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 109th MIX FOR FSVB

Here's the 109th Mix selection for F.S.V.B, Its been Mixed by George the DJ, its called "DiscoFunkSoul FullMix Volume 2, there's some Classic Funk Soul & Disco on here, including some Black Ivory, Billy Frazier, Sun, Mass Production and Lenny Williams!


Heres Volume 1 as Featured back in Mid June

Press play button below or to Download press Kadoo and go to WebPage  to see Complete Track Listings!

CHRISTMAS 1981 and MASS PRODUCTION

 By Christmas 1981, we had been in the flat nearly 2 Years, can't say I remember too much actually about the Christmas Period, but the 2 things that stands out the Most around this Time are, First of all we were going to be Moving to a 3 Bedroomed House (Rented from the Local Council) and Secondly, after 9 Months of  Working at a Place I Hated, I was Leaving!

First Moving, I cant remember all the Circumstances, but what I do remember is , our 2 Kids were a Boy (aged nearly 3) and a Girl (aged nearly 2), and we lived in a 2 Bed Flat, so we Needed a Bigger Place!

Just before that Christmas, we had recieved a Letter from the Council, saying we were being Considered (along with others!)  for a Move,  and would we like to be Considered , but we knew this Meant, the House was probably ours!

We actually knew where the New House was, and during the Christmas Period we took the Kids in their Pushchair / Pram, to have a Look through the Window, it Looked Great through the Window, I can Remember a Lovely Fireplace, and I believe it was fitted with a Gas Fire!

As for Losing my Job, now Most people would have been Miserable, Losing your Job right on top of Christmas, but I was the opposite, I was Happy!

I Hated the place, what had happened was they decided to lay off Several Worker's, on the Last Come/ First Out Basis, and that was me, Sacked! (Thank God), but  I knew knew I would soon get another job!

One thing I do remember about the Last Day working (that was Christmas Week) we were all called into the Factory Manager's Office, one by one, to get our Last Wages, an explanation and some Goods!

Now the Manager's name was Fred, I can't remember his last Name, but he was a Right Tw*t, he thought he was something Higher than any of the Worker's!

Anyway to my Surprise he was Really Nice and Really Sorry about Laying me off! in fact he gave me More Wages than I should have had, plus he gave me (and the others) a Food Hamper, it had loads of different Meats , Drink etc etc!

And to Top it all off, he said I'll give you a Lift Home with all your Stuff, but I had a Bike at that time, and when I told him this, he said that's alright and put the the Bike in the Boot of his Car!

 What a Shock that all was, so we ended up having a Decent Christmas after all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Checkout the photos of Natalie, one on the Settee in the Flat (above) and the one to the Left is Natalie with Susan (at Susan's Mothers House) as I have said Previously these are the Earliest/First Photos we have, read my Earlier Blog Entry!

Music around this time, I remember the Album "Turn Up The Music" by Mass Production That was a Great Album as were all of their 8 Releases between the Years of 1976 and 1983, plus at a "Best Of"  Album in  1996.

The Best Track on the Album was the Title Track, Have a Listen! "Turn Up The Music"

THE LANDLORD & MUSIC!

 Around the end of the Summertime of 1980,  Nathan was 2 Years old and Natalie was 6 Months old. It was around this time that our Landlord Died (from old age) and unfornately for us, his Wife did not want the Hassle of being a Landlord, so she passed the Ownership of the House over to their Daughter!

She as I remember was a Right Old Cow, I recall the one & only time we ever see her was when she came round & told us she wanted us out!

She brought her Son with her, I remember he thought he was some Hardman, at that time we were only Kids ourselves and with not too much Help or Backing from either Family, we had no Choice!

At that time there was not to much Help for Tenants either,  living in  Rented Accomodation from the Local Council and as we did'nt know a Arnold Schwarzenneger Character we had on Choice other than having  to start looking for somewhere else to live!

By this time I was back at the Smaller Branch of the Butcher's 

I worked for, but there was going to be a Change soon, the old Butcher was Leaving  and a New Younger Manager was coming to Work there!

As for the Music around this time, 2 Great Albums I brought were "Massterpiece" by Mass Production and "Chirpin'" by Cecil Parker, I still have both in my Loft!

Massterpiece was Mass Production's 5th out of 8 Albums they made from 1976 to 1983.

It had a Great Single released called "Shante" I had this on 7 in Single as well.


Download the Album Here! 

The Cecil Parker "Chipin" Album was he's only ever release as far as I know, it had a few Great Tracks on it, including, "What It Is" "Really Really Love You"& "I've Been Missing Your Lovin"

Download the Album Here!