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Post by JamesT on Feb 3, 2014 22:23:43 GMT
Due for release in mid-March. Basically a rehash of the BGO release of a few years back, by the looks of things. A pity ''arold' isn't included.
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Post by JamesT on Mar 21, 2014 20:40:14 GMT
Got the set this week - claims to have been digitally remastered. I'd say 'Headroom' seems a little bit clearer, but no difference detected with the other two albums and bonus tracks.
One good point is time to revisit 'Headroom' - wonderful album.
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Post by gee on Mar 22, 2014 12:06:27 GMT
I agree 'Headroom' was in my opinion Allan's strongest EMI solo album and best early seventies set, I thought it a bit more focused than 'Arold' and built on that debut album well with a great backing band including guitarist/composer Ray Glynn plus guys like Dee Murray from Elton John's band etc, the sound was more the Rocker that was AC plus some excellent more reflective numbers such as the magnificent 'Who ?'
'Drift Away' was deserving of being a hit, and the opening rock numbers on each side of the vinyl album saw Clarke in top form.
nice seventies style revisit of 'Would You Believe ?' from 'Butterfly' to close the set too, I think I prefer The Hollies 'spectorish' original but this re-cut was a good alternate more rock orientated angle on the song...!
WHY AC parted from Ray Glynn I'll never understand....or why he then decided to revert to two solo albums purely of 'covers' - with a few strange bedfellows (as 'Melody Maker' reviewer put it) thus making himself look more of a MOR artist (as Carl Wayne's solo career went too) as opposed to a less marginalised creative singer/writer/performer soloist...a strange solo career move (possibly indicating when left to his own devices AC was rather stuck for direction ??) - his rejoining The Hollies seemed to 'throw' his solo career off track in terms of musical direction...(despite recording some strong and notable covers on those latter two EMI albums and of course 'Born To Run')
His later American based solo albums, from 'I Wasn't Born Yesterday' in 1978 by then writing with Gary Benson, really picked up where 'Headroom' had left off and saw AC again a creative solo artist.
I think AC probably suffered from not having any real plan re his solo career or a producer (his own efforts at production were pretty good but he needed a mentor, a younger more contemporary producer, to help him), and I always got the impression his solo career was a bit 'half hearted' - no real tour just the odd gig & very occasional TV spot etc - and once he'd got back with The Hollies in August 1973 he seemed quite happy for his concurrent solo career to just be some 'dabblings' cutting a few albums of covers of songs he liked etc, up until 1978 when feeling unhappy in the group he again tried to launch himself as a soloist in the USA cutting a couple of excellent original albums but with scant success besides one lone chart single
whatever, 'Headroom' remains a real early highpoint of AC's relatively low key but musically well worthwhile solo career.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2014 18:21:19 GMT
Any more details of his "odd gig(s)"? Who backed him? Did he include Hollies material?
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Post by stuball on Mar 22, 2014 18:34:16 GMT
Yes, 'Headroom'. It wasn't a bad effort at all, was it?
I think it still holds up quite well today. Unlike Clarke's first solo outing, this LP seems more than a collection of divergent songs. While not really a 'theme' album, there definitely is a tight feel composition-wise and as a unit, Clarke's musicians all sound on the same page. Personally, this is the one Clarke LP where I don't miss the old 'Hollies Harmonies', and I think that's down to the type of tunes this effort showcases.
My main memory of this LP was playing it during my university days in the '70's. It was about the only album I possessed that my roommates actually liked(The Hollies were all but verboten). I recall both my roommates really enjoyed 'Fishing', and the other 'bluesy' numbers. Clarke seemed to take a step away from the pop-rock idiom here, and it worked. Of course he quickly returned to the old tried and true pop with the Roger Cook produced followup, 'Allan Clarke', but 'Headroom' stands out as a brave attempt to forge a new direction for himself.
