FOR SALE - Original 1940's Springer Forks

1985

May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965

Malcolm X lived half his life advocating the idealism of Divide & Rule, upon visiting Mecca his eyes were opened to the concept of All Men Being Equal; for speaking of this revelation he was murdered!

UK Irony!

The government have shown us who the real criminals are, the cause of the moral collapse of our society & the reason the banking system has failed us; it’s the disabled collecting benefits and the elderly for having an extra bedroom.

I blame the immigrants, only 88% of them are willing to work & the muslims, they have come to the UK to steal our natural recourses & rebuild our infrastructure.

The elderly deserve to get their pensions cut!

If we attack Syria we will draw Iran into a war.

Iran will back Syria. 

Iran has the worlds 3rd biggest oil supply.

1973 An Angel In A Red Polka Dot Dress

I was exited; my friend Marcia was taking me to see the new Wattstax movie in Leicester Square. The main attraction was Rufus Thomas performing “The Funky Chicken”; it would be my first time seeing the various the American soul artists, which I had been listening to, in action. The movie was great, the music funky and the dancing mesmerising; then there she was, the girl in the red polka dot dress dancing for 35 glorious seconds, an angel with smooth black thighs, dress so short that you momentarily glimpsed her white panties, but most of all she danced like a funky dream. I have loved the girl in the red polka dot dress ever since that moment.

"Looks just like you"

Astronomers spotted this three-way collision of galaxies late last year, 650 million light years away.

I Have Nothing To Fear I Have Already Seen The Worst.

Sometime in 1964 my mother was admitted into Goodmayes Mental Institution. My sister Beverley and I were placed in a Victorian style children’s home at Gallows Corner in Essex, “Harold Wood Hall”. It was not a pleasant place, devoid of any love or warmth and it holds many dark memories. 

To be continued

Manassah’s 1st real life club experience...

Whilst I was cooking of Friday night my son showed me a dance he learnt from youtube & asked me to show him the moves properly which I happily did; he was very exited that I could do it with such ease & then elaborate the style incorporating some different footwork that he had never seen before; he was very impressed. He filmed it & went to his room; he shuffled around all night; he has never shown interest in dance.

On Saturday night he went to Club Fabric his first adults nightclub, but not with his whole crew; only 2 of them went. He returned home on Sunday at midday having danced for 12 hours; his friend said he has a big crowd around him cheering him on.

He couldn’t wait to show me his new skills; the arm movements are his own improvisation.

1967

St Tropez 1981

I don’t know where to start or what I’m willing to reveal about this episode in my life; a crazy time with many incidents. I will be out of sequence with the timing of events but will tell as I remember. I hung out with pimps, prostitutes, hells angels, deserters from the foreign legion, defectors from British justice, and anyone else who would buy me a meal. I begged, stole, borrowed, burgled, dealt drugs, committed fraud, pimped and prostituted myself. I worked on building sites, on a boat, in a casino and washed dishes. 

Stop Paying Fines, Taxes & Hyped Up Utility Bills & A Change Will Come

We all know that a change is coming, not just in politics, but in the world; our governments are clinging to the old regime.

We’re in an economic system where banks and large corporations effectively run governments. The governments can’t challenge them because they need the taxes to keep the failed system going. A system that no one has the imagination to change, least of all the politicians.

The End!

Paris 68

I pulled up at a set of red traffic lights; there was a sickening skidding and then crashing sound, my whole world span out of control with twisting screeching metal and flashing blue lights. The police who witnessed the crash assumed I was dead; I had been hit from the rear by a juggernaut, the driver had not seen the red lights or me, so it would seem.

To be continued...

War represents the supreme failure of man to resolve our differences; it is a hefty price to pay for our failings.

True Originals And Instigators (Jan Kincaid - Diana Brown and the brothers and the Brand New Heavies)

I remember Jay Strongman was playing "Think" by Lyn Collins, it must have been only the second or third time we had heard it, the hardness of the groove drove us wild. Suddenly, as if on cue, in strolled Barrie with Lascelle’s cousin, Garry Russell, they both started seriously getting down on the dance floor. They made a strong impression on us, wide eyed youngsters, the passion and confidence in their dancing and the way they dressed; they were both wearing blue blazers, John Smedleys, dark cropped Levi’s and Bass Weejuns penny loafers, with no socks. It was the best advert for a club I had ever seen; when they later approached us with a flyer for The Cat in the Hat club, we knew there was no way that we were not going to go to this event. 

When In doubt I refer to this message

Barrie Sharpe - The mere need that they think they must attack you illustrates that you and your intelligence has ignited a fear that they have vested within them, an intelligent individual who is willing to share his wisdom amongst the masses. Keep doing what you do and how you do it, you'll always have back up. Your words and diction lure, but on closer inspection the content is the lethal weapon.

Angel Islington

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner

October 31^st 1993 - My son Manassah was born. Time to grow up and participate in the real world, to progress I would have to change. In my teens I watched a movie called “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner”, starring Sydney Poitier, a film regarding the politics of interracial marriage in 1960’s America. I remember this movie due to a very meaningful speech that Sydney Poitier expressed to his father. His father was telling of the many sacrifices he and his wife had made to put their son through college, he talked of the 75,000 miles he had walked as a postman carrying a heavy post-bag, to secure his son’s future; he was a man who put his son before everything. The son replies, “Let me tell you something, I owe you nothing, you did what you were supposed to do because you brought me into this world and from that day you owed me everything that you will ever do for me. You don’t own me, you can’t tell me when or where I’m out of line or try to get me to live my life according to your rules”. As a father I followed this principle, my son owes me nothing no matter the sacrifices I would have to make, it was my choice. 

