RIP Shelfy
SO FAREWELL, THEN... Tony Hall, aka Shelfy The Bear, aka The Entire Top Shelf, aka The Human Craig Douglas, founding father of Johnson's Gridling Band, who passed away shortly before Xmas. His influence on my own 'BEING A PERSON' is immeasurable...
from Star Profile No.2, "The Gridler" 1983
THE ENTIRE TOP SHELF or more recently "BOB"... The origins of such pseudonyms for this flaxen-haired doyen of the paste-up set remain unclear, even after a fairly intense and probing interview carried out recently at his residence at the Vicarage of St. Exocet-On-The-Green. Recognised throughout several counties for his outrageous wit and pretty decent talents, he reveals how Gridling grew from its humble origins in the late sixties to what it is today. Now read on...
I asked him how being the son of an internationally recognised crustacean has affected his lifestyle, or if, indeed he was under any pressure to follow in the footsteps of the famous Monsieur Le Crayfish. He proceeded to chant the catchy "Breton Crayfish Song", inspired by his father's adopted name. In other words, he told me, his father's only real influence on his lifestyle had bee to cause him to sing "Monsieur Le Crayfish" repeatedly. Furthermore, he was under no pressure to sell trousers in Knight & Lee.
However, being a Gridler - indeed the longest standing permanent Gridler - has changed his life considerably. Involvement in the Gridling Movement has, he says, given him self-confidence, a permanent limp, fluency in several languages and the ability to tell swim-bladders from butter. He had his ears syringed in 1975.
On the subject of "Gilzean" (the Gridling language), he tells us that the first words to come into general use were "CRANE" and "OIL", at Auntie Doris's in the late sixties. Auntie Doris is the mother of SPOT THE GIBBERING TOAD (see "Star Profile No.1) and an Honorary Man since the early seventies, following her cooking of the celebrated Puma Cakes (As Eaten By Real Dutchmen). But she banned the use of Gilzean in the house!
We learnt that 'Durham Cathedral' is Gilzean for 'destination', and that Gilzean also involves emphasising syllables in otherwise commonplace words. There is a Gilzean Dictionary 'on file' somewhere.
What then are the aims of Gridling (if indeed there are any)? The Band aims to be as original as possible and to break through the barriers of 'normal' humour; not to shock people exactly, but to be 'weeyurd'! Gridling humour is best defined as 'indefinable' (Like The Brass Sturgeons, Bob?...Ed) but the essential quality is that it should make Shelfy laugh!
His first real audience were mainly fashion students at Portsmouth Art College. The Band were heavily influenced by the word "OVALTINE". An entire volume of Ovaltine-related exists from this time. The original group, per se, only ever played one live gig, at the Great Harry in Warsash in 1972.
He remains sell-effacing in his appraisal of what he considers his greatest achievements in the Gridling Movement - the occasional funny word, perhaps, or the odd ditty. He insists that he is "not a guitar player" but a prawn in the game of life and, lyrically, he considers "Firm Clothing Trolleybus" to be his magnum opus. It would be true to say, however modest though he be, that this man has been the mainstay of the Gridling Band since its conception, through numerous line-up changes, having contributed to all of the Band's recorded output, several Gilzean novels and, of course, inventing the game of FOODO (The Board Game Of The Nineties). He is also the custodian of the entire backlog of Gridling archive material, dating as far back as 1969.
Who or what then would he consider to be HIS OWN influences? He mentions that by having to mix with serious people during his formative years, he developed his comic style as a reaction against "NORMALIENVILLE" in general. Being a Youth Of The Sixties prompted him to want to be a guitar hero and wear a headband, though the great British busker HARRY KIPPER is a definite influence.
We then discussed his LIKES & DISLIKES (apart from interviews). His favourite word is "Monkmonkmonkmintzeema", though this changes regularly. His least favourite is "mush". He likes all musical instruments, but particularly the guitar (And the banjo...Ed.). He has been known to Gridle most types of instrument, many of his own device, such as the DUCK-A-PHONE, KAZOO-A-PHONE, SNAKE-6-IN-JAR and several others.
