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Tom Tower's Boys Club. Location: Stoke Road, Hinckley. Date: 1979. |
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The Boys Club All-dayers were, to say the least, a labour of love. It was the
first attempt by the HSC to organise and promote their own national venue, and
believe me, it's hard work. A massive hall, used primarily as a sports hall, had
all the facilities of a gym. And that's all. Apart from the Mr. Men murals, which
added a certain atmosphere. It was about two miles from the centre of Hinckley, hidden up a small road at the bottom of Hollycroft Hill, easy to find if you lived in the area, but if you were traveling in, damn near impossible. This predicament led to scouting parties being organised to tour Hinckley, searching for lost soulies to give them directions! Left: Dave, Dave, Caron, Jo, and Jez running the Badge Bar. |
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The Boy's Club was a well-lit venue, with dozens of skylights, that had to be obscured by
black bin liners to get the right atmosphere. A stage was built for the first
attempt, which led to many a jumping record, so the second attempt resulted
in the decks being installed in the kitchen, requests being taken through
the serving hatch. Tasty! Still, the DJs turned up, and then some punters turned up and... hang on, this is working! Nobody was as shocked as us to see a home-brewed All-dayer actually happening. In fact, some of us retired to the pub halfway through the first dayer to celebrate! Right: Norman Horobin, Caron Hutt and Graham Evans. |
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The HSC was lucky enough to secure the services of DJs of the calibre of John Manship,
Chris King and Nev Wherry, probably due (yet again) to the
influence of... guess who? Brian Rae. The music theme was predominantly oldies, with tracks like 'I'm Not Built That Way' - The Hesitations, 'By Yourself' - JD Martin, 'She'll Come Running Back' - Mel Britt and 'I Hurt On The Other Side' - Jerry Cook being the in-demand tunes. "Wanted In Three States" by Larry Clinton and "Strange Change" by Herb Ward were the biggies at the time. Left: Neil Kear, Elaine Horobin and Corrine. Note cardboard stuck up at the windows! |
| It was around this time that we received the sad news that Nev Wherry and his girlfriend Christine Waller had tragically died. Nev had the best collection of Stateside ever. Period. Rest in peace, Nev. |
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| Unfortunately, the odds were stacked against the HSC, mainly due to the poor location, and the Boy's Club all-dayer quickly closed, as it was logistically unviable. Still, it was good fun while it lasted! |