31/01/21 - Here’s some photos of the Blue Magnolia Jass Orchestra, taken off the tele. by my brother Peter, when we appeared on “Opportunity Knocks” in the late 70s: In the right hand photo are: Tom Kirby (bjo), Trevor Stent (clt), Ken Sims (cnt), Hughie, Jon Critchley, and Alan Millar: Also out of shot was Bob Heyward (piano), Jeff Samuels (Sousaphone) and Mike McCombe (Drums).  Acker introduced us, and Hughie Green (who was very late on stage as he was busy getting his makeup right) insisted on duetting with him on bad clarinet in “Stranger on the Shore”. At the end of the show all the acts had to do a reprise and play or sing a few bars of what they had performed to remind the audience of what they had been listening to. So we kicked off from the middle 8 of our song “Everybody Loves My Baby”, to the end, and raised a respectable count of 71 on the Clapometer. The subsequent winner of that night, and of previous weeks (allegedly due to her coercing workmates to vote for her using prepaid postcards) was a “singer” from over the border.  She just could not pitch in on the middle eight, and had to sing a chorus all the way through, until she arrived magically at the middle 8, at which point recording could re-commence. 

I’m not bitter. It was a great experience, but maybe if we’d won, I wouldn’t be spending the last week lifting 30 buckets a day out of our cellar due to a rise in the water table, due to the bloody incessant rain, and due to the bloody insurance company Royal Sun Alliance saying that, YES, we’re insured against flooding, but, NO, we’re not insured against a rise in the water table. But I digress.... I’m still playing, I wonder if the winner of that show is still singing?  Hope not.

In the left picture, line-up in shot is Trevor Stent (clt), Ken Sims (cnt), Jon Critchley (cnt), Alan Millar (tmb).  Out of shot: Jeff Samuels (sousaphone), Bob Hayward  (pno) and Mike McCombe
(drs).   - Jon Critchley