Folker - 45worlds - All Comments

Folker - 45worlds - All Comments

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
Folker 16th Jun 2021		Video Game Galactic Firebird - Kansas City Systems	Review One of the best space invader shoot em ups ever to grace the BBC Micro, though not nearly as well known as equivalents from competitors with much fatter marketing budgets, like Superior Software and Program Power. Given its release date of 1983, most original copies were on tape, but here is a rare version on floppy disc. Reflecting the small scale/budget of the publisher, I seem to recall that the floppy disc (pictured) was all you got. No "retail" packaging for the disc version. That said, the contents more than made up for the lack of fancy artwork. I wasted hours on this, back in the mid 80s. 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 15th Jun 2021		Video Game Colossal Adventure - Level 9	This originally came with quite rudimentary packaging, compared to the later blown-vinyl case, with assorted inserts. The original was recorded on a standard TDK C60, with 1200 and 300 baud copies, with typed title/copyright info on the TDK inlay and simple monochrome outer inlay. All very home brewed (see scans). However, this did not detract from the remarkable achievement of squeezing the original Crowther and Woods "Colossal Cave" mainframe program into just 32k of memory. I'd been playing Colossal Cave on our company mini for a while, but this was naturally frowned upon by the powers that be. Being able to play it at home seemed extraordinary, at the time.
Folker 15th Jun 2021		Video Game Toolkit - Basic Programmers Aid	A great piece of software, which I remember well, but really not a video game (educational or otherwise). Fine, if this were just a "computer software" database, but that's not my understanding of this particular "world".
Folker 12th Jun 2021		Video Game Philosopher's Quest - Acornsoft	I've added a hint request postcard, which I believe pre-dates the introduction of hint envelopes as supplied with later versions of this and other Acornsoft adventure games. The tape with the black/screwed shell with paper labels comes from the same package and I am guessing it too pre-dates the white shell version.
Folker 12th Jun 2021		Video Game Planetoid - Acornsoft	One of several excellent early Acornsoft games which were somewhat naively issued under their original names (Defender in this case), then hastily withdrawn and reworked under alternative titles. The original implementations of Pac-man, Defender, Asteroids et al demonstrated the capabilities of the Beeb to great effect, at a very early stage in its development. Original copies of the withdrawn titles are now very hard to find.
Folker 12th Jun 2021		Magazine Disk User	[YouTube Video]
Folker 8th May 2021		Live Music Graham Parker And The Rumour @ Odeon	It's very unlikely that this gig was GP "and the Rumour", since he had split from them two years earlier in 1980. The gig would have been billed simply as "Graham Parker".
Folker 6th May 2021		Live Music Rich Kids @ Pavilion	Review Support band were probably called TNT and didn't come on until 10. My diary describes them as "crap" and "doing Quo stuff". Rich Kids didn't come on until midnight so audience was getting a bit "lively", thanks to the long wait. A friend of mine got chucked out but managed to sneak back in. RK were great. Note: I found another site which says that this gig was on the 26th, but it was definitely Friday the 24th. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 6th May 2021		Live Music Buzzcocks @ University Of Lancaster	Review A bit of a disappointment for various reasons, this one. I noted at the time that The Permanents were "worse than dire, impossible to describe" and The Slits were "just bad". Unfortunately, the Buzzcocks' set was ruined by a fight after just a few numbers. This was pretty rare for Lancaster Uni gigs, but punk/New Wave acts did tend to attract yobs, especially from Blackpool. Buzzcocks were obliged to play the rest of the gig with the house lights up which rather killed the atmosphere. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 5th May 2021		Live Music The Adverts @ University Of Lancaster	I've just added a contemporary review which came to much the same conclusions as my earlier comments.
Folker 5th May 2021		Live Music Sad Café @ University Of Lancaster	The perennial local no-hopers China Street were the advertised support act, but the contemporary review indicates they were replaced at short notice by a band called Jab Jab, who I'll admit I've never heard of. A net search suggests Jab Jab were a "rock reggae" group from Huddersfield.
Folker 5th May 2021		Live Music The Jam @ University Of Lancaster	Review I've added a (less than complementary) review of the gig from the local students' newspaper, SCAN. Yes, that was a good idea, send a self confessed fan of Camel, Caravan and Barclay James Harvest to review a Jam gig. However, to be fair, it wasn't The Jam at their finest. I was already a massive fan, but was quite disappointed. The vocals were barely audible and every number was indeed taken at the same breakneck speed. Weller's line in crowd interaction was almost non-existent, exemplified by the entire introduction to Bricks and Mortar, "this is about the Houses of Parliament". Huh? What? Probably the longest sentence he uttered throughout the set too. New Hearts were fair, but the vocals were inaudible. Local band China Street were so bad we walked out. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 5th May 2021		Live Music John Martyn @ University Of Lancaster	I've added a review of the gig from the local students' newspaper, SCAN.