His favourite film is "African Queen" (He is very keen on steam boats), but loathes any Elvis Presley film. His favourite food is NOURISHMENT, with Computers as a side-dish, and his favourite leg is his right. He has a cat called Muppet. Non-Gridling activities include marine biology, botany and sailing, and he fondly recalls the 'COSMIC RAMBLES', Gilzean-related field trips in Trigger The Wonder Van, a converted butcher's vehicle (not a vehicle owned by a converted butcher). On one such occasion, the then Human Craig Douglas went down with food poisoning, while Spot was quarantined (Ah! such happy days, Bob!... Ed.)
As an artist, he considers the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood to be an influence; in other words, he has developed a style totally NON-Pre-Raphaelite, since he can't paint like them!
He looks forward with great enthusiasm to forthcoming Gridling projects, namely "The Plank", more editions of "The Gridler" and lots more novels. He finds the idea of playing 'live' somewhat daunting. "This kind of stuff can be dangerous in the wrong minds..." he says. "But we are honing our comedy, while improving our music to the point where it might become acceptable..."
Would he be prepared for the change in socio-economic status if the band were to 'make it'? He couldn't get more 'broker' and welcomes the mental stimulus of a record company advance. Why then is he so talented when there are so many children in the Third World? He reasons that he was lucky enough to be raised in North End (not far from The Spotted Cay, Bob?), under the Sign Of The Goat, the Maroon Cockatrice of Doom. He has no Degree in English, because he was there, and is blissfully aware of his mental instability
© Bob 1983
I will also remember Shelfy as an "ARBITER"; an ENABLER with an uncanny talent for assembling disparate characters in the knowledge that they will 'work' well together. As mentioned before, the main criteria was that Shelfy himself found it entertaining! I last saw Shelfy 'in the flesh' towards the end of 2018, when we attended the King Crimson gig in Bournemouth. We continued to chat via e-mail for a while after that (I respected his privacy as he did mine). But then THE COMING OF THE RONA found us drifting apart altogether. But never a day goes by without my sitting at the desktop or pondering a new musical discovery, thinking "WHAT WOULD SHELFY THINK?"
CRANE, OLD BEAN! x
from Star Profile No.2, "The Gridler" 1983
THE ENTIRE TOP SHELF or more recently "BOB"... The origins of such pseudonyms for this flaxen-haired doyen of the paste-up set remain unclear, even after a fairly intense and probing interview carried out recently at his residence at the Vicarage of St. Exocet-On-The-Green. Recognised throughout several counties for his outrageous wit and pretty decent talents, he reveals how Gridling grew from its humble origins in the late sixties to what it is today. Now read on...
I asked him how being the son of an internationally recognised crustacean has affected his lifestyle, or if, indeed he was under any pressure to follow in the footsteps of the famous Monsieur Le Crayfish. He proceeded to chant the catchy "Breton Crayfish Song", inspired by his father's adopted name. In other words, he told me, his father's only real influence on his lifestyle had bee to cause him to sing "Monsieur Le Crayfish" repeatedly. Furthermore, he was under no pressure to sell trousers in Knight & Lee.
However, being a Gridler - indeed the longest standing permanent Gridler - has changed his life considerably. Involvement in the Gridling Movement has, he says, given him self-confidence, a permanent limp, fluency in several languages and the ability to tell swim-bladders from butter. He had his ears syringed in 1975.
On the subject of "Gilzean" (the Gridling language), he tells us that the first words to come into general use were "CRANE" and "OIL", at Auntie Doris's in the late sixties. Auntie Doris is the mother of SPOT THE GIBBERING TOAD (see "Star Profile No.1) and an Honorary Man since the early seventies, following her cooking of the celebrated Puma Cakes (As Eaten By Real Dutchmen). But she banned the use of Gilzean in the house!
We learnt that 'Durham Cathedral' is Gilzean for 'destination', and that Gilzean also involves emphasising syllables in otherwise commonplace words. There is a Gilzean Dictionary 'on file' somewhere.
