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  • The Oldie

    Dying on stage – a survivor’s guide

    Jun 02, 2021 4 minutes

    University College London Summer Ball, 1977 – the Cambridge Footlights were booked to do a midnight cabaret.

    We came from Cambridge dressed for a ball in black tie, finding the UCL students all in jeans. Off came the ties. Then we saw the poster.

    I wish I’d kept one. It read: ‘THE FABULOUS POODLES, THE CAMBRIDGE FOOTLIGHTS and THE JAM’.

    The Poodles, a rock band fronted by Ronnie Golden, were late – so we went on at 2am, the advertised time for the appearance of the Jam. Imagine the fans’ disappointment when, instead of Weller, Foxton and Buckler, on to the stage came … us. We lasted five minutes, got howled off – pelted off. One of our gang, Jimmy Mulville, took them on.

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