Shooters Hill Grammar School

WANTED TWO OR THREE PEOPLE WHO WENT TO SHOOTER'S HILL SCHOOL TO TAKE OVER AS 'ADMIN'. THANKS.

As Stephen Porter (AKA Steve Peregrin Took) is remembered on the Blue Palque at Shooter's Hill Grammar School. I hope you'll find this of interest. Steve Peregrin Took Biography - Also a great read if you're into Hawkwind, Lemmy, Larry Wallis, T***k, Syd Barrett and even David Bowie and T.Rex then this is a great read.
Stu Tovell's Review:-
Steve Took has often been consigned to a mere footnote in rock music’s illustrious and controversial existence, this book finally elevates his status, and as you will read deservedly so.
Firstly it deals with the Marc Bolan and Tyrannosaurus Rex period with clarity and some honest talking, “Tooky” was never the sidekick or just that “bloke” with Bolan, he was in fact an equal partner and just as important to the sound and creation of the whole bands concept.
Then it goes into the whole crazy world of the underground scene taking in The Deviants, Pink Fairies, Hawkwind, Motorhead, David Bowie, Syd Barrett and even the MC5.
In fact I have to say from my own personal perspective that this is one of the most fascinating anecdotal books written and compiled on the underground with comments and memories from a host of respected writers and musicians including Mick Farren, Michael Moorcock, Nik Turner, Lemmy, Larry Wallis and Russell Hunter.
Add to this highly interesting and, at times perhaps controversial, comments from close family, friends and collaborators, what we end up with is a detailed look into the world of “Tooky” which also reflects the whole scene as it moved and changed with the times.
As if this wasn’t enough we are treated to many previously unseen photographs, some fascinating press cuttings, reprints of original interviews and some stunning illustrations.
Has to be said that even the books design is a sight to behold, each section perfectly laid out in green, red and black text, oh and a really nice touch is the ribbon bookmark attached to the hardback.
Not since Jonathan Green’s 1988 book ‘Days in the Life: Voices from the English Underground, 1961-71’, has so much amazing information been forthcoming from those who were there and nice to hear it directly from them, they tell it as it was, sometimes that can be uncomfortable, Lemmy’s son Paul Inder is a great example of words from the heart with no agenda other than honesty.
Anyone who has more than a passing interest in rock history would do well to purchase a copy, you may not really know Steve Took at the beginning of the book but by the end you will have a greater understanding of the contribution he made to music and the lives of the people around him.
Books written with this much dedication, love and attention to detail are few and far between, Fee Warner is to be commended on producing one of the best music books I have ever read."

Dave Thompson's Review:-
"Steve Took, for those who may not know (there’s probably one or two) was the original other half of Tyrannosaurus Rex, the band that hauled Marc Bolan towards the superstardom of the seventies – and who, according to what and where you read your histories, has been effectively whitewashed from the story.

Integral to the duo’s first three albums, he was out before the fourth, and while his former cohort rode the white swan to glory, Took sank into the kind of legend that made his very existence seem somehow apocryphal. How could someone have been so cool, so talented, so poised on the edge of greatness, and then vanish with such finality?
Well, you could ask his friend Syd Barrett about that, and it’s diverting to wonder what the two sat and talked about, as their old playmates played frisbee with platinum discs, while their lives were choked by grapevine and speculation.
Barrett’s story has long since been cleared of such clutter. There are probably more books about him on the shelves today than he gave interviews in his prime. Took, however, has remained deep in the shadows – one reason, perhaps, why this particular book has been germinating for seemingly years.
Author Warner has spent much of the last twenty years researching the story – gathering information, speaking with any and everyone who might have an insight into the truth, and patiently correcting the misapprehensions that have littered Took’s life for so long. She doesn’t intend stopping, either, but this gloriously illustrated and so-affectionately written book at least serves as a “story so far,” and a companion to a planned “sister book” focusing on his music alone. The book here is simply the life.
A cast of almost thousands add their voices to Warner’s – not quite an “oral history,” the book is nevertheless built around the observations of the people who were actually there, in Took’s company, as events unfolded.
Death, sadly, removed many of the key players before Warner could speak with them – Took, of course; Bolan, Barrett, Tony Secunda, Mick Wayne and more. But from producer Tony Visconti to friend Nik Turner, sometime collaborators Larry Wallis and T***k, and onto the son who never knew him (who provides a fascinating, moving, introduction), A Trip Through Ladbroke Grove lives up to its title with technicolour flare.
The Grove, after all, is where Took lived much of his life, and Warner vividly paints the subterranean multi-verse of streets and basements, hangouts and hang-ups through which Took and a host of fellow underground adventurers paraded. Dandies and drop-outs, freaks and friends, for whom making music was simply one component within the web of fascinations and convictions that sustained them.
More than any other book on the time-and-place (there are several) Warner captures that mindset, but more importantly than that, she depicts a world in which the actual rewards of fame – and that includes the backdated royalties that Took eventually received from his Tyrannosaurus Rex days – were secondary to simply living. And Took, until he was taken in October 1980, lived."

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Anyone remember Stephen Porter? A skinny, weedy, bookish lad who was there from 1960 to 1964? He left when he was 15. He was in various bands while he was at school. He had asthma and Eczema and attracted the nickname 'the l***r because he was sometimes sent to school with his limbs wrapped in bandages. Other times his Eczema was less severe. He often entertained his classmates with impersonations. Often of the Beetles and other notables of the period.

Help needed. Does anyone know what years "Stringbag" Stringer was a teacher at Shooter's Hill? This is in reply to a post by Peter Newton which read: "I remember old "Stringbag" Stringer once telling us that he still saw Frankie Howerd and had recently had lunch with him. If you remember Stringer's mannerisms, you'll see where Frankie Howerd got most of his act from."

Want your name in the Sponsors List? Want to come to the Launch Party? Pre-Order Your Steve Took Biography in the next two days :-)

STEVE TOOK BOOK THIS IS ESPECIALLY FOR TYRANNOSAURUS REX FANS STEVE PEREGRIN TOOK'S BIOGRAPHYA TRIP THROUGH LADBROKE GROVE Author Fee WarnerThis Biography not only covers Steve Peregrin Took's life and times. It contains new information on Tyrannosaurus Rex never before interviewed for ANY publication. Want your na...

Portrait of Kent and England cricketer Graham Johnson, circa 1970. Stan Wolfson said
"Surely among the famous old boys there must be some record of the Kent cricketer, Graham Johnson, who could turn his off-spin on a sixpence on the school's matting wicket ? Graham would have been at the school around 1960. I umpired several matches in which he played."

Graham William Johnson (born 8 November 1946 in Beckenham, Kent) made his first class debut for the county in 1965 and was a key player throughout Kent’s ‘glory years’ of the 1970’s. He played 376 first class matches for Kent - scoring 12,509 runs (11 hundreds and 13 fifties) and took 560 wickets (including five wickets in an innings on 23 occasions). He also played 302 one day matches amassing 5666 runs and taking 104 wickets. He was capped in 1970 and became Chairman of Cricket in 2004.
Information from:-
http://kentcricket.co.uk/news/kent-county-cricket-club-announce-2014-president

Brøndby Pop Club, Cophenhagen, Denmark
January 25 1969

Nice Entry for Frankie Howerd

Eaglesfield's Famous Comedy Son Frankie Howerd was lightly educated at this school in Eltham. on the Shady Old Lady's Guide to London.

Men who went to Shooter's Hill Grammar School