{"id":2312,"date":"2016-11-18T15:56:30","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T15:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/?p=2312"},"modified":"2016-11-23T15:10:12","modified_gmt":"2016-11-23T15:10:12","slug":"finchley-boys-40th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eitc.elvisintheclouds.co.uk\/eitc\/finchley-boys-40th\/","title":{"rendered":"Finchley Boys 40th-Straighten Out-12-11-2016"},"content":{"rendered":"
Legends, myths, fables, once upon a time etc Etc EiTC\u2026\r\nWell\u2026 you know how it goes?\r\nJust then\u2026<\/pre>\n
After a hard day\u2019s levitation, I met up with the legendary Pidge, somewhere around Archway\u2026<\/p>\n
We set the sugar tongs for 1976 and headed in the general direction of Finchley North London.<\/p>\n
Probably due to the day\u2019s precipitation and some moisture penetrating the circuitry of the navigation unit, we somehow managed to end up in Watford 40 years later, which was quite timely as there were a bunch of lads there with a few tales to tell of Finchley in the year 1976\u2026<\/p>\n
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A couple of years ago The Stranglers celebrated their 40th Anniversary \u2013 there aren\u2019t many bands who enjoy such longevity but they\u2019ll be called the survivors, you know why?<\/p>\n
Forty plus years of myths of menace, mayhem, meninblack, and other miscellaneous madness and misdemeanours but above all music (alliteration not withstanding). There has been much variety along the way but a good few constants are also weaved among the threads of this dark tapestry. Not least the followers and fans.<\/p>\n
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Among the earliest and most well-known of these are the legendary Finchley Boys. Immortalised with a name-check in the song Burning Up Time. They stood side by side with the band in the early years and have themselves become part of the story.<\/p>\n
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Tonight was a celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the Finchley Boys first fated meeting with The Stranglers at The Torrington in Finchley. The proceedings tonight were not in Finchley itself but The Flag in Watford which is a large pub right next to the train station with a good sized music hall (not unlike The Torrington inside according to Finchley Boy Al Hillier).<\/p>\n
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The celebrations were arranged as a charity fund-raiser to commemorate those Finchley Boys departed for the great gig in the sky – Daddy, Leigh, Chris and John.<\/p>\n
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Stranglers Tribute Band Straighten Out were the headline act, supported by Punk covers band The Smash. There was a Q&A session with the remaining Finchley Boys as well as an auction, a raffle and lots of merchandise and memorabilia.<\/p>\n
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In addition to the Finchley\u2019s and their families, The Flag was brimming with Family\/Fans in Black here to take part in the celebrations. Any Fan in Black with a link to the internet or social media will not have missed out on the tireless organisation work of Finchley Boy Steve Hillier. And the hard work and dedication paid off as the \u00a35k fund-raising target was well and truly surpassed with the final sum raised being in excess of \u00a37k!<\/p>\n
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Rob Owen took Mic for the Auction which saw some of the hard-core collectors digging deep for some ultra rare Stranglers memorabilia.<\/p>\n
A mix-up with the raffle tickets saw EiTC\u2019s guitar and jacket allocated to other people, although I wasn\u2019t about to raise a fuss what with it being a charity do and all\u2026<\/p>\n
The Smash kicked off musical proceedings nicely with some well-presented punk covers.<\/p>\n
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Special guest \u2018Super-Collector\u2019 Neil Horgan entertained all and sundry with his excellent story-telling, recounting some elements of his own personal \u2018Stranglers\u2019 journey.<\/p>\n
Due to a technical hitch we were unable to view the video compiled by Les Neil but a link came through the following day, watch it here\u2026<\/p>\n