CONNECTIONS # 1

I was watching Hancock's Half Hour the other day (DVD as we don't have TV connected).
One of the programmes was 'Sid in Love'. This was Sid James who in the early Hancock series was Tony Hancock's flatmate. This was recorded in the early 1960's.

The plot line was Sid falling in love (from a distance) with a clippie on one of the double decker buses that passed each morning as he was hanging out his socks and underwear on the balcony. A 'clippie' for younger readers (as if there would be any) was a conductress on buses, trams and trains.

The story was about Hancock and James going around trying to find this conductress because 'she was a honey'.
Good story, excellent programme and part of a great series of unsurpassed BBC comedy that leaves just about everything recent for dead.

Now in late 1979 I bought Dire Straits album and was smitten by both the quality of musicianship and song-writing. Every song on this album was a winner and amongst them was 'Wild West End'.

I've loved this song for years and have often thought about it when visting London's West End many times over the last 30 years. The sense of excitement and anticipation is captured well and the romantic fantasy over the bus conductress resonates with me and I'm sure every man on the planet.

"And my conductress on the number nineteenShe was a honeyPink toenails and hands all dirty with moneyGreasy hair easy smileMade me feel nineteen (lion tamer?) for a while"

When I watched 'Sid in Love' written by Galton and Simpson it occurred to me that Mark Knoffler had (maybe) also watched this and it resonated with him and maybe then inspired his lyrics.