I've got a live double album which starts with the Perry Mason theme before going into Mondo Bondage. I don't recall the Yeah Tubes bit, I will dig it out and have a listen.
Rings a bell, probably. It's in England and I'm in the DRC but I've probably got it ripped to hard drive here somewhere.
Glad to hear the inquest verdict yesterday about unlawful killing at Hillsborough. A lot has been said, but hopefully there will be further action, particularly as a result of the industrial scale cover up - by many who subsequently went on to have "illustrious" careers and awards. Think more should be mentioned about the cages that were round the pitch in those times, which many today don't remember. Those responsible for installing those cages also have indirect blame for the disaster since people could not spill onto the pitch when the problems started. It was all part of the "animalisation" of fans at the time following Heysal. Again, there was more to be said about that other than it was purely the responsibility of "fans", like the stadium broke - but the stadium people seem to have got off that one following our desire to blame everything on fans, who whilst clearly behaving disgracefully, could not have expected parts of the stadium to break. Surely the stadium had a duty of care to the other fans which they failed? Goodness I am not condoning behaviour of those times, and things needed to be done. However, it seems to me that whatever the cause, the answer was not the cages which contributed significantly (completely?) to the tragedy at Hillsborough.
Anyone who was at our semi-final at Hillsbrough 8 years earlier will know that but for the grace of God, it would have been our supporters. I was in The Leppings Lane End in '81 with my kid brother, he was 13. I was 18 and I'm well over 6 foot and was very fit in those days. Let me assure you, it was bloody scary in there for a while. Had the pens (running from back to front of the stand) been in place in '81 then I am sure that we would have suffered deaths that day as it would have been impossible for the crush to dissipate across the stand as well as by supporters climbing the fencing and reducing the crush. The pens that caged and restrained people laterally in '89 were fitted as an immediate response to the '81 experience. If anyone cares to watch the footage - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside27614689/ ; https://hotspurhq.com/2012/09/12/the-hillsborough-disaster-in-1981-it-could-have-been-tottenham/ you will see the total disregard of the Police, Hillsbrough Stadium Management and Officials to the obvious plight of our supporters. The bloody game doesn't even stop although doors to the pitch are opened to allow fans onto the pitch area. RememberColinLee posted on the Mouser board that football supporters lives were worthless at this point in history and he is damned right. We were herded from place to place and on regular occasions accorded less concern than animals. I watched the terrible scenes in '89 as they unfolded. Immediately, I knew what had happened and that it was in no way the fault of the fans. Mrs Brian and I were newly 'loved up'. It's the first time she saw me cry as it brought back the panic of seeing my brother being crushed and not being able to get to him. In the days after '89, I phoned some radio stations to share my experience and counter the bollocks coming out of the police, the government, the press. They all told me that they'd ring me back. Nobody ever did. Nobody wanted to hear it. Twenty-seven ****ing years to prove what was bloody obvious! The senior police officers ****ed up again. I hope that the liars and those that hid the truth suffer the pain of those affected, to whom I offer my love and support.
Thanks, you made a very powerful comment. As an aside, the Radio 5 are covering this very well IMHO. Perhaps those who want to scrap the BBC would prefer TalkShite to cover events such as this?
The world was a very different place then. No internet meant that the press barons, radio and TV executives (all 4 channels) chose what we learned. Now, it would be impossible to perpetrate the cover up that followed the death of 96 innocent people in '89. All that was needed was to show the '81 footage to understand that this wasn't brought about by alcoholic intake or supporters kicking down a gate. It had happened before. It was a bloody catastrophe waiting to happen. Thankfully the cages have gone (Ken ****ing Bates saying he'd treat people like animals and being lauded for it). Football fans are people again. We can expose lying and misfeasance in office to the world. Hopefully, nothing like this could ever happen again and if it did, innocent people wouldn't be branded as animals and blamed for the deaths of their friends and families. I hope.
Because of the Grim Reaper being a toxic mega **** this year, for a second I though the reason a picture of Jorge Campos was front and centre on the BBC Sport website was because he'd be Lev Yashin's understudy in the Heavenly XI
The one thing that gets me about Hillsborough is how The FA and the Football League always seem to escape their share of the blame. The ground's safety certificate expired in 1979 and was not renewed, yet The FA and the Football league allowed hundreds of matches to take place at the stadium regardless - which at best qualifies as worst criminal negligence, at worst reckless conduct. In this day and age, they would be the subject of an eight-figure lawsuit, so why are they always overlooked in regards to Hillsborough?
Everyone in authority knew but nobody cared enough to do anything. In those days fans provided all of the money going into football and were treated appallingly in return. The physical response to 38 people injured in '81 at Hillsbrough was more cages! As I tell my kids, you can't imagine what this country was like then. People complained but so many did nothing and let those who 'govern' and 'judge' us ignore the bloody obvious. Those ****ers all hid behind the big lie and those in the media with the power and moral obligation (but not the guts) to expose it failed to do so. They should all have known and I bet a lot of them did even before LJ Taylor's enquiry started to point out that something was wrong. Hillsbrough is not an isolated incident. It stands with the miners strike, The Falklands War, the attack upon the trade unions, 3m unemployed. I'm not going to use her name but there was a lack of respect for normal decent people by those who should have served them and only served themselves.
Reading your writing on this is not only informative but inspiring. Yes a strange word in the circumstances but, you and people like you have in the end won against arrogance of the worst kind hence my use of the word. Once individuals say 'NO' not acceptable, try again!, authority starts to be placed where it should be, as our servant, rather then where it likes to be, our master. Well done Brian and btw you taught me a new word as well (misfeasance)
I suspect that is alluded to here by Teresa May "The House will understand that I cannot comment in detail on matters that may lead to a criminal investigation. I can however say that the offences under investigation include gross negligence, maslaughter, misconduct in public office, perverting the course of justice and perjury, as well as offences under the safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 and the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974."
I'm not sure in practice how the FA would have been able to know about the invalid safety certificate. I understood that it had not expired - it was invalid because it had not been updated to include changes to the ground since it was issued. If the FA had required to see the certificate they would have been shown an apparently valid one and might have felt that they could rely on the licensing authority (Sheffield Council) to police this for them.
I'll name her. Thatcher. The name sends a chill down my spine. Apart from the war, all the others linked. She used the police for her own political gain, and gave them too much power, in order to beat the working class down. Evil Thatcher.
The British Government knew that there was an upsurge of feelings in relation to the islands. Despite this, in January 1982, Mrs Thatcher wrote to the Tory MP Richard Needham, defending the decision to scrap the only British warship in the vicinity of the Falklands, HMS Endurance. It was said the government needed to save money. Three months later, with Endurance in the wrong place and the Falklands under Argentine occupation, her government was plunged into an overseas crisis that led to what was a war. A mate of mine's father was a very senior civil servant in the MOD. He was present in policy meetings relating to the occupation and subsequent military action. He told me, in person, years later, that the government wanted the Argentines to do something so that they could react to it. I know that's very 'ITK' and makes me sound like a conspiracy theorist of the worst kind but it's true that he told me it and I believed it then and still do today.
The "react" would have been political hot air. The risks of military calamity were very high indeed, and the UK apparently had few friends on the international stage (USA etc) who backed holding on to the Falklands. A miracle the whole thing ended as it did.
I don't doubt that, but the war wasn't about beating the 'riff-raff' down to make them obey those in charge. Anyway, Evil Witch has taken up enough of this thread already. She may have destroyed my family, but my loss doesn't compare to the suffering of the 96's families. I'd like to see arrests next. Start at the top.
