PLAYLIST

Fire – Gino Parks & The Love Tones

Hey Mister – The Paperwaits

Reaching My Head – The Prisoners

Small Man In Big Shoes – Steve Brookes

To Be Someone (Didn’t We Have A Nice Time) – The Jam

What Do You Want? – The Special Guests

Local Pop Hero – Rob Foster

Watch The Waters Run – The Aultones

Little Piece of Leather – Donnie Elbert

Maybe Tomorrow – The Chords

Be My Baby – The Ronettes

It’s About Me – The Bugs

Left Right & Centre – The Special Guests

Girl On A Beach – Phoenix Chroi

Gonna Find a Cave – C Jam Blues

Strawberry Fields Forever – The Beatles

I’m Free – The Who

Getting Might Crowded – Betty Everett

Harlem Shuffle – Bob & Earl

I Put A Tiger In Your Tank – Alexis Korner

Enzo Esposito joined me in the studio on Thursday 16 November to talk about his work in music in various bands from Squire, Revolver through the 5:16’s to the current band he fronts and writes for, The Special GuestsEnzo is fully embedded in the Woking music story that has become legend here since the 1970’s, of bands grown from our town. It’s funny for me interviewing my big brother’s friends from school and you think you know all the stuff but it was the first time I heard that my brother David influenced him getting into music. An influence on me too from always hearing him play guitar and his passion for live music and going against the grain to stand for what he believed in always. We aren’t generally establishment favourites my brother and I but past generations have handed that attitude down so the parents should take some responsibility.

Named after the Woking boutique Squire the original line up initially played covers and then moved on like other young suburban bands looking a place for their own songs and to break out of the restricting small town mentality when London seemed a glittering metropolis at the end of the magical train to Waterloo and all its sunsets. Launching themselves amongst the London scene where ‘Walking Down the Kings Road’ became a hit for them and their most well known song.

Big flares, loons and Woking Town Centre formed the back drop of life and bands like Dr Feelgood, Slade, The Who & The Small Faces inspired these young bright sparks until Punk brought its own raw energy to infuse a new modernism with a new edge

Moving forward to today and now playing with The Special Guests managed by Vic Falsetta who has orchestrated, originally with Sam Molnar, the Wake Up Woking gigs for Woking Hospice since 2010. Sam is still doing a myriad of fundraising activities for the Hospice and other charities and Vic has grown the Wake Up Woking over many years one of the initiatives being The Special Guests gaining his permission to release an early Paul Weller song ‘Left Right & Centre’ with a B side by Steve Brookes to raise more funds for the Woking Hospice – limited editions of the vinyl single are still available and can be bought if you contact the Special Guests Mod Band via their facebook page in the link. Their upcoming gigs are 25 November Suburbs Guildford, February 10th The Star Inn Guildford, 4 March – March of The Mods Reading

Claire Mahoney, journalist & author who joined us on the telephone to talk about her work and the current campaign she has to raise money for her book ‘Welsh Mod’. The book is a high quality production of photos and contributions showing that despite the perception Mod was a far further reaching movement than just a London centric fad. Claire is trying to capture and share the experiences of people interested in the stylings and music of a metropolitan culture whilst often living in small isolated villages. Claire also writes for Modculture and New Untouchables with a focus on the women who often influenced style in this often very male centric movement – so much so that it is considered the norm to address women who are Mods as Mod girls or Mod women assigning the word Mod as a male description and the women a variation on that, satellites around it when those of us who were there, inside it, know so much different. Some attitudes remain in the 1960’s – thankfully most of us have moved past that time. By bringing together the regional stories and her own writing it is clear Claire is keeping a strong voice going for the under represented parts of the culture of ‘clean living under difficult circumstances’ that lends itself so well to become a considered maturity of deeper thinking in stylish thought.

You can listen again here