Monday, April 19, 2010

The illustrated Hello: Leslie Crowther

Yes, yes, there's your record store day. But what of Woolworths? Who fills their void, eh? Here's a 1970s advert with Mr Crowther stocking up on soundalike vinyl and instrumental tunes from his High Street:



(Teenagers: sorry, most of that must have been incomprehensible.)

Interesting that in those days, records were sold "at the prices you want to pay." Try to enforce the price you want to pay nowadays, and you'll wind up having the BPI throw you off the internet.

Crowther, of course, could hold a tune in his own right. Even when singing with Lena Zavaroni:



That was back before she officially changed her name to "tragic" Lena Zavaroni.

Crowther spent some time as chief pencil-awarder on kids' TV catchphrase-heavy gameshow Crackerjack. Besides the musical, um, tributes from Peter Glaze, the show was also one of those odd spots where surprising bands would sometimes turn up. This is Steeleye Span - during next-presenter-but-one Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart's reign of terror:



Stewpot. Perhaps the least menacing mafia nickname ever.

But you know what we're building to here. Crowther's main claim to pop fame - his son-in-law, Phil Lynott:



[Part of the Illustrated Hello]


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