Photograph
Mike Wood
The White Lion
1973

“Was the guy in the plastic hat called Alex ?”

“Negative..he is Eric Faulkner (not the Bay City Rollers one but the Insurance Salesman one). You may remember him from one of One Yellows parties when he stripped naked whilst pissed and you threw his clothes on the roof..tee hee!”

“I went to the Heavy Rock Disco at the White Lion Withington on a Sat night,but the DJ's then,in 74 and 75,were called Jed and Al.They also did Stockport College union rock disco on a Friday night.Those poses look familiar.”

“remember this photo being taken, a few of us went down regular to the disco and then on to stoneground. if mike reads this he will remember me as i printed a t shirt for him with a led zep logo.
knew nick very well and enjoyed the parties at his house”

“I remember said shirt, it had the "ZOSO"insignia on the front and I think the disco night at the Star and Garter was called that too...Nick was a star then...I last saw him in Levenshulme Antique Market about 20 years ago selling off loads of old records in a little side room...”

“that is the shirt,
last saw nick in market street manchester. that would be around 15-20years back.
the Star and Garter was jackie stents parents pub.
disco upstairs.
loved them days down at the lion”

“Thanks for posting-missed the White Lion for many a year-Bloody supermarket now!”

“Well well. Just stumbled across this.
Dr. Filth, the t shirt lasted for many years. You also printed a shoulder bag for me.
Where is everybody now?
Mike”

“Hi sbilts”

“Hi,Mike...I would imagine everyone is old and grey like myself,still like Rock though although I tend to enjoy it through my kids these days mainly.....you still involved with music at all or did you grow up normally?”

“I don't know about normally but like you still enjoy music through our kids. Got 2 boys 22 and 19, the eldest is in and out of bands. Topped the bill once at the Academy. Wouldn't have been to see bands like Green Day if it wasn't for them. How many kids have you got?
Is that Andy, The Head, on Nicks left in the photo?”

“Its is indeed The Head...I have 3 Boys,eldest is 17 and he also just played the Academy 3, 2 weeks ago in one of his bands playing Metal stuff...I wouldn't have been to see Metallica,Slash and Black Label Society were it not for him,but I made him see Hawkwind when he was 13 so fair do's...I have 2 other boys (15 and 11) the 15yr old plays Basketball at National level and loves Rap etc (he is a Chav really and identifies with Karl Pilkington from An Idiot abroad) and Sam the youngest plays guitar and loves Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix.....I lost touch with Andy(The Head) when he got married and moved to Stalybridge...funny old world...”

“Andy married Liz and later moved to Glossop. They split up several years ago and Ive not heard from either since.
Don't think I know any of the girls in the pic although the one in front of Andy was probably his girlfriend at the time, cant remember her name.
Ive been married 33 years I think.
We had a restaurant for 10 years but sold it 13 years ago when the kids were growing up. Elliot our youngest is now a chef and wants a restaurant, doh!!”

“the girl with Andy was called Chris and she lived on Denison Rd near where the International used to be and she was his girlfriend at the time as you say..The girls were all mates and were called (from left to right) Maureen,Maureen and Liz and were always in the White Lion at the disco or in the Red Lion which is how we knew them.I don't know what became of them,but I know the 2nd Maureen went to live and work in London and I stayed in touch for a while and even went to visit a couple of times to parties in Mill Hill but that was a long time ago...did your restaurant have a Led Zeppelin theme?thats how I always remember you as a bit obsessed with them at the time..I have fond memories of the Swinging Sporran and the Star and Garter Rock Disco nights.Do you remember when you had the light blue transit van and a few of us went to Blackpool Illuminations...I think we arrived just as they switched them off...I went for a pee on the beach and you thought it would be funny to drive after me and shine the headlights on me.The van naturally got bogged down in the sand and a kind soul from the local yacht club towed you off but the drivers door, which was open ,smashed against a concrete post and got bent out of shape and wouldn't close... the AA came and bungeed it up so you could get it home..that was so funny...”

“Haha I remember the Blackpool incident. That was in my Hillman Minx which was actually one year younger than me. The van followed when the Hillman had to be scrapped when you could see daylight through the floor.
Ive got a photo somewhere of you, Andy and Liz all in the back freezing cold because we couldn't close the window
I remember the girls now. I went out with 1st Maureen for a short while, she will be happy I didn't recognise her. Is she the one between you and Howard.? She came to our restaurant a couple of times but not seen her since. I think I remember the other Maureen and Liz, did one have a limp?
The restaurant was vegetarian and didn't have a Zepplein theme, sorry to disappoint.
Who are the two next to Nick?”

“The one on the left is Dave Leek,who had a sister called Gaynor.They lived on Sandycroft Rd Didsbury and his dad was the vicar at the big church at the Withington end of Palatine road.He let our band practice in there once but I think it may have been too much for God or something as it was a one off..The other lad is called Ken and was an old mate of Howard who was on his first and only visit to the pub as it was not really his"scene"”

“Was that the Gaynor who smoked a pipe?
Are you still in a band?
So he only went once yet got himself on the famous photo”

“Now you mention it I think she did smoke a pipe...I am still in a couple of bands but not gigging at the moment but doing a bit of recording now and then..I got into home recording and sampling in the 80's and 90's and its still a hobby of mine...I live in Offerton these days...”

“I went out with her briefly as well!
Let me know next time you do a gig and I'll try and get down. Up in Diggle these days”

“do you bother with Facebook at all?”

“Yeah look me up please”

“Had a bit of a trawl but cannot locate you...found some stuff under ZosoMike on the Les Paul Forum from 2009 about a CSL copy (I remember you owned one because I was incredibly jealous)So that has to be you..but nothing on Facebook.....”

“have you tried Mike Wood?”

“of course not....well yes naturally,there are loads in Canada and people who are obviously not you nearby,you have to be linked in some way I think and most of the details I put in about my self are nonsensical and vague so there is no way of doing it I can think of,Mike Wood is a pretty common name it seems...”

“What name do you go under and I'll see if I can find you”

“Try mike.wood.587”

“Gotcha...the StarWars Geek....”

“Less of the geek”

“I sense a disturbance within the Force...”

“Haha”