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The Sweeney......


phil.c60

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I remember in the 79 s here in Australia ( I am 58)  watching the Sweeney and the Professionals. I love them along with Minder . A couple of years ago a mid day movie they had the Sweeney and Sweeney 2 movies . 1st ting I couldn't help   thinking the diffrence between the UK and USA police shows at the time was when in 2nd movie at the start they busted some bank robbers , They and the robbers threw punches and used bats pipes etc .I thought in the States they would have had a big shoot out so different . hence why I like British shows much more than US shows . As I am wrting this I am watching re runs of Midsummer Murders  .  

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On 04/05/2020 at 22:46, chris_b said:

Trevor Preston, one of the Sweeney script writers, used to collaborate with the song writer in one of my bands from many years ago. Nice guy. Apparently all the Sweeney scripts had to be vetted by the BBC because they thought the excessive Police violence was being overstated. Trevor interviewed ex-Flying Squad people so everything he wrote was accurate and authentic, but the red pen still went through quite a lot of the "naughty" stuff.

When I lived in West London in the early 80s, I was involved in a Crown Court case and had to deal with members  of the real Flying Squad. I'm sure that they got  their training from watching repeats of the Sweeney...! 

On 05/05/2020 at 09:50, phil.c60 said:

You're welcome. It's great how these threads expand.......

Also, when I was a young long haired Herbert I worked in The Castle pub at the end of Putney Bridge. They filmed most of Minder around there, and the some of the cast and crew including Dennis Waterman used to pop in sometimes after filming. Lovely bloke, always bought me a drink if I served them. All  along time ago now but a lot of fun in the day.

I used to live on Churchfield Road in Acton, which was the location for the Winchester club in Minder. It was a bit strange seeing my old street on TV a couple of years later (not long after I had moved out). 

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14 minutes ago, peteb said:

I used to live on Churchfield Road in Acton, which was the location for the Winchester club in Minder. It was a bit strange seeing my old street on TV a couple of years later (not long after I had moved out). 

Ah, Churchfield Road, location of the Winchester Club, Maurice Plaquet, where I bought my first bass and the Rocket, the last pub in the area I knew of where you could still get a light and bitter and 10 Woodbines for 2/6.  I've just looked and the Rocket is a Gastro pub these days!! It was one of the worst dumps in West London when I knew it. You could go there at lunchtime but never in the evenings.

Both of these reminiscences from the 60's, so probably before your time, Pete.

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The Sweeney had some of the best of the UK's library music as it's soundtrack and it was one of my first major inspirations. I love this stuff, the basslines are killer. A couple of my mates made a film about library music and Dave Richmond and his Burns Bison are featured in it. 😎  It's a great watch, even if you're not particularly much of a fan of library / soundtracks and all that, it's just a great story about a mostly hidden part of the UK's music history that rarely gets a mention, and the interviews with many of the players and composers are priceless. 

And as a companion piece to @phil.c60 's link for The Sweeney soundtrack, here's a YT link to part 1 of a great funky, jazzy (and possibly a bit cheesy in places) 2CD compilation that came out some years ago. Some of it pre-dates The Sweeney and some came after it, but it's all ace:

Enjoy! :)

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42 minutes ago, peteb said:

I used to live on Churchfield Road in Acton, which was the location for the Winchester club in Minder. 

Now that I never knew (or noticed) despite living around there for a big chunk of the 80s.

 

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15 minutes ago, chris_b said:

I've just looked and the Rocket is a Gastro pub these days!!

Catering almost entirely for the local Polish community, but a very well-kept and friendly place. Food is excellent.

Managed to get an unplugged gig there some years back, but didn't go down well enough to get re-booked.

 

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45 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Ah, Churchfield Road, location of the Winchester Club, Maurice Plaquet, where I bought my first bass and the Rocket, the last pub in the area I knew of where you could still get a light and bitter and 10 Woodbines for 2/6.  I've just looked and the Rocket is a Gastro pub these days!! It was one of the worst dumps in West London when I knew it. You could go there at lunchtime but never in the evenings.

Both of these reminiscences from the 60's, so probably before your time, Pete.

Yep, a bit before my time. In the mid sixties I was a very young child  living in Essex, soon to be transported up to West Yorkshire (where I have lived on and off ever since). 

The Rocket was still there when I lived on Churchfield Road. It was a bit of a sleazy boozer at the time, although not particularly rough. Maurice Plaquet had gone by that time, although there was a dodgy rehearsal studio (that used to flood whenever there was prolonged heavy rain). 

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23 minutes ago, spectoremg said:

I wouldn't be surprised if it was Clive Hicks, but it could just as easily be Alan Parker or Judd Proctor.

Similar wah vibes on the theme tune for "To The Manor Born" too, which sounds like the same player, whoever it is?

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1 hour ago, spectoremg said:

Ok, so Sky have been mentioned. Spot of thread branch line inbound. I looked up Kevin Peek on wiki the other day. Interesting and shady life after Sky. 

Yeah, it all went a bit pear-shaped for him. Loved his guitar playing with Sky, though, Those first 4 albums were hugely influential on me as a kid learning to make music.

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1 hour ago, Simon. said:

Yeah, it all went a bit pear-shaped for him. Loved his guitar playing with Sky, though, Those first 4 albums were hugely influential on me as a kid learning to make music.

I only became aware of him through a recent John Williams documentary. 

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5 hours ago, spectoremg said:

Ok, so Sky have been mentioned. Spot of thread branch line inbound. I looked up Kevin Peek on wiki the other day. Interesting and shady life after Sky. 

I remember checking out some stuff about Sky after watching Herbie F and it was a bit of a sad end for Kevin, someone with so much talent.

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