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Post by gee on Mar 23, 2014 12:03:42 GMT
while each of the two 'covers' albums for EMI have notable efforts they are really a bit of a 'sidestep' if not a backward step for AC re his own creativity
I found 'Allan Clarke' (1974) too directionless - going from Lindsey Buckingham to Randy Newman to Bruce Springsteen to Little Richard was er 'diverse' to put it mildly - yet 'I Wanna Sail into Your Life' was majestic & 'Side Show' was excellent and Springsteen's 'If I Were The Priest' was a good cover
the set was quickly deleted by EMI too...in about nine months !
Had 'Born To Run' replaced the daft 'Finale' on 'I've Got Time' (1976) that album might have been even better
it had some strong covers, but again going from Springsteen to Chinn/Chapman...to Janis Ian to Junior Campbell was odd....!
a few AC originals might have enhanced that album, I wasn't keen on his stab at 'Hallelujah Freedom' (not a great song to me) but 'Sunrise', 'Stand By Me' & 'Living in Love' were good covers, while 'If You Walked Away' and 'Blinded...' stood out
'Melody Maker's' reviewer said it seemed as if AC was trying to leap on as many stools as possible (!) and while no doubt a fine singer he sounded a bit like a 'jack of all trades master of none...' on the album
- a bit harsh maybe but I can see the reviewer's point...
I'd have put maybe 'Born To Run' to open side two in place of 'Freedom' & replaced the inept 'Finale' with AC's own; 'Why Don't You Call ?' (possibly moving up 'Living in Love' to the closing track - yes ?)
maybe EMI felt albums of covers were a better chance for solo success ? record company involvement might have at least been partly responsible for the sudden shift in the lack of original songs (we saw this later re The Hollies too on both; 'Buddy Holly' in 1980 - which I've heard Terry Sylvester had opposed them doing just as Nash had 'Sing Dylan' back in late 1968 - and again in 2006 re; 'Staying Power')
Ray Glynn was still featured guitarist on the 1974 'Allan Clarke' album (no credits were given for the 1976 solo album) ...but the ending of the promising 'Clarke-Glynn' songwriting partnership seemed a great shame...(anyone know why Ray Glynn exited ?)
I understand AC performed just a few solo shows at low key students union gigs around - possibly one in Leicester or Northampton (not far from his then home) not sure what songs he sang tho'...and he did a few solo TV spots, one singing 'Living in Love' that I think can still be found on youtube, but it was all VERY low key...!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2014 15:42:13 GMT
...and he did a few solo TV spots, one singing 'Living in Love' that I think can still be found on youtube... Really? Are you certain about this??? Apart from several circa 2000 performances with "Et Cetera", the only Allan Clarke solo performances I've come across are: Sideshow (Promo Video, 1974 )
Sideshow (‘Top Pop’, Dutch TV, 1st June 1974)
Slipstream (‘Plattenküche’, German TV, 24th June 1980)If there are ANY others out there I'd love to see them!
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Post by Tony Wilkinson on Mar 23, 2014 15:56:31 GMT
Any more details of his "odd gig(s)"? Who backed him? Did he include Hollies material? I remember (pre modern communication methods) trailing down to some pub type venue in Burslem, near Stoke on trent, after seeing his gig advertised somewhere only to be told that it had been cancelled "ages ago"...........
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Post by Stranger on Mar 23, 2014 20:29:41 GMT
There's also a I Wasn't Born Yesterday promo video.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2014 21:17:10 GMT
There's also a I Wasn't Born Yesterday promo video. Never seen that. Do you have it?
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Post by JamesT on Mar 24, 2014 6:57:37 GMT
a few AC originals might have enhanced that album, I wasn't keen on his stab at 'Hallelujah Freedom' (not a great song to me) but 'Sunrise', 'Stand By Me' & 'Living in Love' were good covers,
For me, 'Stand By Me' is the standout - great vocal, fast paced, good hook and nice guitar work. Should have been a high-hitting single!
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Post by Stranger on Mar 24, 2014 10:49:19 GMT
There's also a I Wasn't Born Yesterday promo video. Never seen that. Do you have it? No unfortunately, I stupidly passed it up on ebay ten years ago. I had no idea how rare it was.
