POETRY

WALKING MY STREETS – New Poetry and Prose collection from Jarrow born Tom Kelly.

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Tom Kelly is a short story writer, playwright and lyricist now living further up the Tyne in Blaydon. He’s written a number of musicals with the late John Miles that have been produced by The Customs House, South Shields, including the work of Tyne Dock born author Catherine Cookson.

‘Tom & Catherine had its premier at South Shields Customs House, it was really exciting. All the team were really nervous on the opening night but when the overture began, we all felt it was going to be a success. And it was. It had a ‘sold out’ run. A measure of its success was that me mam wanted to go every night! And she was not a theatre-goer. She loved ‘Tom & Catherine.’

“The play was first produced in 1999, and again 2001. In 2006 there was an outdoor performance at Bents Park, South Shields in which Jade Thirlwall (Little Mix) appeared, and most recently in 2019” said Tom.

His two football plays I Left My Heart in Roker Park (1997 & 98, 2004 & 2014) and Bobby Robson Saved My Life (2019) toured the North East and were well received by audiences and critics alike.  

“I Left My Heart in Roker Park’ is a one-man play that looks at the life and football times of an avid Sunderland supporter. As more than one have said of the play, ‘it makes you laugh and cry” said Sunderland fan Tom.

His new book ‘Walking My Streets’ is his fourteenth and thirteenth published by Red Squirrel Press. Tom read at the Lit & Phil, Westgate Road, Newcastle, Cullercoats Library and The Word in South Shields to promote the book.

“I’ve already read at a number of venues and thankfully it’s gone down very well. As it says on the books cover, ‘Walking My Streets’ explores in prose and poems Kelly’s life and the changing face of his native north-east of England’.

Walking My Streets is available from Red Squirrel Press.

Contact the official website >

https://www.redsquirrelpress.com/poetry?Author=Tom%2520Kelly

Alikivi   June 2024

TON UP for North East actress and entertainer Helen Russell 

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A North East icon will celebrate her 100th birthday with the launch of her new book of poetry at The Word, South Shields.

Helen is one of the few surviving ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) members from WW2 – the elite troupe who entertained military personnel. She joined ENSA at 15-year-old and toured the UK singing and dancing.

Helen was born in London on May 30th 1924 near the London Palladium. “I was bitten by the showbiz bug as a young girl and fortunately I could sing and dance well, so I was able to follow my dreams”.

Helen started her career aged eight and at 14 performed in her first professional pantomime, Dick Whittington, at the Winter Gardens in Morecambe.

During the war Helen married Colin Hillcote, who ran a dance hall in Belfast. “It was an exciting time there, too”. At the end of the war the couple returned to South Shields, Colin’s home town, and she has been an adopted Sand-dancer since 1946.  

In the 1950s Helen was singing at church events and played many roles as member of the South Shields Amateur Operatic Society. A friend who performed in working men’s clubs heard Helen sing and invited her to step up on stage.

“From there I became an artist in my own right, singing and dancing throughout the region” she said.

“We didn’t have a phone in the house so I’d take calls on the local public telephone box to tell me where I was playing that night! Sometimes it meant getting a bus to Newcastle and then catching another to Stanley in County Durham, or Ashington in Northumberland, then heading back after 10pm – all the time humping my guitar and other equipment. I had no helpers!”

“When guitar groups became popular in the 60s I had to stop dancing on stage because of all the leads and wires. That’s when I took up the guitar and later started writing my own songs.”

In 1965 a Vaux beers television advert came calling and a number of variety shows were filmed at Tyne Tees Television, including a double act with Bill Pertwee of Dad’s Army fame and working with Dick Emery. She was a contemporary of North East legends Bobby Thompson, Bobby Pattinson and Dick Irwin, all of whom she knew well and regularly worked with.

Her TV and film appearances include When the Boat Comes in, Supergran, Catherine Cookson adaptations, Highway (during which she sang with Harry Secombe), Emmerdale, The Fast Show and Billy Elliot.

On stage, Helen’s credits include performing in her self-penned plays Off the Shelf and Keep Calm and Carry On. She was also an original Dirty Duster, a play which transferred to Newcastle Theatre Royal and sold out twice. Helen was still performing in the Dirty Dusting tour until the age of 90!

She was also part of the hugely popular Angels of the North variety group with the two other original Dirty Dusters – Jean Southern and the late Gwen Doran. Their shows, mostly of original material, were self-written and performed to sell-out audiences all over the region.

Regular successful contributions to BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Corner sparked Helen’s creativity, she started writing in the 1970s and returned to poetry during the Covid lockdown.

Her new book of poems “Oh! Life is a Joy” will be launched at a free event in The Word, South Shields Market Place at 1pm Thursday, May 30th.

There will also be an ’in conversation’ with Helen to mark her remarkable life and career. All profits from the book will be donated to cancer charities. Helen successfully fought off breast cancer a decade ago.

