10 May 2010
If only you’d give me my Lev Yashin poster back
I’ve always felt that 1966 And All That is a standout from the earliest days of the band, because in style and sentiment it presages so much of what was to follow. But then again I may be talking nonsense. The song originally comes from The Trumpton Riots EP, which was released a few months after the debut album Back in the DHSS. Later, when CDs became trendy, the album and the EP were combined, which is why nowadays we tend to attribute it to the album. Lev Yashin went to mind the great sticks in the sky within five years of the song being written, but Ferenc Puskas soldiered on for nearly 20 more years, despite the namecheck. Thanks to Tony and Nigel
See lyrics to 1966 And All That
20 Letters Sent:
Matt Lee
I think the superfluous ‘and’ on the first line here is wrong:
If it wasn’t for my pills and my psychiatric bills
And your unreliable fallopian
“If it wasn’t for my pills, my psychiatric bills and your unreliable fallopian”
May 11th, 2010
Richard Lovell
Doing this from memory but I get the tenses the other way round at the start of the chorus:
If only you’d given me my Lev Yashin poster back
Six months ago I’d return your brown anorak
May 11th, 2010
Chris The Siteowner
Not sure about that one. I know we shouldn’t take album sleeve lyrics as gospel, but here goes anyway.
May 11th, 2010
Ricardo
Talking of not taking sleeve lyrics as gospel, I think ‘guess’ makes more sense than ‘guessed’ in the fifth line, and I can’t hear the ‘and’ which supposedly comes before ‘you’d turn around quickly…’
Also it’s ‘This ape has just left Gibraltar’ rather than ‘The ape…’
May 11th, 2010
Ricardo
And while I’m on, why the exclusion of the banter at the end? I’m going for:
“Bert Trautmann lived round here. Yeah lived down the road in St Helens, he was a prisoner of war man, wasn’t he? Yeah, he had a crew-cut. Great man, great man. What about George Farm? Oh, Blackpool? Yeah. Oh, he was great. The Cat. Tangerine wizard … Stanley Mortenson!”
May 11th, 2010
Third rate Les
Ricardo’s right – you need the chatter. Although I reckon it’s Stanley Mortensen, with an “e”.
More meta-pedantry there.
It’s funny how many goalkeepers get named in HMHB songs.
May 11th, 2010
Chris The Siteowner
Yes, of course I should have put the chatter in, although I wouldn’t have got it as accurately as you did Ricardo – awesome. I guess there’s another bit before “Stanley Mortensen”?
Definitely “this ape”, thanks. I think “guessed” makes more sense grammatically though, doesn’t it? Opinions on the “and” in “And you’d turn around” are welcome.
May 11th, 2010
Richard Lovell
Doh, guess I should have read the old lyrics booklet first
May 11th, 2010
Charlie
Definitely ‘guess’, which makes sense grammatically as well (sorry Chris). But I’d keep ‘And you’d turn around’.
May 11th, 2010
dirk the purist
“The Jesus Christ of Bloomfield Road – Stanley Mortensen”
May 14th, 2010
Charles Exford
It feels odd not to be off to Wembley today for the Pay-Off Final with Mrs Exford’s family, for their blood runs truest tangerine. But Mrs Exford is leading her own team in a tournament in Germany, so I am left here to contemplate the Seasiders’ biggest match for 57 years.
As such, and because it’s the anniversary of Stanley Mortensen’s death today (and by the way it is a little known fact that he shared a birthday with our own dear Siteowner), I feel it is worth re-visiting the studio chat at the end of this beautiful lament.
NB57: Bert Trautmann lived round here.
Lancastrian Studio Voice: Yeah, lived down the road in St Helens, he was a prisoner of war man, wasn’t he?
NB57 (very muffled, something like): Didn’t he break his neck?
Lancastrian (not listening, continuing his own train of thought): Yeah, he had a crew-cut.
NB57: Great man, great man.
Lancastrian: What about George Farm?
NB 57: Oh, Blackpool?
Lancastrian: Yeah, he was great. ‘The Cat’.
NB57 (daft stream of consciousness on other Blackpool nicknames) …the Tangerine wizard (now getting silly and making nicknames up) …The Jesus Christ of Bloomfield Road
Lancastrian (seeming to take NB57 seriously, as if answering a quiz): …Stanley Mortensen!
Curse followers will note that Bert Trautmann is still alive, but we need more details on exactly when Yashin had the knee injury and the amputation which (some reports say) eventually caused his death. I think it was certainly within months of this song being recorded.