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Post by Stranger on Mar 24, 2014 12:56:29 GMT
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Post by stuball on Mar 24, 2014 13:05:39 GMT
A few random thoughts re Allan's solo efforts:
For me, the standout track from the 'Allan Clarke' LP was without doubt 'I Wanna Sail Into Your Life'. From the first time I heard it, I was blown away by Clarke's vocal versatility between verse and chorus. A perfect meshing of song and voice! To this day, 'Life' remains my favourite solo Clarke performance ever. Absolutely mesmerizing! It should have been the single, instead of languishing away on a poorly received album.
I think the central problem with this LP of covers was that it did nothing to enhance Allan's solo aspirations, and came perilously close, what with its preponderance of Cook-Greenaway tunes, to looking as Clarke was not much more than a convenient vehicle for the Cook-Greenaway production line. We all remember the likes of White Plains and The Flying Machine, pseudo 'groups' invented to push the two Rogers' product.
'Allan Clarke' and the followup 'I've Got Time' were at best treading water, in my opinion. The lack of any original material did nothing to promote Clarke as a 'respected singer/songwriter', or really to be considered anything more than simply a fella with a great voice. Not so sure that's all he wanted. The fact that he was firmly back in the Hollies camp at the time of these two LPs releases, might have had something to do with the lack of any solo songwriting on Clarke's part. Whether The Hollies got first crack at Clarke's own material, or perhaps the powers that be re his solo career, mandated covers after the relative failure of his first two albums, I don't know. There does seem to be somewhat of a pattern re his self-written versus cover albums corresponding with his time in and out of The Hollies during the '72-'78 period.
Regarding Allan Touring: I still have a Melody Maker clipping from 1974 announcing dates for Clarke's first solo tour. Here's the details: Newcastle City Hall - September 20 Amsterdam Festival -September 27&28 Croydon Greyhound-September 29 Bedford College London- October 4 Glen Ballroom Llanelli - October 5 Twickenham Winning Post - October 6 Cleethorpes Winter Gardens- October 8 The Madison, Middlesborough- October 9 Outlook Doncaster- October 10 Hitchings College Of Education- October 12 Barbarella's Birmingham - October 13 Loughborough University- October 19 Sunderland Locarno - October 25
This tour was obviously timed to promote 'Allan Clarke' which was released August 9th of '74. But whether Clarke played any of these dates is another thing. I've never heard any feedback, or at the time, any reviews. I wonder if Hollies commitments, hot as they were after 'Air's' massive success, got in the way.
I also have an Allan Clarke clipping from around this period, which I can't seem to lay my hands on presently, but I can paraphrase it fairly accurately: Clarke was saying that a solo tour was quite pointless, for to go out on the road 'cold', i.e. without any solo hits to his name, would just lead to people calling out for 'Heavy' and 'Long Cool Woman' etc., and he definitely didn't want to end up singing Hollies hits on a Allan Clarke solo tour.
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Post by gee on Mar 24, 2014 15:48:52 GMT
that last comment shows how unprepared AC really was re his solo career in late 1971 - having no producer, and initially no record company either !
unlike Nash with CSN - record deal in place etc - AC was really out on his own when he split from The Hollies
I think side one of 'Arold' shows that he wasn't quite sure what direction to go in - a great rocker, then fine acoustic ballad, then a meandering (if not a bit ponderous) song 'Baby it's Alright With Me', then a country style toon, then a majestic dramatic number...versatile yes but no structure to his musical direction unlike the more focused sound & style on 'Headroom'
re his possible solo tour - and some fine musicians had turned up to help him out - had this gone ahead (not sure it did ?) he could have sung HIS Hollies hits & a few notable album tracks he had written for the band
IF The 'Rickfors Hollies' could sing LCW in the USA (Terry Sylvester deputising on lead vocal, even tho' he wasn't on the hit recording !) then AC who wrote, played guitar & sang the solo vocal on it certainly could have also done it in any solo shows - yes ?
