Harvey Nichols selfie

More story,,,

 
Chapter 7 Berlin
Kopi was the most recent of the series of squatted communities that The Y were playing on their journey to Prague. Like Villa Zuid, Christiania, and Rote Fabrik it was both a housing and community project housing a wide range of artists, radical left wing activists, anarchists, queer folk of all persuasions and most importantly for the Y a venue with a bar and appreciative audience. They parked in the Wagenplatz amongst an array of rainbow liveried lived- in vehicles. Little Legs had lived in a vehicle ( his taxi) on and off for many years but this was a different level. Much, love, artistry and cannabalism had produced homes of minimalist comfort and invention. Like the other communities decisions were made at a weekly plenary and this reflected an autonomist philosophy which encouraged people to be directly involved in decision making rather than through intermediaries like political parties or outsiders whether democratically elected or not. The Y occasionally sat in on these meetings but not for long as they were interminable, everyone had their say and consensus ruled the day ....and night sometimes.
 
The gig was not for a couple of days so the band after settling in their accommodation, half of one of the massive high ceilinged rooms on the top floor, agreed to all separately do their own thing and then meet up for the soundcheck at 6 on the evening of the gig.
Touring , especially at this level, was an intense experience. The next level with tour vans, hotel rooms, managers and roadies took a lot of the pressure off and allowed for moments of privacy. The Y were not at that level and though friends, it was inevitable that five men in such close proximity would eventually start to become fractious. Small tensions could develop into major conflicts quickly and restoring calm and good spirits become a major drain on people’s time and energies. So time apart was both sought after and a good idea.   
Inexplicably Steve and Brooksie nonetheless decided to spend the day together and they set off on a mission to steal a bit of the Berlin wall. This plan was met with much glum looks and shakings of the heads from the elders of Kopi but the boys were not to be thwarted. On the way they found themselves, as often not taking in their present surroundings but rather reminiscing about the mundanities of home and the past.
“He was a decent bloke but smoked too much and was a bit of a gambler” was Steve’s summary of his father
“Didn’t drink then?” wondered Brooksie whose Dad did all three , though tried to hide it
“Nah, strange as everyone else in his family did, especially his sisters, for a while I thought all kisses tasted of gin!”
Steve’s dad worked 12 hour shifts at Nabisco’s (maintaining the steady flow of Ritz crackers and Shreddies to the general population) so Steve rarely saw him. When he did it was between trips to his dads two favourite friends William Hill and Joe Coral. Nevertheless Steve decided not to focus on the negatives and instead remembered and highlighted a skill that was admired by family and friends alike; the ability to sing in entirety almost any famous comedic songs you could mention.
“Day o de dayeooh” shouted Steve
“What”?
“You must remember”
This produced a flurry of badly sung comedic one hit wonders from multiple eras and sideways glances from mildly alarmed Berliners. A lot were regularly played by Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart and his Saturday morning hotpotch of glam rock, novelty songs and annoying jingles ‘Junior Choice’ which was also fondly though sketchily remembered.
“Great start to the weekend” opined Brooksie and Steve, seriously pondering, agreed.
This led on to a debate on the crappest 70s DJs
“Tony Blackburn”
“No Noel Edmunds
“Dave Lee Travis”
“Yes agreed, no contest, that bastard fucking cornflake”
The conversation returned to novelty songs
A certain one in particular was remembered as the emperor of all. They enjoyed recalling the oompah pah nonsense of The Scaffolds ‘Lily the Pink’ and admired and sang out loud the fey cockneyisms of Bernard Cribbins ‘Right said Fred ‘and ‘Hole in the road’. In fact Bernard Cribbins was a double hero in Steve’s memory being the only person other than Dr Who and Roy Castle to defeat the daleks. It was, though, the mighty Stan Freberg parody of Harry Belafonte’s Day-o (the banana boat song) that Steve focussed on.
“He was bloody good, knew all the words even the later verses”
Steve had no idea who Harry Belafonte was and whether he deserved such mockery. However the fact that his song spawned this bizarre parody with its exasperated singer having to run down a hall, slam a door and sing his parts muffled because the beatnik bongo player found his singing ‘too piercing man’ always had him  in thrall. 
“The biggest wreath at his funeral was from Ladbrokes. He wasn’t perfect but he could sing ‘Day-o’” Steve summed up”