river recently, I only found out when the reintroduced them that the Water Vole was extinct in England.

One of the first tasks I do when I turn on my Laptop in the morning is clear the spam mail, I get a few but not that many on 'lordofthebootsale' almost always about payment for my non existent McAfee account or equally non existent iCloud account, I also have an AOL account I find this one is worse for spam, I only keep it going as one organisation I belong to despite repeated requests to change my email address still sends all the correspondence to my old email account.

 

The Gibsons - The Magic Book

This 1967 record got quite a bit of radio play when it was released, though the record failed to chart, this was also a record I could not afford to buy at the time, when I was buying EP's often on the back cover would be written in pencil a name followed by 7/6d paid 5/3d to pay, people had far less disposable income in those days, though most of the annotated EP's were from earlier in the decade.

When this record was released I was in the Sea Scouts and one of the stranger thing we did was man a water point for the Devizes to Westminster canoe race at Shepperton Lock, this meant being up all night, the lock was noted as it had an electric hand dryer in the toilet, one of the of tactical objects was to get to Teddington just before High Tide so you would have the tide assist you between Teddington and Westminster, this record was played twice on the radio on the short journey between Hampton and Shepperton on both the outward journey and the return journey.  

 The Gibsons – The Magic Book - YouTube