Bulls Head Bob May 2023. NEW VANS FOR OLD. PASSPORT. WEE WILLIE HARRIS RIP.

Good Day Brummies, Brummies Abroad, Brummie musicians and mates.

IT'S A NEW DAWN, IT'S A NEW DAY, 

 IT'S A NEW, OLD VAN!

What goes around comes around they say but I never imagined that, in these days of high tech and design innovation, the British motor industry would revert to producing a van that, in the 60's had become a van that a band could buy, second hand, for around £15.00 at the car auctions once the post Office had finished with them and drive it till the engine fell out or simply rotted away.   This van wasn't pretty, in fact if you were in a band you'd probably have felt embarrassed pulling up at a venue in it.  With a registered, unloaded, top speed of 53 mph and fuel consumption of 22 miles to the gallon, it would have taken 2 hours to drive the 16 miles in a fully loaded group van to a gig in Wolverhampton from my house in Birmingham avoiding steep hills on the way.    

Here is a photo of the original vehicle, this one being the top of

the range model with windows and ONE windscreen wiper.  The Van is a MORRIS J type and I wouldn't have been seen dead in one of them.   

However I wrote a 'special' blog about group Vans back in August 2014 and do have photographic evidence of one in action with the group THE INCAS who must have been a bit strapped for cash, moreover I find it hard to believe that the band would have wanted to be seen in or on it!! and here it is.  Look away if you're squeamish!!

There we are, absolutely dreadful, just the rust holding it together.   Production of this van ceased in 1961.

So, someone, presumably a person who has no design ethic, no concerns for aerodynamics and has never read the classic August 2014 Bulls Head Bob Group Van's of the 60's thought it would be a must to produce an up-to-date, electric powered, version starting its production in 2024 and here it is in all its glory.  Now renamed the:

 MORRIS JE VAN

Gone is the split windscreen but still looking like a pile of poo, they've even adopted the colour.  Now here's the really fun part, it's made of carbon fibre!! I'm staggered, perhaps they think it will be a must for F1 drivers wives?  Can you imagine how much it would be to repair?

It's all electric with an option of 3 battery packs giving a driving distance of 150 to 250 miles.    Hang on to your wallet though, this thing costs £60.000 pounds!!.   They obviously dont want poor muso's to own one. 

I do wish the new Morris team every success in their venture but do wonder who has got that sort of cash for a novelty?  I believe that's it's been launched to take on the new VW Buzz van but the VW is a little cheaper and stylish so Morris will have a battle to win the share of the market.

PASSPORT

My friend and owner of the BRUMBEAT.Net website, the worlds

best and most informative website of the 60's Brumbeat musicians, is a Brummie Abroad.  

John Woodhouse lives in Canada, Oshawa to be exact, the same town that gave birth to heavy metal legends ANVIL, famous for not being famous!!

John is a good bass player and over the years has been in bands on an "off and on" basis, one of those bands being Passport.  He has now renewed his musical passion and the band PASSPORT are gigging again but this time with a more  focused drive, energy and business approach.  They have a brand spanking new website which you can visit here  PASSPORT BAND.

I was stunned by the amount of songs in their set list.

So all my friends in Canada, if you live in Oshawa or that neck of the woods keep your eyes open for this band and their BRUMBEAT specialist, John Woodhouse   Go and chat to him,  if you are a follower of the great 60's BRUMBEAT days or simply go and enjoy some good rockin music.

WEE WILLIE HARRIS.  RIP

We've all got to go sometime and that sometime arrived for Rock and Roll legend Wee Willie Harris a couple of days ago.

Here's a link to a blog I did in 2019 about this fabulous performer, one of the stars of the first televised Rock and Roll show, the great 6.5 Special.   God Bless.

WEE WILLIE HARRIS

FINALLY

Its BBQ at the Bob house this week, lots of people coming, the whole family will be there for the first time since Covid.   Really looking forward to the day and getting back to some kind of normality.

So, look after each other and KEEP PLAYING!

BOB

Copyright: Bullsheadbob 

Contact: Bobsbullocks@Gmail.com