1983 – One night my father, head shaking, handed me the Evening Standard. There I was on the centre pages, a double-page spread; one big picture with the words “RIP OFF” plastered across it. 

To be continued...

I'm sat quietly drinking my soya cappuccino, au fresco. 

This dude asks to share my table & of course I accommodate. I carry on minding my own business but feel his stare, I ask, "Are you looking at me for a reason"? He replies, "Are you Muslim"? 

I look at him & referring to his cap I give my standard answer, "Are you a baseball player"?

He ignored me but kept looking, I returned to my thoughts. He then lights a cigarette & blows smoke in my direction. I ask, "Is that necessary"? 

He then proceeds to blow smoke in my face. I in return proceed to poured my soya cappuccino over his head. 

I cycled home smiling all the way.

Rise Of The Funk Soldier (Master P. Original - 94FM)

It was roundabout the time when the soul boy era was squeezing its last drops from the bottle. We decided to push further west. A friend had mentioned that our boy from East Ham was making noises in Soho. When we got to the Wag Club we saw a hungry crowd pushing their way down the queue. We moved to the front, blagging our way in. Once in we could see our man on the decks controlling his flock and pushing out the raw funk sound that the soul scene had lost.  This was the beginning of the underground funk scene, which would change black music in this country for a generation. Forget the term ‘Rare Groove’ as this name only came about later. Barrie’s Friday night at the Wag influenced a host of other nights, including Shake ‘n’ Finger Pop, Family Function, and Jazzie B’s Soul II Soul, at the African Centre.

Inner London was now buzzing with the funk, after this we crossed paths with Barrie on several occasions. Barrie was not an easily contented man and always pushed things forward at a pace, any boundaries and obstacles in his path were knocked to one side. His latest venture was to put a style to this sound. He scooped up a few old buddies mainly a certain Eddie Prendergast from East Ham, Marco Cairns from Barking, and Cliff Bowen from Loughton, together they started pumping out the original selvedge denim stuff on the streets of Camden. The boys at American Classic’s and all the ‘trendy’ London stores would later take up their street style. This Camden pitch funded the opening of the first Duffer shop in Portobello Road, which brought a clothing style to match the sound.

The Wag got too big and Barrie needed to move on and host his own night, hence the start of The Cat in the Hat Club. Now there was a platform to move things a little bit further. This club still remains one of my main influences even to today. Soho day-life, especially retail, was still trying to shake of its seedy 70’s porn look that suppressed it. Barrie and the boys had moved into one of the side streets dropping one of the flagging team members from Manor Park on the way. The street was on its knees looking really tired. Three months later the shop was thriving and the Duffer label was upon us. Barrie being ever more adventurous saw what was coming and alongside the Staple Duffer Crisp ‘London-look’ developed a style to enhance this new breed that was coming through. Up popped the smiley-tee alongside bringing in labels from America like Schott, New Era, and Red Wing alongside the Duffer four-stripe tracksuit.

The Black Market record store opened two doors down a few months later, which became the voice for house music for London. Seeing this Barrie decided to re-launch The Cat in the Hat right in the heart of posh Mayfair. This club night had a different flavour from the original night a few years back, mixing up the new garage and house stuff from NYC alongside obscure disco. This was House for real people and earmarked the phrase ‘we don’t trance we dance’. The new club attracted a sharper looking dude who wanted to get down without dropping an E. Whilst this was happening I remember getting snippets of what Barrie was doing in the background. At the same time Jazzie B was developing his sound and was busy in his studio. Jazzie launches his first vinyl and then on his tail Barrie puts out the ‘Masterplan’. It had been many years since American club culture stood up and looked in the direction of London. Soul II Soul and Barrie Sharpe had arrived; mainstream people now knew who they were. The Duffers uprooted from Soho and moved the clothing label to the heart of Covent Garden. Never before had three boys with an East End background put their clothing label amongst the ‘big boys’. People took note and awards followed.

Down the line I could tell that Barrie was getting bored with the direction Duffer was going, and once the European investors were on the horizon he upped and jumped ship. From then on Duffer slipped into what I called the ‘CBBC presenter look’. Barrie went back to Soho and launched Sharpeye, his new clothing label.

Hitting his fifties Barrie wasn’t going to lay down easy, nah this ain’t his style. Instead he’s evolved his sound and has now launched The Nu Acid Funk, keeping to his pure roots and only released on vinyl. To compliment this he launches a new club night ‘Big Stuff ‘with long time buddy Femi Fem (Shake ‘n’ Finger Pop). When people talk about a certain Norma Jay inventing the so-called ‘Rare Groove scene’ back in the eighties, I’d say don’t believe the hype; if you were there you knew who the main player was; Barrie Sharpe.

First Memories

 My mother banging my sister’s head against the wall, me running after my father screaming, “Please don’t leave me” and the song “I Just Want To Stay Here” by Steve & Eydie.