"I asked her whether she didn't like Riverdance, and the reaction I got made me think not" - Man fined by policewoman for playing loud music in car.
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"Markus Aitken of Rochdale has finally succeeded in a four-year battle to clear his name of a most heinous crime of playing Riverdance excessively loudly from his car stereo. He had stopped to ask a policewoman for directions only to be handed a £30 fine. A litany of legal action followed."
i used to sing for 4 1/2 hrs a night in a huge Irish pub in the centre of Prague. directly in my field of vision was a HUGE screen which silently looped Lord Of the Dance. When it finished it would start again. it was one hour long. My gig was 4 1/2 - 5 hrs a night, 4 nights a week, for about 3 1/2 months. You do the math.
I got something out of it though..this story is now on wikipedia.org - it comes up when you look up the phrase "Paying Dues".
Will's certainly onto something there: snatch squads of Garda, their ears tuned to the pure drop, hauling over anyone failing to comply, and fining them (in euros) on the spot. Who needs the congestion charge?- that would clear the streets of London at a stroke.
I thought this was going to be about the article in today's "Times" about the couple from Kelso Folk Club in the Scottish borders who are complaining that George Formby and his songs are racist.
We'll see if I make the news in the US.. When we visit Washington DC in a couple of weeks, I plan to 'play' the White House. To demonstrate my sentiments about our president, I plan to practice my button box in front of the White House!
I was playing in a working men's club in East London in the Seventies. There were four of us in the group. Two English and two Irish. When he heard the Irish accents and saw an accordion on stage the Secretary said 'Now I don't want any Irish rebel songs in here' As the night wore on our singer sang ' One day at a time' which was an Irish hit for Gloria at the time. Later it became a hit in Britain for Scot lass Lena Martel. When he heard the song the Sec' got a bee in his bonnet that it was a rebel song and threw a right wobbly.... What a Dick Head.
Ha ha good one. I was once in a pub in Denmark Hill with a bunch of students - we were all quite inebriated. Someone asked me what was in the case - it was my flute, so I showed her. "Give us a tune then" someone asked, so I obliged by playing half a tune on the whistle (I couldn't be bothered assembling the flute)...as I say, halfway through, some little trainee manager who didn't look more than seventeen if he was a day came stomping over....
"Switch that off!"
He shouted, at which point everyone in our company just fell about the floor laughing. That was sufficient entertainment for the evening.
You couldn't make it up...
You couldn't make it up...
"Quote of the Day"- (from blog on BBC website)
"I asked her whether she didn't like Riverdance, and the reaction I got made me think not" - Man fined by policewoman for playing loud music in car.
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"Markus Aitken of Rochdale has finally succeeded in a four-year battle to clear his name of a most heinous crime of playing Riverdance excessively loudly from his car stereo. He had stopped to ask a policewoman for directions only to be handed a £30 fine. A litany of legal action followed."
Surreal or what?
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by P-K
Re: You couldn't make it up...
He got off with it???
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: You couldn't make it up...
I saw a pic of this on the BBC website. if you look carefully you'll actually see that it's a Lord of the Dance CD.
Now if it was a Riverdance CD I could understand the £30 fine, but "Lord of the Dance"? Jesus, it's a wonder she didn't shoot him!
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by Conán McDonnell
Re: You couldn't make it up...
i used to sing for 4 1/2 hrs a night in a huge Irish pub in the centre of Prague. directly in my field of vision was a HUGE screen which silently looped Lord Of the Dance. When it finished it would start again. it was one hour long. My gig was 4 1/2 - 5 hrs a night, 4 nights a week, for about 3 1/2 months. You do the math.
I got something out of it though..this story is now on wikipedia.org - it comes up when you look up the phrase "Paying Dues".
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by hakanozel
Re: You couldn't make it up...
Nice to know that the Garda still has traditional music lovers among its ranks. Apparently the same cannot be said of the courts....
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by Will CPT
Re: You couldn't make it up...
I read it in The Daily Telegraph site, and couldn't provide a link.
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by nicholas
Re: You couldn't make it up...
We could do with more police like that.
That's the main reason I voted Tory.
(you must be fickin jokin. you didn't believe that did you?)
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: You couldn't make it up...
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1047738_cd_fan_wont_face_the_music?rss=yes
My hero
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by session savage
Re: You couldn't make it up...
>Outside court, he said: "I'm over the moon..... "
--shame he couldn't stay there. And take Riverdance with him.
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: You couldn't make it up...
Will's certainly onto something there: snatch squads of Garda, their ears tuned to the pure drop, hauling over anyone failing to comply, and fining them (in euros) on the spot. Who needs the congestion charge?- that would clear the streets of London at a stroke.
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by P-K
Re: You couldn't make it up...
Boom microphones linked up to machine gun turrets at traffic lights. Now ye're talkin'
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: You couldn't make it up...
Yep. The alternative to instant death might be a day's non-stop step dancing on the pavement at the scene...
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by P-K
Re: You couldn't make it up...
I thought this was going to be about the article in today's "Times" about the couple from Kelso Folk Club in the Scottish borders who are complaining that George Formby and his songs are racist.
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by Kenny
In what way Kenny ?
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by bazouki dave and the real tooty flutey
Re: You couldn't make it up...
Feud at Kelso folk club over calls to outlaw "racist" George Formby songs
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article3858634.ece
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: You couldn't make it up...
We'll see if I make the news in the US.. When we visit Washington DC in a couple of weeks, I plan to 'play' the White House. To demonstrate my sentiments about our president, I plan to practice my button box in front of the White House!
My next venue after that might be Guantanamo Bay!
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by zippydw
Re: You couldn't make it up...
I was playing in a working men's club in East London in the Seventies. There were four of us in the group. Two English and two Irish. When he heard the Irish accents and saw an accordion on stage the Secretary said 'Now I don't want any Irish rebel songs in here' As the night wore on our singer sang ' One day at a time' which was an Irish hit for Gloria at the time. Later it became a hit in Britain for Scot lass Lena Martel. When he heard the song the Sec' got a bee in his bonnet that it was a rebel song and threw a right wobbly.... What a Dick Head.
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by Free Reed
Re: You couldn't make it up...
Ha ha good one. I was once in a pub in Denmark Hill with a bunch of students - we were all quite inebriated. Someone asked me what was in the case - it was my flute, so I showed her. "Give us a tune then" someone asked, so I obliged by playing half a tune on the whistle (I couldn't be bothered assembling the flute)...as I say, halfway through, some little trainee manager who didn't look more than seventeen if he was a day came stomping over....
"Switch that off!"
He shouted, at which point everyone in our company just fell about the floor laughing. That was sufficient entertainment for the evening.
# Posted on May 2nd 2008 by Key Maniac Lad
Re: You couldn't make it up...
I flatley refuse to believe it.
# Posted on May 4th 2008 by geoffwright