 Alikivi   May 2024

HOME GROWN with Newcastle songwriter Bill Dodds

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Bill Dodds (pic. Sean O’Driscoll)

Hard working Bill spent 34 years as a railway driver and 20 years on Newcastle City Council. Being a keen cyclist, he is one of the few people to have completed an around the world bike ride.

“The highlight had to be the scenery in the Rocky Mountains, USA, the geysers, hot pools and volcanic activity in Yellowstone Park. I followed the Rockies for over 1,000 miles through Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Oregon with much of this being wilderness area”.

When the pandemic hit in 2020 Bill took solace in the music he loved. He attended songwriting workshops with artists he had been a fan of such as Beth Nielsen Chapman, Mary Gauthier, Gretchen Peters and Dan Whitehouse. When folk clubs opened back up after lockdown Bill stepped out to perform.

“I really enjoy playing local folk clubs where audiences are always attentive and often sing along. My favourite folk club is The Bridge Hotel in Newcastle which is the longest running folk club in England on the same premises. They’re a great crowd”.

Encouraged by this warm welcome, he spent 2023 honing his work with producer Dan Whitehouse and then recorded his debut album. ‘Closer’ is a delicate collection of heartwarming folk songs that tell political and historical stories as well as tales of love and loss.

“We recorded all the foundation tracks of vocals and guitars live in my living room in Gosforth”.

As well as producing Bill’s debut album, Dan also played lead guitar and added backing vocals plus several of Bill’s friends and family contributed to this intimate collection of songs.

French speaking Christine Durand reads poetry, Kathy Wesolowsk lends operatic vocals, Bill’s grand-daughter Chloe Weston is the lead voice on a song written by Bill on a songwriting retreat lead by Gretchen Peters and Mary Gauthier.

The recordings were shared with Gustaf Lljunggren (John Grant/Eddi Reader) who added Pedal Steel, Accordion and Rhodes Electric Piano from his Copenhagen studio.

“Dan Whitehouse had worked with Gustaf before. He introduced me to Gustaf’s music and once I heard him, I knew that he was the musician I wanted to have playing on a number of my songs”.

“Gustaf is experienced in working remotely – adding delicate overdubs, without overcrowding the musical landscape of my record”.

Cover art by Ruth Bond.

Next stop on the album’s journey was London…

“I’d a longing to add strings to ‘Fools and Princes’ – with it being based on Romeo and Juliet, I had a vision of a romantic string arrangement being effective, Dan suggested Alison D’Souza (The Little Unsaid) in London as he’d worked with her previously and what she played really brought my dream into reality”.

“Harriet Harkcom’s voice I knew from Dan’s own releases as she has sung on most of his albums, I was pleased when she accepted my invitation to sing on ‘Goodnight Vin’. I’d like to think if Vin was around he would love her voice on this song too”.

With recording completed, final mixing and mastering of the album was by John Elliott.

“My hopes for the album are that it will allow me to reach a wider audience, commercial success has never been my main aim. Like any other singer-songwriter I just love sharing my songs with people”.

For the near future Bill has no plans to tour the album…

“I sing in local folk clubs twice a week and I’m happy being involved in this local musical community. I prefer small intimate venues packed with friends and other singers”.


The album is available to order now on CD and digital via bandcamp >

https://billdodds.bandcamp.com/album/closer

March 15th is the release date for Spotify /Apple / Amazon.

Contact Bill on his facebook artist page >

https://www.facebook.com/people/Bill-Dodds-Music/61555902894513

Alikivi   February 2024

THE SOUND OF A LANDSCAPE with author MiE Fielding

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‘The Sound of a Landscape’ is a new book by artist, author and sound recordist Mie Fielding, who co-authored ‘Closest Thing to Heaven’ about the Newcastle music scene, which featured on this site in December 2020.

CLOSEST THING TO HEAVEN – New Book on ’70s-’80s Newcastle Music Scene | ALIKIVI UK : NORTH EAST CULTURE (garyalikivi.com)

In ‘Sound of a Landscape’ Fielding pictures the Northumberland coast in all its wild splendour. His unique artwork is complimented by Cullercoats poet Harry Gallagher.

“I got to know Harry as he played the late Tom Hadaway (My wife’s uncle) in a theatre production. As I’ve recorded bird sounds and produced avant-garde music for over 30 years, it was a natural idea to put these artistic elements together” explained Mie Fielding.

MiE Fielding

The book is further enhanced with sound recordings by scanning the accompanying QR code, bringing ‘The Sound of a landscape’.

“The book also gave me a chance to produce two specially written pieces of sound art. One portraying Storm Arwen and the other lamenting the demise of a way of life, once a common sight along the Northumberland coast – the Cullercoats Ghosts” added Fielding.

“As for the sounds in the book, they took nearly a year to capture using an ‘Ambisonic, microphone and other technical equipment”. 

An exhibition about the book featuring its poetry, art and sound is held at Newcastle Central Library from 14 -20 December 2023.

Alikivi   November 2023