#woodentop

[forensicated]

Woodentop - 16th August 1983.

(Taffy: "Welcome to Sun Hill Looney Bin.")

Woodentop/The Bill started off as the 4th episode in the Storyboard series. It was turned into a series that began airing just over a year later on the 16th October 1984.

The first words were spoken by Jim Carver after his (second) alarm sounded to wake him for his first day as a probationer at Sun Hill. "OK Carver, let's do it." He presents as keen and enthusiastic although obviously naive. He's promising however and came top of the class on his "Human Awareness Training" course at Hendon.

Sgt Jack Wilding (Peter Dean), Inspector Sam Deeping (Jon Croft), PC's Green, Rawlings, Wallace, Reid and Morton and 2 unamed uniform officers played by Chris Jenkinson and Richard Huw do not go onto make it into the series, however Jim, Dave Litten, June Ackland, Taffy and Roy Galloway do. Taffy has a surname change later however to Edwards as he is Dai 'Taffy' Morgan here.

"Galloping" Galloway is played by Robert Pugh, he's later recast as John Salthouse, the [original!] short ginger Jack Russell we all know and love. "Doesn't that man ever go home?" "We're in it, Jack. This is it."

PC Hollis is mentioned and his call sign is given as 375. The S for 'Sierra-Oscar' is missing from their epaulettes and only an O is present. Taffy is 101, June is 643, Jim is 600 and Dave is 201. June is the only female officer seen. Dave shows an interest in her but she isn't interested and literally rolls her eyes at his attempt to eye her up in the briefing. It appears they have had an on again/off again thing that; when off; makes the others rather uncomfortable.

Jim declares allegiance to uniform from the off, "I'm a firm believer in traditional policing methods." He explains that he wants to be on the pre-side of policing rather than the post-side (aka: when the problem has already happened). Deeping warns him he felt the same when he first joined and says he might change his mind a few months in.

Taffy asks about Dave's 'exam results' and then says he has 6 more weeks to go to his own; laughing that Wilding is making Litten sweat. June later explains that Dave has just finished a 2-week attachment to CID and "now CID are his Gods, especially DI Galloway." Dave has been waiting 2 months to see if he's passed an exam to allow him to join CID properly.

June is tasked with puppy walking "Jim-Jim". She reflects on how stupid it is to still have the W in front of her job title (WPC/WDC/WDS etc), pointing out that it doesn't matter if they're male or female - they're still police constables.

Jim is confused when she asks a paperboy his name. June explains that a paperboy would know who is away as he wouldn't have to deliver to them for a specified amount of time. She suggests CID might have overlooked it when investigating a spate of robberies. Jim is amazed and she assures him he'll soon learn and pick up little tricks like that. Soon after they are asked to check in on an elderly lady who hasn't been seen in weeks. Sadly the lady has passed in the bath and the obvious has started to happen to her body. Both are horrified though Jim tries to protect June from seeing it. "Poor old Jim Jim, first time out. First day even!"

During a pep talk, Jack Wilding reminds June to never get emotionally involved with anyone in the job - if only she'd listened…! (cough Dave, Gordon, Jim, Tony, Gabriel and Roger). "You're too classy for the likes of Dave Litten! If I were 10 years younger!"

Dave takes Jim 'walkies' for the afternoon, Dave loves showing off to the newbie and claims he'll soon be out of uniform and with CID.

In the briefing, Jim and the others were told to get to know the youths who are upsetting locals by hanging around in groups. He was encouraged to keep a professional distance as an officer, to earn respect and to remain firm but fair. During their walkabout, Jim dishes out a slap round the back of the head to a youth who tries to escape him and Dave. Dave immediately pulls him aside and tells him that he shouldn't have done that and they're pulled in to see Wilding. Wilding warns Jim that he could be suspended on his first day if the boy's family takes it further and sends him and Dave home early.

Wilding has to ask Galloway to help him as the lad Jim assaulted is Galloway's big robbery suspect's son. After butting heads, Roy reluctantly agrees and takes Jack to see his suspect, making it clear that Jack owes him one and that he's only doing it for Dave who he sees real CID potential in.

Jack buys the drinks and explains to Mr Taylor about his new PC collaring his son and friend for 'scrumping. Taylor jumps to the conclusion that Jim would have wanted to get his first arrest under his belt and claims he should have just given him a thick ear and sent him home like the good old days. Jack explains that that is exactly what Jim did, making Taylor laugh. "There's hope for your lot yet."

Jim lives to see another day and we end back in bed with Jim (ooh er!) setting his alarm for the morning.

[bandcampsnoop]

12/13/24.

When I think of The Jazz Butcher (Oxford, England), I immediately think of Eric Janssen. As I was listening to various Jazz Butcher releases on Bandcamp, I noticed one of the user reviews was written by none other than Eric Janssen (the review for "Last Of The Gentleman Adventurers"). Read it; outstanding.

"A Scandal In Bohemia" was Pat Fish's 2nd full length as The Jazz Butcher and it's a brilliant statement of pop/sophisti-pop. The first band that comes to mind is The Woodentops. But I think most would say Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Edwyn Collins and maybe Jonathan Richman come to mind when they listen to this. Ex-Bauhaus bassist David J plays bass on "A Scandal In Bohemia".

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the wonderful Momus. Fire Records reissued a lot of The Jazz Butcher discography in recent years.

[jt1674]

[augustusaugustus]

1.0 Woodentop

CARVER: CID doesn’t interest me in any shape or form.

Jim’s first day on the job, in which he meets Galloway played by a different actor and Taffy with a different name. To be fair, it’s not really part of the series proper.

