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

                                

                    

THE TAKEAWAY OPENING and MTUME

We got the Keys to the Takeaway Shop in October 1987, soon after me and Susan started to Clean the Place from Top to Bottom, it was more of a Mess outback than I thought it was!

Every day after the Kids went off to School , we went down the Shop for more Cleaning, I'm not too sure but I think we took about 2/3 Weeks to thoroughly Clean it, we couldn't spend to much Money on the Shop, because I Needed that for all the Ingredients, Meat and Food etc etc.

After the Shop was Ready and all food stuffs brought, I then Started   doing some Homemade Pies etc, I had Planned to Make most things Myself, but in all the Rush, I ended buying some things, with the Idea to do more Home made Cooking after the Opening! 

We had a load of Flyer's Made up by a Printer in the Area, and by this time I had thought of a Name for the Takeaway, as my Father (now Diseased) had Helped with the Shop, I decided to Call the Shop "G.C's Takeaway" that was my Father Initials "George Charles"

So around Mid November of 1987, I Finally Opened the Takeaway, the First Session was a Night Time I believe, I was out Front of Takeaway doing the Food and Serving, Susan was out the Back, Keeping Everything Else Under Control!

As it turned out, My Mother, Never Helped at all, she Never did anything, in Hindsight, it would have been Easier if She had Helped, in some sort of Way!   

Anyway the First Night went O.K, I Remember I didn't make a Mint, but all I wanted at that Stage, was to Make enough to Keep the Takeaway Ticking Over!

I Remember I soon got into a Routine, I used to Work between 12 pm and 2 pm and 6 pm and 10 pm, on Week Days and A bit Longer on a Saturday and Half Day on Thursday and Day Off on Sunday, and when Lunch-Times were Slow, I would be Making all the Food Stuffs for later, Susan and the Kids used to come to the Shop a Few Times During the Week, but Always came down on a Saturday Night when it got Busier.  

I Remember Susan Used to Peel Fresh Potatoes for Chips, but this was too Time Consuming, so I ended up Buying a Fresh Bag of Ready Cut Chips, from a Seller Named "Westrup" in Great Yarmouth and he Used to Delivery most days, I Remember they were £6 per bag!

So after a Couple of Weeks of being Opened things were Going Alright, Money and Coping Wise, and with the Christmas Trade coming up in a Few Weeks time, things were Looking Great!
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As for some Music, a Band I see in Concert back in 1984 was Mtume, see this Post for that, I Remember the Concert was Great, and One of their Better Tracks, that had been released a Couple of Years earlier was "Juicy Fruit"

The Track was taken from their 4th Album of the Same Name and it was on the Epic Record Label, they eventually Released a Total of  6 Albums.

The Single Turned out to be their Biggest Ever Hit, Reaching Number 1 on the US R&B Chart and Number 45 on the US Hot 100 Chart!

The Album Reached Number 3 on US R&B Chart and Number 26 on US Pop Chart!

The 2 Vocalist in Mtume were Band Founder James Mtume and Tawatha Agee.

James Mtume went on to Write Numerous Tracks for other Artists and Bands.




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