BAIBS Monday 15/04/13

24 years ago today I was walking home from work after a Saturday morning shift. No football that day. Rovers had played Friday night and I'd had a ticket for that days big game but sold it to a mate who had a more vested interest in one of the teams playing. My mate Mark was, is thankfully, a lifelong Liverpool fan but had failed to get a ticket for the FA Cup semi final against Notts Forest at Hillsborough that day. I knew how I'd feel if I missed a big Rovers game so didn't begrudge him my ticket.

It was a beautiful sunny day and I treated myself to a few beers in the Hallcross beer garden before heading home to watch grandstand. Just gone 3pm and the news starts filtering through of trouble at Hillsborough. The first thought is automatically one of hooliganism. The so called '80s curse that this weekend has shown is far from over. But as the events unfold it becomes clear that this is something different. Already the police are blaming drunken fans turning up late breaking a gate down and storming into the centre pen on The Leppings Lane End. The police ordered the gate opened and herded the fans down the central tunnel. In previous years this tunnel was closed as soon as those pens were full. The cover up had already begun.

96 football fans never came home. As if this wasn't tragic enough the behaviour of the police, some politicians and certain sections of the media post Hillsborough were, and sadly in some cases still are, abhorrent. It took til last September for the truth to finally come out. Hopefully 2013 will be the year that finally sees justice for the 96. As a football fan in the '80s it was a 'there but for the grace of God' moment. Even following a small lower league club like Rovers you can look back on certain instances that could have lead to tragedy, notably the FA Cup ties at Norwich and Everton when far too many fans were crammed into cages. As football fans we were always third class citizens and the authorities used Hillsborough to force that image home. I don't believe Thatcher and the Tory government had an active hand in the cover up but I firmly believe they were aware of the whole truth and she takes that to the grave this Wednesday. In a week when the taxpayer forks out several million on an undeserved ceremonial funeral for the most divisive leader this country's had in living memory we should remember those that suffered. Today make it the families of the 96.

On a personal footnote I sat at home that day fretting til the phone rang later that evening and Mark said he needed a pint. He's never really spoke of Hillsborough since that night.

I was summoned to the office after today's show. I thought I may be in trouble. After playing You'll Never Walk Alone I voiced out loud, 'Sod Wednesday. Justice for the 96.' Not the most impartial bit of radio ever. I was actually summoned to ask if I wanted to go to Strasbourg in June to a European conference on commercial radio. Sine FM's cultural attache at your service.

So another weekend gone. Rovers a step closer to promotion as we all get out the calculators and brown trousers after coming from behind to win at Crewe. Nice one Chickenman. Donny beer fest on Friday night. A great atmosphere and some quality real ales on offer. I even managed to enjoy the band despite the poor Pogues covers and predictable Wild Rover ending. Saturday saw me back behind a bar as I started work at The Leopard. A steady introduction back but it felt good to be doing what I do best.

Laters

SS

Playlist Monday 15/04/13

Tom Hark - The Piranhas

Holidays In The Sun - The Sex Pistols

Chipping Away - Middleman

Making Plans For Nigel - XTC

Fictional State - To Kill A King

David Watts - The Jam

Burn - Iggy And The Stooges

Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet

Marlene On The Wall - Suzanne Vega

Police And Thieves - The Clash

Permanent - Section 60

Walk - Foo Fighters

Skinny Genes - Eliza Doolittle

Song 2 - Blur

Possessed - Vegas

Ceremony - New Order

Flick Of The Finger - Beady Eye

Itchycoo Park - The Small Faces

Uptown Top Ranking - Althea And Donna

Feel Like This - Missing Andy

You'll Never Walk Alone - Gerry And The Pacemakers

The Whole Of The Moon - The Waterboys

Diane Young - Vampire Weekend

Spread Your Love - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

What's Up - 4 Non Blondes

Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones

Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - The Ramones

Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie

By Your Hand - Los Campesinos

Stay - Rita Payne

Pork And Beans - Weezer

Peggy Sang The Blues - Frank Turner

It's Alright, It's OK - Primal Scream

Rebel Rebel - David Bowie

Ripple - The Coopers

Elephant Stone - The Stone Roses

I Hear You Knocking - Dave Edmunds

Shadow - Gringo Star

Shiny Happy People - REM

American Slang - The Gaslight Anthem

Egyptian Reggae - Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers