> ''goodbye'', mary hopkin >I loved this song too! I wonder whatever happened to Mary Hopkin? >Those were the days, my friend.... >Mark E >oh mark! i have everything on cd!!!! >wally I first heard of Mary Hopkin when her version of 'Those Were the Days' was used in British football stadiums to taunt the opposition. Liverpool Football Club fans, for example, would sing "Those were the days, we took the Stretford End." The 'Stretford End' serving metonymically (or is this an example of 'synecdoche'?, discuss, using both sides of the paper.) for chief rivals Manchester United's 'turf', and therefore, by extension, the whole club. 'Taking', in this context, is a euphemism for beating up the rival fans. Football Hooliganism was rife at that time, a situation now mostly under control, except at jingoistic nationalistic moments, still all too frequent, I know. She was, and is, Welsh of course but I don't know (maybe Wally does?) if she ever recorded anything in Welsh. She was for a time 'linked' (though not at the pelvis apparently) with Paul McCartney and I believe she married Tony Visconti, who produced many class acts back in the 70s, including Bowie if I am not mistaken. She was very popular in Wales, and a source of national pride for many Welsh people (we are a small country) until the arrival of the mighty Bonnie Tyler (any comments, Mack?) and later generations such as the Manics, Catatonia and the Super Furry Animals. Aye, those were the days alright. And there's Tom Jones, too, of course. First LPs I bought: In the mid-sixties in North Wales we had pirate radio (Radio Caroline North) and I spent most of those years taping songs from the radio onto reel-to-reel. Impossible to listen to them now because of all the morse code and other shipping sounds in the background. Anyway, this meant that I was into music but not into buying music. When I finally bought a turntable I bought three LPs on the same day, in order to hear the music I liked in better quality, namely Dylan's Greatest Hits (Vol 1) (What is that book on the cover?), Sweet Baby James, and Tapestry. First Single I bought: Can't remember the name of the group but the record was called 'Ascension Day'. The b-side was called 'Teddy Teeth Goes Sailing', a satirical song about the then Prime Minister Edward Heath's preference for going sailing while the ship of state headed squarely for the rocks. First LP I stole: 'On the Boards' by Taste. If finding something and not returning it to the person you strongly suspect it belongs too is stealing then I'm guilty. No regrets, Coyote. First concert I attended: I went to see Taste (see above) at the P-J Hall in Bangor and I have never seen anything like it since then. Pure energy. After the concert a friend and I (we were 15-ish I would imagine) sneaked backstage and tried to talk to the band. We met Rory Gallagher and the other two (McCracken and Wilson I think) and Rory thanked us for our comments. He then stuck a bottle of Guinness in our hands and told us to enjoy. Thus began my lifelong addiction to the black stuff. As Flann O'Brien said "A pint of plain is your only man". I saw Rory three or four times after that, including, I think at the Isle of Wight. He died a few years ago and his obituary in the Grauniad was exactly as I remember him. Battered sunburst stratocaster, lumberjack shirt and baseball boots. They don't make them like that any more. RIP. Mike In BCN NPIMH - 'Calling card' by Rory Gallagher.