Allan's; 'Row The Boat Together','Marigold', 'Hold On', 'Soldier's Dilemma', 'Goodbye Tomorrow', 'Hey Willy', & 'Would You Believe ?' (a 'Headroom' track too) and 'Perfect Lady Housewife' were eight Hollies 'Clarke' songs at least that he could easily have sung with his backing band together with new tracks from 'Arold', 'Coward By Name' plus some rock & roll numbers (maybe; 'Down The Line', 'Sweet Little Sixteen' & 'Lucille' etc, which he'd sung on record) which might have comprised an initial solo live concert show even as early as 1972.
I note that with the exception of Gary Benson's 'Sanctuary' AC's solo recording songs seemed to be largely a 'no go' area for The Hollies re material too - possibly indicating some 'frostiness' thereafter still existed between Clarke & the band. Hollies versions of; 'Who ?', 'Slipstream', 'Walls', 'Shadow' etc would have been great.
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Post by JamesT on Mar 25, 2014 7:17:38 GMT
Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing. Did Mikael Rickfors not work with Carla Olson as well, or am I getting confused?
Incidentally, anyone got anymore information on Ray Glynn - a brief search seems to suggest he disappeared musically after the Clarke solo period years...
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Post by Stranger on Mar 25, 2014 9:29:25 GMT
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Post by Gralto on Mar 27, 2014 12:58:34 GMT
Clarkie has never played a proper solo concert.
Ever.
He and Ray Glynn played one brief impromptu show (two acoustic guitars) at Lanchester Polytechnic College Arts Festival in Coventry, UK in Jan 1972. Photos of Clarke w beard playing acoustic guitar in an unidentified live setting that occasionally kick around, originate thanks to this lone gig.
His proposed solo tours - (1) Aug 72 Swedish 3 week tour; (2) Sept/Oct 1974 UK 4 week tour; (3) Aug 78 USA 3 week tour - none went ahead.
This makes Allan Clarke about as legendary and elusive a live solo performer as Harry Nilsson (whose only live 'solo' outing was similarly a few songs on guitar at a Beatlefest one year). cheers Simon
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2014 20:14:03 GMT
Clarkie has never played a proper solo concert. Ever. He and Ray Glynn played one brief impromptu show (two acoustic guitars) at Lanchester Polytechnic College Arts Festival in Coventry, UK in Jan 1972. Photos of Clarke w beard playing acoustic guitar in an unidentified live setting that occasionally kick around, originate thanks to this lone gig. His proposed solo tours - (1) Aug 72 Swedish 3 week tour; (2) Sept/Oct 1974 UK 4 week tour; (3) Aug 78 USA 3 week tour - none went ahead. This makes Allan Clarke about as legendary and elusive a live solo performer as Harry Nilsson (whose only live 'solo' outing was similarly a few songs on guitar at a Beatlefest one year). cheers Simon Thanks for this!
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Post by stuball on Mar 28, 2014 14:14:44 GMT
Clarkie has never played a proper solo concert. Ever. His proposed solo tours - (1) Aug 72 Swedish 3 week tour; (2) Sept/Oct 1974 UK 4 week tour; (3) Aug 78 USA 3 week tour - none went ahead. The big question that comes to mind is WHY? Three tours planned, announced, and then, ultimately cancelled. There's a story here surely! Here's three possibilities: 1. Did Clarke get 'cold feet' when it came to doing 'live', what he claimed he wanted so badly: to become a solo star? Did he back out at the last minute? 2. Were the promoters unable to even 'give away' tickets, on 3 tours featuring a no-hit act, with little if any 'name-recognition' among the public? The Hollies had always been the 'faceless group' after all. Perhaps the promoters pulled out, unwilling to take a bath. 3. The dates of the tours are interesting too: August 1972: Long Cool Woman is peaking in the USA. Clarke wanted desperately to tour the US, but Epic told him to stay put: The Hollies would be doing the big concerts, not him! Did Clarke cancel Sweden to be free for the US (something like The Blue Jeans should have done when Ed Sullivan and America beckoned in '64)? September 1974: Did Hollies commitments get in the way of this proposed tour? The group was 'hot' again, after the success of 'Air' and the Hollies subsequent LP. August 1978: wasn't this the month Clarke scurried back to the warm safety and financial coziness of the Hollies nest? Did he abandon this tour in order to return to England and security? Lots of question here and no definite answers. And the above theories may remain just that - theories. But I find it hard to believe the fact that three concert tours were announced and scrubbed, was simply down to coincidence.
