Long live Punk! Dame Vivienne Westwood (1941-2022) passed away yesterday. Heralding the punk scene in 70’s London, along with Malcolm McLaren (r), for a disenfranchised youth who needed a music and fashion scene to reflect the counterculture lifestyle they were exploring . As well as safety pins, ripped t-shirts, tartan and outspoken graphics, the leather biker jacket was also utilized.
“You’ve got to invest in the world, you’ve got to read, you’ve got to go to art galleries, you’ve got to find out the names of plants. You’ve got to start to love the world and know about the whole genius of the human race. We’re amazing people.”
My earliest football memory is watching the great Brazilian player Pelé fly gracefully across a pitch and seem to magically transform the ball into a floating orb. He was a champion for the sport and a global ambassador for sportsmanship. I found a couple of magazine advertisements in Portuguese for a Honda 125, which I’m sure was sold by the stadium load in that country. Soichiro Honda is seen with Pelé in the center image. Brazil became a major manufacturing location for the smaller Hondas.
It would have been James Hunt’s 75th birthday yesterday (29th). However he sadly died back in ‘93 aged 45. Along with the likes of Barry Sheene and, as here on this Honda 750, Mike Hailwood, he epitomized the British racer of the 70’s. Photo taken at Brands Hatch.
Anyone who worked on their 60’s and 70’s Triumph motorcycles surely used the clear wisdom of Lunmad. His Yorkshire accent narrating the home videos expertly edited sharing his knowledge of keeping these aged machines on the road in simpler fashion. Sadly he passed away last Thursday and is a loss to the vintage motorcycle community.
A visit to the premier classic British motorcycle shop in northern Illiniois was also included in the agenda. Always a treat to look over the various items parked shoulder to shoulder in the main display area. The workshop was so busy that bikes awaiting service and restoration work were stood outside.
– long sighted movie from 1975 starring the recently deceased James Caan (1940-2022). Ultraviolet corporate sport is the global entertainment and the individual personality is quashed. Inspired stories in my childhood comic 2000ad.
– the lineup on BritBox includes gritty seventies show starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman as Regan and Carter; a pair of serious crime detectives. First episode screenshot of a pair of police motorcycles accompanying a prisoner transfer van. “You’re Nicked!”
– another passing this week was Sidney Poitier. He flew the door wide open for minority actors. This lesser known film that he directed and starred in sees him as an american, Dr Matt Younger, who travels to Britain to take part in scrambler races. Whilst there he falls for a young woman who is an African Ambassadors daughter. Romance ensues. Sidney was 94. The bike is a BSA B50 MX which, incidentally, was the very last competition model from the Small Heath factory. Models were still rolling off the line during BSA’s demise.
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