COOK-IN-CHARGE and JUNIOR WALKER

The Time was now December 1988, I had been in my New Job for about 2 Weeks, I was Called "Cook-In-Charge" I had a Small Kitchen to Look after and a Stores Room, and I had to Feed about 25 Clients and about 5 Staff Per Day!

As I said Previously the Clients at the Day Centre had Dementia, so this was Very Different for me, as I the Clients Walking in and Out of the Kitchen, so I had to Learn about "How To Deal with them" which was Quite Difficult!

Some of them you could have a Long Conversation with, but Others were the Complete Opposite and Could be Very Bolshy and at times a Bit Violent! 

As I said before, I was the First Male to Work Inside the Day Centre as well as the First Chef, so the Food they were Used to having, I Never Cooked, so I was Told by "The Boss" what they were Used to and What they Liked, it was was Very Plain Food, as you would Expect, so I Started Cooking a Load of Basic Stuff!

After the First Week, I Remember, I went to see "My Boss" and Asked her about the Food Situation, I asker her whether I could Start Cooking a bit more Adventurous Food for Everyone, to my Surprise, She Agreed!

So the Following Week, I Starting Cooking Different Types of Food, For Example, Sweet and Sour Chicken or Pork with Pasta, All Types of Meat in a Curry Sauce with Rice, Lasagne, Fish Pie, Chicken Chasseur Etc Etc.

I also Started Cooking Better Vegetables and Potatoes, I mean all they were Used to Before was Just Different Vegetables all Boiled Up to a Near Pulp, I Started Using Different Cooking Methods and Sauces with the Vegetables, and a Lot of Different Potatoes, Cooked in Different Styles, Not just Boiled or Roast!

I also had to Provide a Sweet/Pudding Every Day, this I did, Using all New Things (for the Day Centre) including Various Steamed Suet Puddings, Trifle's, Bread and Butter Pudding, Meringues Etc. 

Another Thing I had to Cook, Every Day, before I Clocked off Work, was a Piece Cake or Something Similar, for Everybody, the Types of thing I used to Cook were, Vanilla Slices, Scones, Fancy Cakes, Shortbread, Egg Custards, Etc Etc!

Something else I Cook, soon after Starting the New Job, was a Christmas Cake and Some Christmas Puddings, I Knew it was a bit Late, Normally but it was Better Late than Not Having Any at all!

All in All I was Enjoying my New Job and Looking Forward to Christmas, which was only a Couple of Weeks Away!

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Now for Some Music, Next Week I am starting a New Voting Poll, this Time its Going to Concern "Who's The Best Saxophone Player"
I have Picked 10 of The Best and will Feature Each One of them Every Other Week in My Posts! 

There will also be a Voting Section as there was for "The Best Soul Singer" and "The Best Funk Bass Player" 

I Artist I will Start the Posts with is "My Favorite All -Time Sax Player" The Man by the Name of "Autry DeWalt (Mixon) Jr" in Other Words The Great Junior Walker! 

He is a Long Time Favorite of Mine, Dating Back to the Very Early 70's, in Fact, Me and the Wife had the Privilege Back in the Early 80's to see him Live in Concert.

What a Fantastic Show he put on, in Fact it was One of the Best Live Shows I have Seen, Check My Previous Posts, (for the Artists I have Seen in Concert), in Fact the Reason for this Post is a Video I Found a Few Months Ago on YouTube!

This Video Reminded me a lot of the Time I saw "Junior Walker" and that's what gave me the Idea of the Up and Coming "Who's The Best Sax Player" Posts!

Just Watch the Video, it is Brilliant, you will Not See this Sort of Performance Anywhere Today, How Junior Walker Could Play the Sax Like that and Sing is Fantastic, also see his Great Backing Band The All-Stars!

The Actually Recording is from 1967 and was at The Ram Jam Club in Brixton London, it Lasts for about 7 Minutes!



              

NEW JOB and MASS PRODUCTION

The Time was Now Early November 1988, I Remember this Time Well, there was a Couple of Things Happening around this Period, I was Waiting to Hear whether I had got a New Job, Working for Norfolk County Council as a Cook, and also I had Sold my Van which I had, I Part-Exchanged it for a Morris Marina!

Home Life was getting back to Normal after the Bankruptcy about a Month Earlier, by this Time we had been Living in the same House for about 6 Years, and Married for 10 Years, Nathan was 10 Years Old and Natalie was 8 Years Old, but the only thing I Wanted at that Time was the Job I had Applied for a Couple of Weeks Previously!

I was Lucky back then, the First Job I went for after the Bankruptcy, I got, I had a Call from the Day Centre Manager, Telling me I had got the Job, I was to Find out Later, I Nearly Did Not get the Job, because I was a Bloke, and No Man had Ever Worked Inside the Day Centre Before, they were All Females!

