Picking up where we left off then - what news does July bring?
Days off, larks with French Bangers and beach trips. But the terrifying highlight (fright-light?) takes place at the Rayleigh fair (21st - check the doodle) with a spin on a madly mysterious ride that I've never seen since.
How can you describe it? Imagine church pew seating, suspended garden swing style from a supporting frame. Position this inside a giant octagonal tombola cover of alternating coloured panels. As the communal seat is pulled back, the cover is spun fowards, creating a whirling illusion of increasingly, hight-tilting seats - until the angle begins to feel impossibly steep.
It may sound simple but it's a ride of such eye-widening, giddy terror that I've never forgotten it. Neither I'll bet have bleached jeans and bull-necked boneheads or spikes 'n' studs punks in the front pews who screamed like piglets and flung themselves to the floor as an escape from tumbling into the 'void'
I've found out it's something based on the haunted swing principle, a ride that seems to have slipped out of circulation since.
Chart-wise July looked like this (Thom Pace though - who he?) with singles snapped up being...
So what shall we spin? How about something punk(ish) and something disco(ish) as that seems be the mood of the month. Aged 13, clocking Sid Vicous riding about in a motorbike jacket, no helmet, no shirt and padlock 'n' studs bling was possibly the coolest thing I'd ever seen. Ps it's a Rabbit padlock available here if you're tempted
