It was now Christmas of 1988, I can Remember this Period Quite Clearly as it was the First Christmas in a While, where I was in a Decent Paid Job Working for a Company with Fairly Easy Working Hours.
The Previous Christmas I was in Self-Employment and Wondering where the Next Wages were Going to Come From!
At the Day Center, I was Liking Working there and found the Job, Very Easy, in Fact I was getting that Well Organised that I was Beginning to get so Far ahead in Preparation etc, I was Finding Myself Sometimes with Nothing to do (Work Wise)!
Having this Time on my Hands, was to Turn Out to my Dis-Advantage in the New Year, when My Boss Realised I was, Sitting around with Nothing to do, More of this Later!
Over that Christmas Period I had to do Food etc for a Couple of Christmas Parties for the Old People there and Staff, I Cooked all the Usual Christmas Stuff including Turkey and the Christmas Cake and Puddings, I had Made a Few Weeks Earlier!
After Dinner/ Party, I Remember going into the Big Hall they had at the Day Centre, where they all used to Sit and Play Games etc, (as I said Previously all this was New to me, because I had Always Worked out of the Way in the Background) and I was asked to Join in Etc!
This I did, Really because I had No Choice other than to do so, this as they say was "Making a Rod for my Own Back" and the Following Year, to my Surprise, was going to be Doing a Lot More of this Type of Thing!
Any way by Christmas Time of that Year, I was Glad when the Holidays had come Around. I Believe that Year Christmas Day was on a Sunday, so I Finished Work on the Friday 23rd December and had about 5 Days Off for Christmas and went back in for about 2 Days and then had another 2/3 Off for New Year!
To Me Susan and the Kids this was Fantastic, Plus we had a bit of Money to Spend, Unlike the Previous Christmas, where we had No Money, through being Self-Employed!
So what had been a Bad Year, Most of the Time with having to Shut Down the Takeaway and then Eventually Going Bankrupt and all that the Crap that Brought upon us, I was glad to be in Work and earning Decent Money and having sometime Off!
========================================================
Now for Some Music, Back in 1989 the Great Johnny Bristol Recorded the Barrett Strong and Billy Always Track "Man Up In The Sky"
It was on the "Motor City Record Label" which was Owned by Ian Levine, and they Specialized on Recording Former Motown Acts from Around 1989 to the Mid 90's.
The Track was Recorded in the UK and also Part Produced & Arranged by Ian Levine.
During His Career "Johnny Bristol" had a Total of 6 Albums Released, and My Favorite Album was "Bristol's Creme" which was Released in 1976, I Clearly Remember Buying this Back Then, but of Course His Best Placed Record Ever was "Hang On In There Baby" his Debut Single from 1974, it Reached Number 2 on the US R&B Chart and Number 3 on the UK Pop Charts!
Incidentally this Track is Featured on a CD, which I'm Currently Selling on my Discogs Site, its a Compilation Album, Called "Soul Power" there are 16 Songs from Ian Levine's "Motor City Label" have a Look Here.
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!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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!