Folker 5th May 2021		Live Music Frankie Miller's Full House @ University Of Lancaster	I've added a review of the gig, also from SCAN.
Folker 5th May 2021		Live Music The Boomtown Rats @ University Of Lancaster	I've added a review of the gig from the local students' newspaper, SCAN. Bob's name is misspelt as "Geldoff" (twice). The local grammar gremlins were out to get the Rats !
Folker 5th May 2021		Live Music Graham Parker And The Rumour @ University Of Lancaster	I've added a review of the gig from the local students' newspaper, SCAN.
Folker 4th May 2021		Live Music Frankie Miller's Full House @ University Of Lancaster	The preview from the Lancaster students' SCAN newspaper makes the rookie mistake of muddling the names of Frankie's band and the support act!
Folker 4th May 2021		Live Music The Boomtown Rats @ University Of Lancaster	Listed as "Boom Town Rats" on the termly gig calendar (scan added), which would have been printed in September 1977. Clearly not yet a household name at that point :-)
Folker 3rd May 2021		Live Music Graham Parker And The Rumour @ University Of Lancaster	Review I noted at the time that Clover were "trash" and I walked out. GP & The Rumour were excellent, sticking faithfully to the arrangements on record, but with tons more energy. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 3rd May 2021		Live Music Curved Air @ University Of Lancaster	According to the excellent book "When Rock Went To College", there may have been support from Banco and/or Halfbreed, but this isn't confirmed.
Folker 3rd May 2021		Live Music John Cale @ University Of Lancaster	Support was Nasty Pop, not Isotope as billed on the term's gig calendar (see scan).
Folker 3rd May 2021		Live Music Elvis Costello @ University Of Lancaster	This tour seems to have had an identity problem, as I've found multiple references to it being called each of "A Bunch of Stiffs" and "Stiffs Greatest Stiffs". Found a couple of original photos from the gig a little while back, when asked to contribute to a book about Lancaster's gigs. Figured I would put them up here too. No idea who took them. The picture of Ian Dury on drums, backing Wreckless Eric is quite special.
Folker 3rd May 2021		Live Music Elvis Costello @ University Of Lancaster	Review Here's what I wrote shortly after the gig: "A great night. Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe were excellent musically. Ian Dury was unbelievable. Only the twat Wreckless Eric let things down a bit - apart from the single his stuff was rubbish. Overall EC was probably best - did a great encore of Alison." 4 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 3rd May 2021		Live Music AC/DC @ University Of Lancaster	Review My diary notes that the lead singer of the Tyla Gang was "a fat balding bloke who jumped about a lot - stupid prat". The PA broke down, delaying AC/DC's set until about 10pm. Apparently, they "got better as the night went on" and were "quite enjoyable". Damned by faint praise, I would say. 3 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 3rd May 2021		Live Music Renaissance @ University Of Lancaster	This gig didn't happen. It was cancelled at very short notice. There was a large notice up at the Uni saying that the gig would be rearranged, but I don't know if/when that happened.
Folker 3rd May 2021		Live Music Nils Lofgren @ University Of Lancaster	Review At this distance in time, it's hard to believe that this was very much Lofgren's tour. The programme (for which I've added a few scans) was heavy on NL, with just a couple of pages set aside to introduce Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I believe this was only the latter's 2nd UK gig. I'd gone to see Lofgren, but TP&TH completely stole the show. At the time I noted that they were "BLOODY EXCELLENT, real shit hot rock & roll". After that, Lofgren was (inevitably, in retrospect) something of a disappointment, though the 2nd half of his set was tighter. Naturally, we were treated to the trampette somersault at the end, which was always a crowd pleaser. 6 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 3rd May 2021		Live Music Liberation Suite @ University Of Lancaster	Review I was conned into buying a ticket by two god-bothering door knockers. Awful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 3rd May 2021		Live Music The Adverts @ University Of Lancaster	Review According to my diary, Dick Envy were "terrible" and The Adverts "weren't much better ... TV Smith was the only one who knew what he was doing". Sounds like a cracker. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
Folker 2nd May 2021		Live Music Sex Pistols @ Royal Links Pavilion	The crowd were right up against the stage. Between songs, Lydon stared out into the middle distance and snarled "Stop tying my shoelaces together".
Folker 2nd May 2021		Live Music Half Man Half Biscuit @ St Leonard's Sports And Social Club	Classic between-song non sequitur from Nigel Blackwell (to the tune of Wichita Lineman) : "I was a linesman for Notts County".

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