60th birthday at an iconic venue
Last night I attended the 60th birthday of an old friend held at the Clissold Arms Fortis Green, East Finchley. Not just another local. Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks lived opposite and the first and last musical sessions of the Kinks in 1960 an 1996 were played there. The room where we ate our birthday meal had much memorabilia of the group – records, photographs, sketches of the two brothers and figurines of the Kinks. I am no authority on pop music but one of the interesting aspects of music then was how household star names now would perform for other groups. Rod Stewart for example went to the same school, William Grimshaw Secondary Modern, as Ray Davies and sung for the band and Charlie Watts played their drums.
As for the party I was still suffering from a chesty cold and a long journey from the coast to North London did not much appeal. Sometimes such journeys are horrendous, trains delayed, traffic jams and roadworks but not on this occasion as it could not have gone more smoothly. I was door to door by various forms of transport in 2 hours. My friend offered the weary traveller some refreshing Prosecco and smoked salmon and I was comfortably installed to watch England’s stuttering 6 Nations start against the behemoths of France.
The meal served was very good too. I had foie gras and fresh ravioli. My friend organised a DJ in the hope we take to the dance floor but I have reached the age when I cannot deal with noise and prefer the art of conversation to the melody of a Mozart Piano Concerto. My journey back by chauffeur service was accomplished within 2 hours, the driver wisely sticking to the fluid arteries of the North Circular, M25 and M23 with me sleeping most of the way.
When I was awake I found myself reflecting on many things. Old friendships for one. It was Dr Johnson who said “As you go through life the only thing you cannot acquire is an old friend”. I also thought about the Kinks, one of my all time favourite groups with one of my all time favourite songs Waterloo Sunset. The rock revolution of the sixties is often associated with Liverpool as its birthplace but Mick Jagger came from Dartford, David Bowie from Beckenham, most of The Who from Acton and the Kinks from Muswell Hill. I doubt in an age of streaming music, pop videos and slick packaging we shall see the likes of the Kinks again … or that a famous group would start and finish their career at the local opposite where they lived.
