Showing posts with label Sandy Lyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sandy Lyle. Show all posts

Tuesday, 10 September 2013

Pet Shop Boys - What Have I Done to Deserve This Ft. Dusty Springfield

Old Pa's Wednesday Club

...SANDY LYLE - THE MASTERS 3/3
Raffles Hotel


 
PET SHOP BOYS FT. DUSTY SPRINGFIELD - What have I done to deserve This (1988)

(Cont. from last week)

We found a hotel in downtown Singapore it had the dubious name of the Cockpit Inn, but it seemed pretty good. (That reminded me of the Gay Pub in Staines, called the 'Cock Inn', simply brilliant).

We decided to just enjoy ourselves as we were here and decided to have a few drink and a nice meal somewhere and start to worry tomorrow. I remember well being in a piano bar and their theme was, we play any request. Joy Division's Atrocity Exhibition sorted that one out very sharpish.

I made contacted with my Bosses in Saudi and they were not best pleased, but they did say they would arrange that I would get a seat on Monday's plane.

'I'm in trouble'

We switched the TV on the room and I was delighted to see the Masters was on and my man Sandy Lyle was in contention. I would be able to watch the last round on Sunday night, I was beginning to relax, in fact enjoy myself.
We planned next day to visit Raffles, the famous Hotel and then visit the world famous Food courts. A great day out was planned and to top it all we had the final round of the Masters to watch.

It was striking how clean Singapore was, but it was very hot and the humidly was as bad as I have ever experienced.

We had an excellent day that Sunday, the shopping was fabulous and I remember buying a Sony Walkman at a superb price. The food Courts were busy and bustling, the food was sensational and like Hong Kong, the Chinese influenced food was nothing like the bland U.K versions.

We returned to the Hotel exhausted but satisfied, it was a great but unexpected day. We switched on the TV, Sandy was still in there, it was all very tense. He got a late birdie to bring him level, there was one hole to go.

Sandy required a birdie to win or a par for a playoff.

He drove the ball, disaster it went straight into the bunker, Sandy had blown it, I thought.

Sandy squared up took a swing  and the ball sailed to the middle of the green, it stopped and started to move again and got closer to the hole. Sandy had quite a long putt for the win. The putt rolled to the hole, I was silent the crowd were silent, the ball turned at the last few inches and into the hole and dropped.

'Sandy has won the Masters I screamed'

I jumped up on the bed, up and down screaming and then fell off onto the bedside table smashing it to several pieces. I didn't care, Sandy was the Masters Champion and I had a great time in Singapore.

Sand Lyle posts

Wednesday, 4 September 2013

Keith Richards - Locked Away

Old Pa's Wednesday Club

...Sandy Lyle - The Masters 2 of 3
That classic shot

 

KEITH RICHARDS - Locked Away (1988) 

It was 1988, we were on our way to Bangkok from Jeddah, for a few days R and R. Both Shellhunter and Flycasual were being looked after by friends. Arriving in Bangkok, I bumped into a a guy, 'Ken the Limp', who I played football with. He suggested we share a cab and head for Pattaya as he was going to meet his 'wife' there.

Before you know it we were on our way to the Holiday resort of Pattaya. This started a long love affair with Thailand which still remains to this day.

We eventually found a hotel and the view from the hotel room was stunning (as you can almost see from the pic)


A Singha/Moet experience
That evening we hit town, we could not believe what was going on. There was Go Go shows, loud music, snake shows, Thai Boxing all happening for the price of a Singha Beer. It was exciting loud, brash and all the senses were going into overload.

The smell of sewers, mingled with the smell of garlic and coriander, beautiful!

The food of course was cheap and fabulous. The Thai people were friendly and always had a smile, even when they were ripping you off. You did not care, it was all worth it.

The clothes and suitcases were all cheap, so we were able to get plenty of the latest shorts and T-shirts for the kids and all the latest Louis Vuitton bags etc.

We had a fabulous time and many a sore head and it was over all too soon, but we planned to come back in the summer for 3 weeks.

When we got to the airport, the flight back to Jeddah was overbooked. I found out there was a flight out of Singapore later that day. I was luckily able to write my own tickets, so I hastily arranged a flight from Bangkok to Singapore to make the connection. We flew down by Lufthansa.

When we arrived at Singapore, disaster, the flight had filled up with workers from Indonesia. We were stuck in Singapore and the next flight out was not until Monday and it was full. It was Saturday evening and I was meant to be at work on Sunday.

To be Continued :

P.S. You will see the significance of Sandy Lyle next week.

Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Echo and the Bunnymen - Thorn of Crowns

Old Pa's Wednesday Club

...Sandy Lyle - The Open

 
ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN - Thorn of Crowns (1984) 

I always thought Sandy Lyle had the talent to win one of Golf's majors and he was a Scots man to.

I was visiting my parents in Inverness during the Open in 1985, The day before it started I went out with my father to his bowling club for our lunch time drink. I always looked forward to this as it was a joy to listen to the banter between my father and his senior mates. They had me in stitches.

This time my Father went to the Bookies before going to his club. I don't usually bet on horses but I decided to have a flutter on Sandy to win the Open, the odds were 14 to 1 so I put a tenner on Sandy to win.

Andy was doing quite well, he was in contention and when the last round came he was right up there. I said that if Sandy wins I will share the spoils with everybody who was in the room at that moment.

Bloody 'ell, he just went and did it. There were 10 people there, including myself, so it was £15 each. I bought some booze to celebrate and you know what?  I lost money after I paid everyone and bought the booze.

Oh Well! it was worth it. My sister and brother in law got a new fence, the kids got something they wanted. My father got an good bottle of Malt and of course Sandy won the Claret Jug. A good day all round.

Why Thorn of Crowns?. Well I bought the Album Ocean Rain in a second hand shop that morning and I loved the track. It always reminded me of Captain Beefheart. 
     
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