John Edward Cooper’s Notes
Chris’s first visits to my house
Early Days January 19641. Chris’s first memory of coming to my house is when we used to play records on our Steve’s “Carousel” record player in the downstairs living room at the back of the house. It had a record-changer occupying the right half of its cabinet with storage for records on the left. The cabinet and lid were wood-veneered, and the unit stood on four slender legs. One of the first songs Chris remembers being played at my house was Diane by The Bachelors.[1] Steve received the “Carousel” record player for Christmas in 1963 (25th December 1963), and Diane entered the UK singles chart on 23rd January 1964. August 1963 2. My first memory of a visit of Chris to my house, apart from the time he came round, unwelcome, with Timothy Leech[more] and the other time he came round, ill-intentioned, with Jones,[more] is earlier. Our Steve was there on this occasion, and we had set up the Collaro Conquest record-changer[more] and the amplifier that had been a Kolster Brandes (KB) radio in the back garden. As far as I remember, the record-changer reappeared after I went camping with David Rotheram,[more] so we can perhaps date this event to mid-August 1963. Steve had bought The Beatles’ Twist and Shout EP, and I distinctly remember the title song Twist and Shout playing. 3. I don’t remember whether anyone else was with us on this occasion. Steve and I were standing at the back steps. The ground on which our house was built sloped downwards from front to back, so that although the front door opened more or less at ground-level, the back door opened onto a wooden balcony with some wooden steps down to the ground. The back garden was quite long, and had two lawns, separated by a little goldfish pond. Chris was on the nearer lawn, facing the back of the house. I have the impression that he was a fairly new friend at this time. 4. Now this is why I remember what was playing: Chris was dancing about in a silly fashion to the music, making exaggerated, rhythmic up-and-down gestures with the rolled fingers of his right hand—clearly a reference to “•”. Steve and I looked at each other with some surprise—“He does it too!”—and with some anxiety also, that parents or neighbours might be observing the scene. Anyway, it led to an interesting enquiry about the frequency of the habit. 5. On reflection—and judging from the number of stories I have written as happening in 1963—I think there must have been other visits by Chris to my house before this one. |
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