Going back and filling some more gaps (here and in my notes) when I get the chance. Woodentop is depressing because it actually has colours (blurry colours, but still) and then you go into the series proper and everything is shades of brown. Not as many long silences as Woodentop, at least. Boy does Woodentop love silence.

[burlveneer-music]

The Woodentops - Fruits of the Deep - they are still going?! And sounding good!

A decades worth of real life songs and ideas ranging from analogue live recording to programmed digital and software mutant creation, using graphic to audio filtering, such as a lorry load of footballs tipping out to create the idea of a large guitar chord surfacing after a deep dive has occurred, breaking the surface and bubbling as a submarine would. The album rocks, funks, soothes, inspires mental images and goes where nobody else does. The title suggests the aquatic feel of the collection, water, our hugely important recourse, in us and around us, that is what makes our Earth habitable. The cover art is the image that inspired 'The Fishermen Leave At Dusk' the big number that is the final long track before the bonus track. All tracks have individual credits but would like to thank Dick O'Dell for his advisory input on the whole thing.

[singles-bar]

[spilladabalia]

The Woodentops - Get It On

[differenthead]

Volume 276

0:00:00 — "Get It On" by The Woodentops (1986)

0:03:20 — DJ

0:06:53 — "Trust Me / Dance with Me Now" by Phoebe Legere (1985)

0:15:05 — "Not Like the Others" by Sandy Stewart (1984)

0:19:32 — "Temporary Obsession" by Tuesday Knight (1987)

0:23:28 — "Out of Control" by Tuesday Knight (1987)

0:28:15 — DJ

0:33:38 — "Where Did We Go Wrong" by The Pool (1984)

0:37:24 — "Bisa Blues" by The Pool (1984)

0:43:05 — "Brujo" by Mic Holwin (1986)

0:46:13 — "Unbound" by Mic Holwin (1986)

0:52:08 — DJ

0:55:54 — "You've Changed" by Maria Muldaur (1986)

1:00:40 — "St. Croix" by Scott Cossu (1984)

1:05:29 — "Poetry and Passion" by Lucia Hwong (1987)

1:10:15 — "Singe" (Edit) by Windmill Saxophone Quartet (1988)

1:11:57 — DJ

1:17:01 — "From the Roots" by African Image (1984)

Stream

Download

[memorableconcerts]

The Woodentops - Why Why Why - live 1988

[phonoselect]

PHONO SELECT RECORDS Now Playing... . The Woodentops ‘Giant’ -1986 . Morrissey digs ‘em… . OPEN EVERYDAY 12-6pm Call the shop if you have any questions. 916-400-3164 @phonoselect #recordstore #usedrecordstore #vinylrecords #usedrecords #phonoselect #phonoselectrecords #sacramento #recordstoresacramento #recordstorenorcal #woodentops @woodentopsmusic #thesmiths (at Phono Select Records) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqTd9FDvEOD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[forensicated]

If interested in what else aired at the same time as The Bill as part of Storyboard, Network have released a DVD with all the episodes on.

This includes Woodentop.

If on Amazon it's available there for the same price too with next day delivery (if you have prime)

[bandcampsnoop]

10/12/23.

The pace with which Feel It Records (Cincinnati, Ohio) is releasing music is dizzying. I'm impressed and dumbfounded simultaneously. Hard Copy (Richmond, Virginia) is their one of their newer releases. Feel It releases tend to the punk/post-punk. And I guess this is post-punk but with a dancier feel.

I can't help but think of bands like The Woodentops, Talking Heads, Pere Ubu, The Fall and Dry Cleaning. There is a definite groove here and the talk/singing vocals recall the work of the above artists.

[jt1674]

[augustusaugustus]

More Woodentop babies. Wrong-surname-Taffy! June's haircut! Jim who never wants to join CID!

[scotianostra]

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin today’s anniversary posts!

On 5th August 1923 Scottish broadcaster, Eileen Mitchell, was born.

I wonder how many of you recognised the words at the top from your childhood, maybe not so many here on my Tumblr page, but many on my Facebook group. Well Eileen was the presenter of the programme, Listen with Mother, just imagine that being suggested as a title for a show nowadays, Listen with a parent just doesn't have the same ring does it!

While it wasn’t Eileen who spoke those words, they were spoken by the various storytellers, Eileen has always been associated with them, it's more about the actual show rather than the introduction.

Born in Edinburgh as Eileen Browne, she studied at the Royal College of Music for 18 months - the piano was her first instrument. But the war interrupted her career, and she worked in Novobax’s precision engineering factory from 1943 to 1946 as an inspector and tester of aircraft instruments. While at the factory, she wrote to the BBC asking if there were any vacancies in the schools music department. The correspondence dragged on for over a year, at the end of which she was given temporary employment as a junior programme assistant.

During the next seven years Eileen Browne’s assignments included Music And Movement, Music Box and orchestral concerts. As well as a popular performer, she became a gifted scriptwriter, dramatizing a series of lives of great composers for Adventures In Music. She was also asked to compose variations on nursery rhymes, sing and accompany them for four programmes for children’s television.

Yet although she was very much involved in the musical content and presentation of the programme, the memorable words of introduction - 'Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin' - were not spoken by Eileen Browne, but by the various storytellers, such as Daphne Oxenford and Julia Lang.

Eileen Browne left the BBC in July 1953 shortly after her first marriage . She felt she could not combine running a home with a full-time job. However, in 1955, she was the voice of Jenny Woodentop in the Watch With Mother television puppet series and she was asked to return regularly as a part-time producer in schools radio, which she continued to do until 1964.

In 1956 she married Robert Mitchell, who died in 1996, and after her final retirement devoted her life very happily to being a farmer’s wife and mother, looking after a son, daughter and three stepchildren, who survive her. But during her broadcasting career, she touched the lives of a much wider family of children.