John Ellis, Pete Ryley, John Baker and Phil Mobsby
Photo by Tony Ashford
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"This year was slightly different in as much as it was my first year without John Baker, but Peter Ryley stood in and did a super job. I knew I
would miss John, he used to knock on my door early in the morning with a cup of coffee in his hand. I asked John Ellis if he thought it would be a good
gesture to have a full size cardboard cut out of John Baker at reception of Harmony College to welcome all as they arrived, he agreed that it would be
a super idea. I contacted our marketing people at work and asked if I could have a life sized cut out of a male, they agreed to send me one from our
Feltham office, it arrived the day I was going to HC. I had blown up a head shot of John to what I thought was life sized and when I got to HC, we
pasted the head over the cut-out and it worked a treat. We put him with a speech bubble at the entry door saying "Sorry I couldn't be with you, have
a great Harmony College". The result from the barbershoppers as they arrived was at times a bit special, Rod was almost in tears and others were
very moved, with Mike Lofthouse giving him a kiss on his way in. As the people started to arrive, you could feel the energy, it was awesome. That air of expectancy. Only about 20-30 people arrived on the Friday, most arrive now on Thursday. The first barbershopper to arrive was Mel Lane followed by our own John Brough. Once we got everything under way, I have never witnessed a feeling of excitement from all those involved in the youth Chorus, run by Timm Barkworth assisted by Rob Barber, Andy Foster, Duncan Winyates. Steven sang with this chorus. And so to the show, and what a show, we had all the quartets including such names as The Works, Pitch Invasion, By Appointment, This Way Up, QED & many others. We sang "In My Room" under the direction of Victor and then John Grant took over to direct us singing "Sweet Roses Of Morn" and I lost it. At a timely point he turned round and directed the audience who joined us in singing the song for JB. We had his cut out in the centre of the front row. The College chorus was immense as one would expect after Mike Taylor and his team had worked their magic, great to hear and great to see so many barbershoppers having a great time on the risers. Prior to that we witnessed, what I have to say was the icing on the cake, the youth chorus came onto the risers resplendent in their walkouts, T shirt and jeans and sang like I have never heard before from a British barbershop chorus, the sound was so alive and bright, the audience erupted after the first song so much so, that the second song was emotionally effected. Steven said it was great to sing with this chorus and is looking forward to the next meeting in November, I have booked them for mike warming the chorus competition. I was amazed and fascinated at the dress of some of the people who shared the college with us on the same weekend. Bicon (I think it was BI-sexual CONvention) they were strange to us, but were friendly people and thanked us at the end of the weekend for letting them be who they are and not getting offended. I love being part of it all, from the setting up to the dismantling and all in-between, I love helping people, I enjoyed sharing a bottle of wine with Neil Watkins' partner, Kay. I enjoyed singing in the afterglows. HC is one of many events I get involved in, I tend give a lot to Barbershop, but it repays me ten fold." Phil Mobsby |
"Difficult to give a brief summary of events at HC as we had a great time from start to finish. Starting with SOB, we sang John's favourite pole cat on the show and it was a very moving occasion. John Grant conducted the piece and after the first few bars, the audience were invited to sing along which they did. Afterwards, there were quite a few of us who had to go a find a quiet corner in which to shed a tear I can tell you. The highlights for me was singing in a chorus of 105 along with perhaps 40 /50 basses. The Youth Chorus were very special and more than lived up to the 'hype' they got before the show. Another extremely emotional experience for me in particular but also many others was Jon Conway's pick and mix of 'Taize' singing. It was six part harmony, females mainly in the Alto section, and the 'song's for a better word are chants, say 8 or 12 bars repeated perhaps 50 times. The chants were sung in the local language. Jon did warn us that some may get a tad emotional but I was not prepared for what happened to me and others. Whether or not it was the hypnotic effect created by the repetition I don't know but I found it very difficult to sing, and once I saw other struggling with their emotions the experience almost overcame me. Someone came up to me a couple of hours afterwards and asked "what happened to you in there" I started to explain, but immediately became choked again. I couldn't answer him. Very strange indeed. The visiting coach Bill Rashliegh was up to his usual excellent standard and performed a very funny solo on the show about Cinderella, done in Mrs. Malaprop style. You know "An ear from his tie cholled down his reek" sort of thing. Anvil had 23 guys there which was also nice to see, both John Brough and Henry were sponsored by BABS for the coaching stream. We had 5 of the new guys from the singing course there which was also great to see. They all thought it was wonderful, but hard work at times. All in all a great time and it remains for me the highlight of the year." George Badland |
"The highlight of HC is always the singing and tag singing in the afterglows... find 4 parts, a corner and then every so often just top up the beer; what more could anyone want?!" "I was very surprised and delighted to receive 1st place in BABS' arranging competition. Many thanks to Rick for entering my arrangement." Craig Russell Mike Lofthouse presents Craig Russell with his prize, the music software package "Finale", for winning the
BABS arranging competition with an original song, entitled "My Sunny Day"
Photo by John Eardley |
"Yup, Anvil has done it again. With the special song for John Baker, it is now special to all of us and I knew a few of our guys actually couldn't hold back their emotions and tears. For me, I wish I had a bit more time with John and before he went I only just started to know him better, but he was already looking after me and giving me all the support I am looking for. I was a bit late when I arrived at the reception, and even though I am tired and just wanting to meet the lot, there is a different feeling. The difference is that John is missing from the line up and it suddenly hit me that he is no longer with us. But Phil has pointed to me that John is still with us he was standing at the double door holding his mobile phone and saying "Sorry guys I can't be with you this time" and I went to say hello to him. I wish that there are more people in BABS or other places like John then we will have fewer troubles in this world. For the highlight of the weekend it's gotta be the Saturday Night show. It was again packed with surprises, I liked all of the quartets out there to entertain us, and a few are my favorites. I can't remember the names but the quartet that did "My Old Man" and they actually did it bravely and reasonably well. And of course seeing the champs "The Works" singing there is just amazing. Another highlight was the time with Bill Rashleigh. Bill is a very very funny man and he is good at what he does. For example, when he came to the Chorus Stream to guide us for a few sessions the improvement was great. Even the recording engineers said there are big differences between each take. I went over to the recording room and had a listen afterwards, it is true the improvement is there and so noticeable. I didn't get as much singing as I would like to have during the after glows but nothing is perfect and I consider HC 2005 is yet another great HC. I feel sorry for all the guys who didn't go that they missed the highlight of the year not just in the barbershop context but in a general context." Paul Lee |
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There were 103 in the chorus this year and we had four songs to do. On the Saturday night show we sang Land of Hope and Glory, Bright was the
Night, I'm beginning to see the light, and For he's a Jolly Good Fellow (a comic version which mimicked the Harmony Assistant teach tape) and then
re-sang Hope and Glory with flags, streamers, and hats and we fired off 50 party poppers. Bacon sandwiches were made at midnight in the dorms and enjoyed by all. There was another conference going on at the same time called BiCon which turned out to be a bi-sexuals conference. There were some weird types such as a fellow in a miniskirt with socks up to the knee tattooed on his legs. The American had a keen sense of humour. Rod's quartet sang on the show and was well received. Craig was presented with a prize as he won a contest for arranging. It was a song he also wrote himself. The traditional Thursday night drink at the Dragon took place as did the curry at the Monsoon. The usual man from the Red Lion served his local brew (St George's) in the college bar, so plenty of afterglow singing took place. Ken Carter |
