Into their world descends Golspie, the con-man with a smooth tongue and all the push and panache of the natural predator. By now it was 1968 and the only studio experience the group had was in 1967 at Dewsbury and Leeds, where they made two demo acetates, four songs in the former studio and a further two in the latter viz. Bradford-born, I was familiar with JB's travelogue and plays but not his out of fashion novels, shockingly.

There are some hugely entertaining characters, although you would never be inviting them round for tea, in fact you wouldn’t want to poke any of them with your grandmother’s ten foot barge pole, but that just makes it more fun.The fifth chapter depicts the narrow world of the typist, Miss Matfield, and her disastrous date with Norman Birtley, which is enlivened only by an accidental meeting with Mr Golspie, who gives her a box of chocolates on a whim.

His prolific output continued right up to his final years, and to the end he remained the great literary all-rounder. Neil Webster (vocals); Clive ‘Alfie’ Shepherd (lead guitar); Brian Thorpe (bass) and Alan Reeve (drums); Graham Harris (ex-Machine/bass); Dave Smith (rhythm guitar); Paul Smith (vocals); Mike ‘Candy’ Candler (ex-Machine/Drum). By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Their lives are changed after the arrival of a mysterious Mr Golspie, who assures the future of their veneer-and- inlay company through imports from the Baltic. I found this book a little disappointing as it never seemed to get anywhere and eventually destroyed all its characters.It’s difficult to close the book without a sense of sadness - you want to know what happened to these people whose lives were left close to ruin.