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Today’s Photo Friday is entitled: Friends (Photos © Jan Marshall)
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The photo I picked today, I just know Lou (from blahblah blog) will enjoy - because she too likes taking photos of people’s feet! I make no apology for the quality of these snaps - I had a cheap Instamatic camera in those days - but I still took it everywhere. I was always requested to be the official photographer at all our social events - and because I was a little shy, hiding behind the camera lens made circulating easy. I’m still shy now in a room full of people and prefer to hide behind my camera lens! (These photos had to be scanned and reduced and that has also effected the quality but despite this, I think they manage to capture the enthusiasm of that evening well!)
My Photo Friday entry is below, entitled: Friends
This particular photo is over 15 years old now and reminds me of a very happy time in my life. It was taken at a really good friend’s 40th birthday party which was fancy dress with the theme “Grease” (as in the John Travolta movie)! Absolutely everyone took loads of trouble and wore fancy dress costume - so not only was it great fun but it was also incredibly liberating (because it is so much easier to have fun and be outrageous when you’re disguised, albeit just in rockNroll fifties gear!)
Rob, (whose birthday party it was) is a lifelong musician and heads his own band - they’d once toured professionally but as time went on, and marriage, mortgages and children came along - they began to settle back down locally (in Warwickshire - where we then lived) and just play for fun in local pubs at weekend. I used to go along to enjoy the music and support the band - since one of my closest friends was Rob’s wife Lindsay (who I’ve known since we were both 16 years old). The band of course played live music at the party - which really made it rock! The sort of music they played was jazz, blues, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Blues Brothers, John Lee Hooker etc. Fabulous!
Because we’d all been such good friends for so many years we all knew each other really well - we had/have “history” together. We were also all in our thirties (with just a few in their early forties) and so were full of life and fun. We would meet up almost every weekend to support the band or each other, or have a party, or just a get together in the pub. Life was just brilliant and so easy then.
Sadly, couple by couple, life got in the way as we “grew up.” One couple had a child that died as a result of ”cot death”, most of us got divorced, one or two betrayed each other by having an affair and leaving for another one of the gang’s partners. One died of cancer, I also got cancer (but am here to tell the tale), one tragically died from early onset Alzheimer’s, and one couple became bankrupt and fled the country. I could go on and on with the tales of woe that followed ….
But the photo captures a wonderful moment in time; an age of innocent fun before life made us all drift tragically in different directions. I don’t feel sad when I look at the photos - because we had such a good time together then, in our twenties and thirties - and no amount of tragedy can take that past enjoyment away. We came through the tragedies of course (what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger) and life continued. But the innocent joy was gone; we became more serious “grown ups” and life took us in different directions.
I took about 50 photographs that day - so I’ve included just a few bonus snaps to give you a real feel for the party.
Bonus snaps below:
Below: “We’d better get this party started!” Adrian - always a hoot! Adrian was a “singing telegram man” in his spare time (to augment his income) and once when I was recovering from major surgery he visited me and sang me a wonderful get well song on behalf of the gang!
Below: Rob, the birthday boy (wearing gold jacket) - playing keyboards and singing with his band at the party!
Below: One of my best friends - centre stage : Lindsay (we were often mistaken for sisters in those days)
More Band members below: Simon (on the right) was also my hairdresser in those days! Don’t you just dig that dated wall-paper? 
Below: Jiving happy feet - attached to Chris!
Below: Chris the drummer!
Below: Bottoms up! (various assorted scally-wags - much the worse for booze by the time this cheeky picture was taken!)
Below: Dancing Queen Gill tripping the light fantastic with Ade!
Below: Lady Luck herself (me) posing with Alan (band member & also Gill’s husband at the time) - he later broke her heart by leaving her for Simon’s wife. Gill is happily remarried now. I dressed up as Olivia Newton-John - and earned the permanent nickname, Olivia Neutron-Bomb!
The You Tube clip below is one of my favourite songs, the band would play it regularly, especially for me. Remember to pause the Sonific Songspot first (by scrolling down the right hand of the blog screen and pressing the pause symbol) - so you can really enjoy it.
Next week’s Photo Friday theme is: Portrait
(A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant) - and have I got a good one for you!!!
Posted in Best things in life are free, Jan Marshall, Life, Photo Friday, YouTube, attitude, being authentic, friends, history, human issues, inspirational, love, photographs, relationships | Tags: Fun, Rock & Roll, party time, my gang, being in your thirties, tragedy
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