Memories of the 60's &70's W is for Wellies,Woodstock and a Cheesy Song.

Scottish comedian Billy Connelly was born in Glasgow and worked in the shipyards. He sang folk music with a group in the clubs and pubs until he was spotted as a comedian/singer and became a solo artist, telling his funny stories and singing songs in his broad Glasgow accent. He was famous for wearing "big banana feet" and these are now on show in The People's Palace in Glasgow.
My brother  had an album of one of his concerts,one day he was playing it in his bedroom and my mum thought he had a crowd of friends in but it was only Billy's loud voice and the audience laughing she heard. My brother could not even speak to her as he was doubled in two laughing at the stories on the album.

Welly Boot Song
If it wisnae for your wellies where would you be
You'd be in the hospital or infirmary
Cause you would have a dose of the flu, or even pleurisy
If you didnae have your feet in your wellies

Wellies they are wonderful,wellies they are swell,
Cause they keep oot the water and they keep in the smell
And when you're sittting in a room, you can always tell,
When somebody takes off their wellies.





Wet Look 
I was so desperate for a wet look skirt. The one I did get eventually was a mini and navy in colour, it had a waistcoat to match and was made of ,what I can only describe as crinkly plastic. We had wet look boots, in which the legs of the boots were crinkly plastic and clung tight to your legs. You could even buy the boot legs to fit over your shoes and make them look like  boots.

High waisted trousers were stylish worn with short cropped tops. Not much of our flesh really showed because the high waist started where the top finished.

White tights, When I was at secondary school white tights were the style. We thought they look great but my mum said they looked as if I had some kind of disease. I changed from white to cream soda. At that time they also started selling tights in all different colours although not as thick as they are today. We would never have worn thick tights, not even in winter,we were a hardy bunch.

Andy Williams released many records during the sixties and seventies, he had far more hits in America than he did in the UK but here are some of them.
May Each Day 1965
Music To Watch The Girls By, 1967
Can't Take My Eyes Off You, 1968
Can't Help Falling in Love 19190
Solitaire 1973

Wizzard  a Birmingham group  formed by Roy Wood in the seventies. Hits included,

See My Baby Jive
Angel Fingers
Are You Ready To Rock
And still played every Christmas, "I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday"
They were a real fun band, dressed in weird clothes and weird hair.


The Who, Roger Daltry, Pete Townsend , Keith Moon, John Entwistle, Kenney Jones. Have had hits since 1964.
My Generation, Pinball Wizard, Substitute, Tommy, Long Live Rock



Woodstock Said by "Rolling Stone" to be "One of the 50 moments that changed the history of rock and roll"  It took place in 1969 for three days of peace and music on farmland in Bethal NY. 
Thirty two acts performed to 500,000 people of whom  Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix,The Who, The Grateful Dead are a few.
I was twelve at the time and for me it was exciting to watch news reports on TV and see the hippies and flower people all in one place, the atmosphere must have been electrifying.
Girls took their tops off and threw them in the air and my parents shook their heads and tutted.   

I wonder if anyone reading this was there ?
 Were you?

Wedding, I married Jim on a rainy, windy, sunny Easter Saturday in March 1978. My wedding dress was made for me by my aunt so I never went into a wedding dress shop to try any on, instead I looked through books and books of dress patterns and picked my dress from them. It had a square neck and wide Princess Anne sleeves and my aunt even made the little Juliette cap I wore. The bridesmaid's dress was from the same pattern and she had a little cap too.The style was for the men to wear velvet suits and I can see my mother in law is wearing platform shoes, and so am I.
I styled my hair myself in it's usual style and only wore eyeshadow (blue) mascara and blusher, no face make up. I think I must have been a bit mad, when I see all the grooming and pampering today's brides have I feel I missed out on it.

My parents are on the left.

When Will I See You Again by the Three Degrees is our song. It was the song we danced to at Tiffany's ballroom in Blackpool where we met. As we danced Jim said the line of the song,"So when will I see you again then?" I can see him reading this, shaking his head and denying he was ever cheesy,  but you did Jim, you know you did.
No prize for guessing what song I'm leaving you with for the letter "W"  This song transports me back in time to young love and holiday romances. Jim, this one's for you.

For more nostalgia in the fifties and sixties  visit Rosalind Adams blog at Writing in the Rain