16/02/2024
Chapter 7
The Fox n Goose
My memories of this place are quite hazy, surprise surprise, hence the delay in posting this Chapter..
Here goes ..
The Fox n Goose was our local pub. Smack bang in the middle of where all the local districts met.
Washwood Heath, Ward End, Stechford, Bromford and Castle Bromwich. It was the watering hole for everybody and anybody .
My early memories are going on casual Sunday strolls with Graham Willis and his mom and dad Denise and Roy the godfather of the social club I previously mentioned.
We’d take a walk from their house and stop off at the Ward End pub and then up to the fox n goose and sit outside there with half a lager and lime before walking back.
I was about 10 or 11 but always felt quite grown up experiencing pubs for the first time .. So I blame Roy for my current mild dependancy on alcohol.
As I got a little older about 14 I remember heading back there on a Sunday evening with my breakdance crew “Street Rock”, with a huge ghetto blaster I’d scrounged off my girlfriend at the time Kay Brelsford and huge pieces of cardboard we’d acquired from the bins at the back of Dodge city.
We all tentatively approached the Fox n Goose car park to perform all our best “rock steady crew” type moves ..
We made a few quid busking that way and without me releasing it was sowing the seeds in those moments that engrained the Fox n Goose in the very bones of me.
It wasn’t long before me and my gang of best friends , that’s me, the organiser, white Phil, the shady poor man’s Stephen Bartlett, Black Phil, the unpredictable one, Daren Fisher the gangs hairdresser, Smiley, the only clever one, Gary, the brawler (he’s changed now), and “G” the self proclaimed funny one, were all frequenting this establishment about 4 nights a week drinking copious amounts of Castlemaine ###x and the occasional pint of Lowenbrau which was not for the feint hearted.
One particular Sunday lunch time session a golden opportunity landed out of nowhere. Tony, the manager at the time was talking about finding some entertainment for a charity night.
“ Stretch is a Dj piped up one of the lads (Daren Fisher as I recall)
Before I could catch my breath I’d agreed to the terms scribbled down on the back of beer mat and we were all set to go.
I was actually booked to play to all my friends in my favourite pub.. it’s the stuff dreams are made of .
On the day of the charity gig they got me to set up in the “men only” yes you heard correctly “men only” end of the bar . I remember the stuffed Fox and Goose in a glass display box was catching the glare from my ridiculously bright flashing disco lights.
The night was a roaring success and unlike my first gig I was oozing confidence, well it was like playing in my second home it seemed to come so naturally to me.
Some of highlights were Grandmaster Flash , White lines, a big sing along to Wet Wet Wets “ A little help from my friends” and a surprise guest appearance from an old School pal Steve “cheesedip” Brayford who volunteered his rapping skills offering a service where you gave him your name and he created a rap, freestyling like a young Vanilla ice.
Following the success of this event I was offered the residency.. two nights a week Thursday and a Saturday .. definitely not a Wednesday as that would clash with DJ Sam at the Weir inn..the coolest Dj in Birmingham and a big Dj influence of mine ..
There are so many tales that I could tell about those days DJing at the Fox and getting payed to get drunk. It would be a whole book on its own ..
Me playing the Specials “Night club” dropping the volume at the perfect spot and 200 people all singing back at me “I won’t dance in a club like this, all the girls are slags and the beer tastes just like piss” is one of my DJing highs and a memory I’ll take to my grave.
It was at some point during those crazy days I met 15 year old Pete Smallwood.
I remember there was a lad called Nick.. he was boy racer as I recall.
In my minds eye I can see the moment where I was packing up at the end of a really good night at the Fox. He didn’t know I was there and he’s talking to a fresh faced Peter Smallwood saying “yeah it’s been alright tonight but Stretch is just a party Dj at the end of the day.”
He was spot on..
I emerged from behind the speaker stack and took it on the chin as that’s what I was ..
The next time I bumped into this lad I was making my way through the crowds with my box of records at Miss Moneypennys to play one of my sets .. certain moments stick like glue in your mind.
More about Miss Moneypennys to come in a future chapter.
Meeting Pete and getting him to cover for me at the Fox when I was away with my mates inventing lads holidays was a union that changed my DJing trajectory beyond all recognition..
Things were about to get even more colourful as Pete and I fumbled our way through hundreds of private parties ..
If you’re still on board ..thanks for reading ..
Time to stick your book mark in ..until next time …