Up Above The Streets And Houses

People of a certain age will probably know that the title of today's post are the opening lyrics to the theme song of the old TV show Rainbow.

Which is quite apt, as while I was out gardening earlier this evening, I noticed one had formed in the sky, even no rain had fallen.  Only the bottom bit was on show, but I still got my camera out to get a photo or two.

Just as well that I did, as it soon disappeared from sight.

Blast From The Past

For those of you who are of a certain age, or have a passing interest in modern antiques, will recognise the style of painting of the girl, as most homes in the UK had a variation of it during the late 60s and early 70s.

"The Green Lady" was sold as cheap art from many high street stores like Boots, and featured an non smiling Asian girl who had a slightly greenish tinge to her skin for some reason. If I remember rightly, she wasn't even particularly pretty either.

This blown up version features as part of a window display in a large furniture store on Castle Boulevard.

It's A Groovy Party

The Disco Prophets are one of the local bands that we go and watch and take photos of. What makes them special for me is the leader is a friend of mine from my childhood days in London.

Tonight they played at a gig at a local pub for charity. Their second one with the new line up.

They play great 70's and 80's disco music, and all the pub staff were dressed up in vintage gear. So it was all great fun.

The pub were using some multi-coloured LED lights, that seem to play havoc with our cameras, as these two photos of Fay illustrate. The above one looks fairly normal, albeit with a green tinge, while the one below shows what happened when the blue lights came on. It was even worse in red.

Mind you, if any of you can remember Top of the Pops from the 1970s, they always used to do lighting and camera tricks like this, so I don't think it looks out of place.

Dancing The Night Away

This is local band The Disco Propets who we went to photograph at an awards ceremony at a local hotel.

The awards were for foster parents which had been organised by Nottingham City Council, and the Disco Prophets were providing the entertainment. I know the group's leader, and he asked me if I could come along to take some photos, as Rupert has big plans for the group this year.

The band had changed a bit since we last saw them at a gig last summer. They had lost a female singer, gained a keyboardist and swopped a saxophonist. They had also been lent a percussionist. But they still had that great 1970s disco sound.

Lots of the audience got up to dance along to the tunes and the conference room had turned into Studio 54. So it was Boogie Nights all the way until late in the evening.

Studio 54 Reborn

West Bridgford tonight wasn't exactly downtown New York, but it was the nearest thing you could get to take you back to the heady disco beat of the 1970s.

Gail and I went to shoot a 70s night at a local pub. We were invited to by Rupert, the leader and guitarist of the band that were playing. They are called The Disco Prophets. In fact Rupert and I used to play together as children in London, back in the real 1970s. Alas not musically. Just kids stuff.

Strangely enough, he and is wife moved to Nottingham earlier this year for his job. I didn't know until his aunt told me, when we went to visit her in Rye, where she lives earlier this year.

It was a good night too. With plenty of tunes from that era going down nicely with the audience. Many of whom had dressed up for the occasion.

There was a dancing competition too. Gail had paid to enter. Not that she had any intention to do any dancing, unless it was with her OM-D. But she wanted go pay, as the money was going to charity. Oddly she won, as no one else in the audience had entered, even though they were all happily dancing away all night to the tunes. The band gave her a cup as a prize. Not a silver one, but a drinking one, with instructions of how to moonwalk on the side. Someone also won a cup for the best 70s outfit.

I'm Only Here For The Beer

Some of you may remember that slogan from the early 1970's, for a pint of Double Diamond. 30 years on and according to this empty beer glass, the slogan is Chill Out. I took this photo, because I liked the letters appearing in the glass's shadow and also the way that the froth had dried.