R.K.Music in Wiltshire

by Rog - 11:14 on 19 October 2007

After a year living near Swindon, the chip on my shoulder had become a log. I hated it and longed to be back in South London/Kent.

But then two things happened. I convinced my colleague at BT to come on board and restart R.K.Music with me: and I got on a year’s project in Southampton

I’d stay the week at the Southampton Park Hotel,

then be back for the weekend in my lodgings (as I’d now split from my wife).

My friendwas terminally shy, but with a little cajoling and by promising I’d do all the on-microphone talking he helped me restore the equipment and improve it and soon we were disco-ing all over north Wiltshire.

Myfavourite ‘gig’ was one of the first. In the Methodist Hall, Wootton Bassett my new co-discoee was asked to dance by one of the lecherous older ladies, so he duly obliged. I knew he had the habit of going commando and in those days the fashionable trousers were baggy chino style. So, three quarters of the way through the slow dance I noticed his trousers resembled a tent as his obvious enthusiasm at close dancing with one of Wootton Bassett’s more nubile ladies caused him to ‘fill up’ so-to-speak!!! He looked at me with pity.How was he going to disengage and walk the 20 yards back to the disco in full view of everyone in his condition. Helpful as ever I played three more slow numbers so he had to keep dancing and somehow, by the third he’d manoeuvred her close enough to the disco to slip behind

We did TheHilton, hundreds of tiny village halls (I remember driving home at about 2mph through freezing thick fog, more than once), posh country houses (“Oh, I say, you havelights”….d’oh) where we were clearly ‘the help’,every kind of Community Centre. We did loads of kids’ birthday parties – I’ve no idea how many kids showed how to ‘Superman’ or ‘Music Man’ or even‘Macarena’. We went through break dancing to Michael Jackson dancing. We ate buffet upon buffet upon buffet (I can still taste the cold chicken legs, the mini pork pies and sausage rolls) only really enjoying the unusual ones like the wedding at the Polish church Swindon or the posh nosh at some HUGE place near Chippenham

 I even did my daughter's birthday parties

My mate seemed to pull all the women, but one night I got lucky near Lyneham. I was overwhelmed to find an attractive woman who clearly fancied me. I couldn’t wait to pack away after the gig and I went back to hers. Sorry to disappoint all and sundry, but, excited though I was, I felt too bad to do anything and left to get back to my second wife. Regrets? Actually yes, bugger!!!

Around ’98 we split. My pal had ideas for his own disco – he was younger and business oriented than me, not to mention much cooler than I was. So we ended up with two discos, one each. Eventually, sometime in late 98 I’d had enough. I was actually coming down with a nasty virus, although I didn’t realise it –but  all I knew was everytime I had to exert myself I was sweating hugely and uncontrollably to the point where I’d set up in one set of clothes then cool down and then get changed. Iwas also getting physically exhausted. 

Time to stop – to close down R.K.Music forever.

But I had hundreds of CDs, records and mini disks with thousands of songs and years of experience and God brought out the iPod, computers, CD rewriters    -

I constructed a Music Quiz for New Year’s Eve 1999 for a neighbour’s party and it went down well…so here we are.

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