So with only about 6 Weeks until Christmas, I had got Myself a New Job, it was Monthly Pay, I had Always been Paid Weekly before, but at Least I was going to get 1 Month's Pay just before Christmas!

I Remember my First Day in the New Job, Very Well, my Hours were to be 8am until 3pm, 5 Days Per Week, the Money Was Not Great, but the Hours Were and I was to get Every Bank-Holiday Off, I had Never had them Hours and Times before, Working as a Chef, although I was Now Called a Cook-In-Charge! 

The Place I worked was a Day Centre for People with Alzheimers Disease, Now I had Never Worked in a Place Like this Before, but Being the Cook, I thought, who the People were Would Not Affect me in Anyway or my Work, how Wrong I was Going to be, in the Future!

I Remember the First Day, After I Knocked Off at 3pm and I was in my House by about 3.10pm, I thought "What a Cushy Little Job, this is Going to be" and I Liked all the Staff who Worked there and the Place, But as you know, things are Always Great to Start with, its about a Week into, that you Start Realizing who the D@ckheads are!

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Now for some Music, Back in the Middle 70's and Early 80's one of the my Favorite Funk Band's was Mass Production, they had Some Great Music Released back then!

Mass Production like a Few Other Bands back then (Cameo, Earth Wind & Fire, Bar-Kays, Funkadelic etc), had Several Band Member's, Mass Production had 10!

They Released a Total of 8 Albums Over a 8 Year Period from '76 to '83, All of them on the Cottillion Record Label.

I'm Not going to Feature any of their Usual Track's but I'm Going to Feature 3 of their Instrumentals, the First one is "Shante" from the "Massterpiece" Album of 1980 and the other 2 Tracks Come from the 1983 Album "Mass Production" they are "Sundancer" and "Victory in '83"

I Don't Know which is my Favorite Track out of the 3, but I did Purchase "Shante" as a 7" Single and the Album, which it Came From!  

THE JOB INTERVIEW and LUTHER VANDROSS

The Time was now about Late October of 1988, I had a Job Interview with the Local County Council to Work as a Cook in an Old People's Day Centre, about 2 Miles from Home!

I Remember going to the Interview, as Clear as Anything, this is because, there Must have been about 6 People in the Interview Plus Me!

They had the Day Centre Manager and her Deputy, they had the County Council Area Manager and his Deputy, there was the Cook who was Leaving and a Couple of Others, I Thought I was going for a Job as a Brain Surgeon Not a Cook!

One of my Main Worries about going to the Job Interview was, Do I Tell them about my Bankruptcy, that had Just gone through, or Not!  

I had Decided to Tell them, as they would Probably find out anyway, if not now, but Later.

So after I had about an Hours worth of Grilling, I told them what had Happened with my Previous Employment, i.e having my Own Takeaway and Going Bankrupt as a Result of Failure, I didn't Know at the Time, if this went Down Well or Not!

The Previous Cook, who had the Job was on Maternity Leave and had Decided Not to come back to Work, so she was in the Interview, but there was also another Cook who they had Working there on a Temporary Basis, now I Knew this other Cook, she was the Older Sister of one of my Aunts (although I Never got on with this Aunt).

She had given me a bit of Useful Advice on Getting the Job, but when I left the Interview, it seemed my Only Worry about getting the Job was, I was a Male and they had Never had a Male Working there, Apart from 1 Male Van Driver (although he Never Worked inside the Centre, Just on the Vans), Nowadays that would Never Happen with All this Equality and PC Crap!

There was Something else I Learned from the Interview, if I did get the Job, I would Not be your Normal Run of the Mill Cook, I would be Called "Cook-In-Charge" 

I Don't Know who I would have been In Charge of, Because I was the Only Person Working in the Kitchen, and I had to do My Own Washing Up as Well!

So I Left the Interview and was Told, they would Contact me Either Way in a Couple of Days Time, so I went Home and had to Wait while they went through All the Usual Cr@p, what them Sort of Manager's go through!

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Now for Some Music, Back in July of 1981, Luther Vandross Released his Debut Solo Single, which was Taken from his Debut Album to be Released on August 12, 1981, they were Both Entitled "Never Too Much"

The Song was Written and Produced by Luther Vandross and on the "Epic Record Label"

It Features the Great "Marcus Miller" on Bass and Cissy Houston and Tawatha Agee (Mtume) on Backing Vocals!

The Track Reached Number 1 on the US R&B Chart and Number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100, it also Charted in the UK at Number 13, this Turned out to be his Highest Ever Chart Position in UK for one of his Solo Singles!  

           

                    The "Never Too Much Album" in Full