Who was it who once said: “There have been only two truly great goalkeepers. Lev Yashin and the German boy who played for Manchester (City).”? Oh yes – it was Lev Yashin.
By the way, the great Ferenc Puskas once played on the same FIFA world side as Lev Yashin, although the former was somewhat past his best and appeared only briefly as a sub, which is why he’s in his tracksuit top left in this pic.
That was 1963, a great year in so many ways, and the year when Lev was the only keeper ever to be named European Footballer of the Year. That picture should be featured in some sort of heyday-of-football-nicknames quiz. The Galloping Major, The Black Pearl, The Black Spider …somehow it beats Wazza, Jame-o, JT and Lamps, eh?
Other facts for the day:
• As manager, George Farm took Dunfermline to a European semi-final and later became a lighthouse keeper.
• Always a provider, Stanley Matthews averaged just one and a half goals per season in his 15 years at Blackpool. Mortensen of course averaged about 25. When Mortensen died on this day in 1991 they said “it’ll probably be called the Matthews funeral”.
• Stan Mortensen’s last game for England was the 6-3 thrashing by Puskas’ Hungary in 1953. But this Sunday is the anniversary of the even more devastating 7-1 thrashing in Budapest the following May. Check out YouTube for wonderful newsreel films of Puskas scoring 2 in each match and seemingly making most of the other goals.
All this and I do the word-searches for the match programme as well.
Incidentally, a yard of ale to the man who can identify the Russian-sounding folk theme being played on the keyboard which gives “1966 and All That” its haunting lilt.
May 22nd, 2010
Tonto's Expanding Waist Band
Re: Bert Trautmann chat, surely the “Lancastrian Studio Voice” is Neil Crossley? And that recurring keyboard riff… Can’t place the name right now (it’ll come to me when I least expect it)… I remember an uncle playing it for me as a kid, showing me that only the black keys are used, if that jogs anyone’s memory…
May 22nd, 2010
Tonto's Expanding Waist Band
Black keys on a piano that is…
May 22nd, 2010
Charles Exford
Why would Neil put on that accent ?
And if Neil can do accents that well, and manage to sound quite a bit older than 22 years old at the same time, then why do we have no other recorded instance of such showmanship ?
And why would they have the sort of spontaneous conversation in the studio that would be prompted by someone being impressed that there was a song mentioning Lev Yashin, when Neil would undoubtedly have been involved in many (well, maybe some
prior rehearsals and would have had to get a chance used to the idea ?
And why would Neil pretend to remember footballers who retired when he was about 1 year old or earlier ? (wheras Nigel doesn’t pretend to remember George Farm; at that point he seems to be humouring the other guy). Nobody had videos of “great goalkeepers of the 50s” in 1985.
************************************************************
Anyway, back to 1963 and all that. A great day for Holloway & Mourinho, both of that vintage (though I prefer the rough scrumpy to the Mateus Rose). I think in the euphoria of this afternoon I might have told Mrs. Exford I’ll join her in getting a season ticket at Bloomfield Road next season.
May 22nd, 2010
Ben
Exxo, re the last bit – that’s called Gloryhunting mate.
May 23rd, 2010
Charles Exford
‘Gloryhunting’ was indeed the third word in Mrs. E’s text following the final whistle, but I was too busy making bunting for the World Cup. As a devoted republican I spent the evening painting out the royal crest from the middle of all the little Spain flags.
May 23rd, 2010
Germ
At least it’s only slight glory hunting compared to the alternatives.
However any adult who changes “their” team shouldn’t really be considered a footy fan
Blackpool in the Premiership? Sounds like one of the “flights of fancy” that Neil embarks on whilst on stage
May 23rd, 2010
Neil G
I saw all the excitement in the town on the news yesterday. Everyone was saying what a boost it would be to the town when the footie fans were there for the home matches. The problem is that the ground holds only about 13,500. The most tickets they can offer to away fans would be about 3500, I’d guess. I suppose if they all took the wife and kids along to the pleasure beach while they went to the match, it might give Blackpool a reasonable shot in the arm but I don’t think it’s going to stop its demise, which is a shame. I hope the club doesn’t invest millions on increasing the ground’s capacity because they’ll probably be relegated. They don’t want to be saddled with debt.
I prefer cricket myself.
May 24th, 2010
Chris The Siteowner
Thread being moved to alt.blackpool.fans.usenet.co.uk…
May 24th, 2010
Steve Nicholls
I’m again indebted to this website.
For 25 years I thought it was “Baby French pussycats to you”
Oct 30th, 2011
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