Isle of Man residents will know, of course, that the floor of the Palace Lido has long been the car park for the Palace cinema but it used to be almost as cold inside as out in the winter at the Lido in any event.
I was pointing out where the stage had been and how I had seen bands such as ELO, Hawkwind, Status Quo, Queen, Mungo Jerry, Thin Lizzy and many more.
A further reality check would be to recall that even in those days the venue was a shadow of the days when it had seen the Rolling Stones and the Who perform. That was in 60s when I was too young to attend such concerts but I was buying a shed load of records - at least there was where they ended up until I digitalised them all a few years ago.
One of the the bands I used to follow was the Troggs. Not just because I liked the band but because they came from Andover where my father had grown up.
It was nearly 30 years later that I saw the Troggs as part of the Solid Gold 60s Tour at the Villa Marina. Reg Presley's song, Love is All Around, had not long been at number 1 for a record 15 weeks when recorded by Wet Wet Wet.
When Reg introduced it on stage he asked had anyone seen the story in one of the tabloid newspapers that he had earned something like half a million quid in royalties. There was a muted reaction as people expected him to complain that he had not seen a penny. Instead he punched the air and said: "its f***ing true. I'm rich."
He died yesterday. Not that it was unexpected by all accounts but still sad for those of us with memories of the 60s pop scene. Heard a nice collection of the Trogg's hits on Manx Radio as we returned from Ramsey this evening - more physio for the dog.
The Palace Lido used to be behind the Palace Hotel. Photo 2006 from Douglas Head
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