What then are the aims of Gridling (if indeed there are any)? The Band aims to be as original as possible and to break through the barriers of 'normal' humour; not to shock people exactly, but to be 'weeyurd'! Gridling humour is best defined as 'indefinable' (Like The Brass Sturgeons, Bob?...Ed) but the essential quality is that it should make Shelfy laugh!
His first real audience were mainly fashion students at Portsmouth Art College. The Band were heavily influenced by the word "OVALTINE". An entire volume of Ovaltine-related exists from this time. The original group, per se, only ever played one live gig, at the Great Harry in Warsash in 1972.
He remains sell-effacing in his appraisal of what he considers his greatest achievements in the Gridling Movement - the occasional funny word, perhaps, or the odd ditty. He insists that he is "not a guitar player" but a prawn in the game of life and, lyrically, he considers "Firm Clothing Trolleybus" to be his magnum opus. It would be true to say, however modest though he be, that this man has been the mainstay of the Gridling Band since its conception, through numerous line-up changes, having contributed to all of the Band's recorded output, several Gilzean novels and, of course, inventing the game of FOODO (The Board Game Of The Nineties). He is also the custodian of the entire backlog of Gridling archive material, dating as far back as 1969.
Who or what then would he consider to be HIS OWN influences? He mentions that by having to mix with serious people during his formative years, he developed his comic style as a reaction against "NORMALIENVILLE" in general. Being a Youth Of The Sixties prompted him to want to be a guitar hero and wear a headband, though the great British busker HARRY KIPPER is a definite influence.
We then discussed his LIKES & DISLIKES (apart from interviews). His favourite word is "Monkmonkmonkmintzeema", though this changes regularly. His least favourite is "mush". He likes all musical instruments, but particularly the guitar (And the banjo...Ed.). He has been known to Gridle most types of instrument, many of his own device, such as the DUCK-A-PHONE, KAZOO-A-PHONE, SNAKE-6-IN-JAR and several others.
His favourite film is "African Queen" (He is very keen on steam boats), but loathes any Elvis Presley film. His favourite food is NOURISHMENT, with Computers as a side-dish, and his favourite leg is his right. He has a cat called Muppet. Non-Gridling activities include marine biology, botany and sailing, and he fondly recalls the 'COSMIC RAMBLES', Gilzean-related field trips in Trigger The Wonder Van, a converted butcher's vehicle (not a vehicle owned by a converted butcher). On one such occasion, the then Human Craig Douglas went down with food poisoning, while Spot was quarantined (Ah! such happy days, Bob!... Ed.)
As an artist, he considers the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood to be an influence; in other words, he has developed a style totally NON-Pre-Raphaelite, since he can't paint like them!
He looks forward with great enthusiasm to forthcoming Gridling projects, namely "The Plank", more editions of "The Gridler" and lots more novels. He finds the idea of playing 'live' somewhat daunting. "This kind of stuff can be dangerous in the wrong minds..." he says. "But we are honing our comedy, while improving our music to the point where it might become acceptable..."
Would he be prepared for the change in socio-economic status if the band were to 'make it'? He couldn't get more 'broker' and welcomes the mental stimulus of a record company advance. Why then is he so talented when there are so many children in the Third World? He reasons that he was lucky enough to be raised in North End (not far from The Spotted Cay, Bob?), under the Sign Of The Goat, the Maroon Cockatrice of Doom. He has no Degree in English, because he was there, and is blissfully aware of his mental instability
© Bob 1983
I will also remember Shelfy as an "ARBITER"; an ENABLER with an uncanny talent for assembling disparate characters in the knowledge that they will 'work' well together. As mentioned before, the main criteria was that Shelfy himself found it entertaining! I last saw Shelfy 'in the flesh' towards the end of 2018, when we attended the King Crimson gig in Bournemouth. We continued to chat via e-mail for a while after that (I respected his privacy as he did mine). But then THE COMING OF THE RONA found us drifting apart altogether. But never a day goes by without my sitting at the desktop or pondering a new musical discovery, thinking "WHAT WOULD SHELFY THINK?"
CRANE, OLD BEAN! x
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