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Post by Gralto on Apr 2, 2014 11:39:55 GMT
Good questions Stuball, of which I don't have definitive answers. I think the 1974 tour were the gigs closest to happening but I'm assuming, pressure from Robin Britten and the others to ensure the Hollies brand was re-established after his absence, meant they were cancelled at the 11th hour. The Hollies would not have wanted fans being confused by this tour so soon after their own, which incredibly was their first full UK tour since Sylvester had joined!! Six long years and nothing beyond a few university gigs, cabaret bookings and the odd one nighter in that time, in their own backyard!
The 1972 tour in Sweden was one of those, "I've still yet to fully get a touring band together but once we do, we will be playing there" type announcements and the 1978 tour, I'm guessing probably was due to the lack of success with his I Wasn't Born Yesterday album. Financially, he lost plenty on the first two solo albums - he put in heaps of his own money - 10s of thousands of pounds, and got not a penny back from record sales. That's why he did a fair bit of session work with things like advertising jingles and guesting on albums, just to keep him in the eye of other successful acts and of course, pay a few bills.
To me, it's one of the great musical disappointments that Allan never performed one full 60+ minute solo gig where he could solely claim that what was on the set list was entirely of his choosing. It would be a damn sight more interesting than pretty much every Hollies setlist since his return in late 1973!
Geoff C - do you have other info on the near misses with Allan's faltering solo tour announcements? I had the immense pleasure of chatting with the great man for over 3 hours last year - a personal highlight - and we barely scratched the surface beyond 1963!
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Post by gee on Apr 2, 2014 19:52:31 GMT
Thanks for the info Simon - I've heard a local Radio Northampton interview with Allan Where the D.J. clearly got on very well with Clarkey & they had a relaxed informal chat about his first solo album (the interviewer had a typical 'East Anglian' rural accent & friendly manner which relaxed Clarkey who revealed he lived not far from the local racehorse track close to Northampton)
Clarkey spoke of 'Bring On Your Smiles' being inspired by the power cuts Britian was enduring in the early seventies due to strikes by Electricity power workers & miners etc, and apparently recording sessions for that 'Arold' album suffered from power cut interruptions thus Clarkie & (I think) Herbie Flowers or Ray Glynn penned that closing album track to cheer each other up...!
The interviewer praised up 'Arold' and did ask Allan about if he'd intended any solo shows ? - Clarkey seemed a bit vague pointing out several of his musical 'pals' (Herbie Flowers, Dee Murray, Gary Brooker, etc) each had their own touring commitments (Blue Mink plus C.C.S. in those days for Herbie, Elton John for Dee & of course Procol Harum for GB) - which WAS true of course, thus getting a touring band together beyond presumably Ray Glynn might have been a bit more of a task as the guys on the album each had other overriding commitments, so Clarkie's 'favours' from his old friends while no probs for recording were not so easy re touring & he'd have to have forked out even more cash to put together a fresh backup band, and after his outlay on recording the album, as Simon advised, Clarke was possibly not in a position (without any firm management/record company/producer backing - unlike Nash already had in place with Ahmet Ertegan at Atlantic records for CSN) - to fund a proper early seventies UK tour...?
Allan did come over as a very cautious modest kind of guy who was flattered by the praise the interviewer gave his first solo album and admitted it was a shame they couldn't have plugged it better, giving the impression he perhaps regretted not giving his solo career a greater priority other than just recording the albums...he indicated The Hollies were the big priority and his solo stuff was now an 'on the side' thing (I think this was prior to his 1978 second attempt to go 'solo')
I've heard talk of AC being very unhappy re 'A Crazy Steal' (tho' it was 75% songs he co-wrote !) and I know The Hollies abandoned a 1975 group stab at 'Born To Run' & left Gary Benson's 'Sanctuary' in the can in the late seventies (which AC then cut himself on 'The Only One' album) so some 'issues' re material clearly seem to exist between AC & the others circa 1978...
A view re Allan Clarke's Initial 'Solo' career:
RCA Victor (UK) had only signed him for a 'one off' deal for 'Arold' & while say David Bowie was breaking through big time for the UK wing of label circa 1972 Clarkie 's solo effort bombed (sadly) minus any real promotion or Live shows /TV exposure....The Searchers had also been snapped up by RCA Victor (UK) at that time but their tenure at the label proved abortive too...
I think Clarkie expected the records alone to do the business for him....while I have heard (not sure how true) that alot of his exit in December 1971 was really down to 'friends' telling AC he WAS 'The Hollies' and the band was finished without him, he ought to launch a more fashionable solo career & IF Nash could make it outside the group ...surely Allan could easily make it without the 'pop group' millstone of The Hollies forever around his neck holding him back (one cruel UK music press review of 'Romany' was headlined: 'Allan Clarke RIGHT to Leave Hollies...!') - certainly minus Nash it was noticeable Clarke and Hicks had drifted apart as composers, Clarke had also done the 'Oh Flux !' project outside the band...tho' it was a very short lived thing so maybe he ought to have stopped and considered that ....?
thus AC (by then already wearing his white suit - as per 'Distant Light' inner pics - indicating perhaps that his image was getting a bit OTT) I suspect was convinced by those 'friends'(& seeing Nash's success in the USA) to jump ship without properly planning or even considering what a 'solo' career meant...
AC was always a 'quiet guy' re his public image (the opposite of Nash or even Sylvester) thus having to do it all alone never came naturally for him...and I don't think he ever really planned anything serious re his solo career besides just cutting albums - no prime time TV work between 1971 and 1973 outside the band, and re-cutting 'Would You Believe' on 'Headroom' suggested he was in his heart still tied to The Hollies to an extent, and over reacting against that style by cutting out any real harmonies only stifled a part of himself...
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Post by JamesT on Apr 3, 2014 6:16:01 GMT
Allan a 'quiet guy' - he's the devil incarnate according to Terry-Twitterer! He's *still* going on about it after all these years.
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Post by gee on Apr 3, 2014 13:24:42 GMT
Ah but that's to those who know him...!
AC has a very modest 'shy' image to his public, but of course that's his 'public persona'
Obviously AC was a key Hollies figure & very talented songwriter with a great voice, but on the personality front I know he could be difficult and I've heard of more than one venue manager who would NOT have The Hollies back 'with that Allan Clarke' ! (something that got a lot worse in the 90's I fear...)
Ray Stiles got scant thanks for vocally undepinning AC's lead vocals in latter years too...
Terry Sylvester has spoken about 'Clarke's annual threat to quit the band...' - but then Terry's 'had a go' at Clarke & Nash alot in recent years...apparently STILL griping on about that Hall of Fame show fiasco...
....and I know that more than one figure in The Hollies organisation was glad to see the back of Terry too...!
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Post by stuball on Apr 3, 2014 15:15:36 GMT
Allan a 'quiet guy' - he's the devil incarnate according to Terry-Twitterer! He's *still* going on about it after all these years. I've always liked Terry, and followed his career closely, but yes, his tweets, when not about Liverpool FC, do tend to obsess on Nash and Clarke, especially Nash, and do get a bit repetitive. But I must admit his current tantalizing tidbit of a tweet is an inspired eye-catcher! 'Back in 1965, Nash and I shared a bed together in Munich, Germany, more on that in my memoirs, plus a lot of other stories, served cold!' I think this mix of the slightly salacious, served with a dollop of revenge, and all encapsulated in a promised forthcoming memoir, is a cut above his usual output!
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